Design

Best Electronic Message Centers of 2011

These freestanding electronic displays inform and engage

Published

13 years ago

March 25, 2011

Steve Aust Signs of the Times April 2011 Issue

FIRST PLACE

Fabricator
Snyder Signs Inc.
Johnson City, TN
(423) 282-6221
www.snydersigns.com

Designers
Ted Tubbs
Randy Holland
Snyder Signs

Client
Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers

Snyder achieved a unique level of detail and creativity with this message center for Mellow Mushroom’s Pigeon Forge, TN location (it was the runner-up in the judges’ voting for Best of Show). The Snyder team CNC routed or handcarved the mushrooms from 15-lb. Sign•Foam HDU, which it coated with a polyurea hardcoat for extra durability. They designed the complex, layered sign using Autodesk’s 3DS Max software, used a hydraulic pipebender to bend the metal parts, and incorporated a Techno CNC 3-D router to shape the sign’s numerous pieces. Exposed EGL neon illuminates the channel letters, and SloanLED modules inside the cabinet create a dramatic silhouette. A 6 x 8-ft. Watchfire messageboard spreads the love to passersby.

SECOND PLACE

Fabricator
Bob Mayer
Berry Neon Sign Systems
Everett, WA
(425) 776-8835
www.berryneonsigns.com

Designer
Kay Christensen
Berry Neon Sign Systems

Client
Detroit Autoworks

Given the drubbing the U.S. auto industry has taken for several decades – due to both fierce competition and self-inflicted wounds – a message center that celebrates the American car seems positively refreshing. Berry Neon formed the flags by bump-forming the aluminum panels with a power-brake and MIG-welded frames. Red, white and blue EGL exposed neon illuminates Old Glory with Sentry 9- and 15V transformers. Aluminum channel letters were formed with an Arete ReturnShop letter notcher and LetterLok clinching machine, and the faces – made from Evonik Cyro Acrylite acrylic and decorated with 3M’s Scotchcal translucent vinyl – were shaped on the shop’s Gerber Sabre 408 CNC router.

The Detroit letters were lifted off the surface with 2-in.-deep, peg standoffs and decorated with white vinyl that’s halo-lit by Sloan V-Series white LEDs. “Autoworks” entails white, push-through acrylic with Gerber translucent, red, first-surface vinyl and red V-Series LEDs. High-output, fluorescent lamps illuminate the cabinet. Watchfire’s XVS 19mm, full-color, LED, 6 x 12-ft. display provides the sign’s changeable content. Double-tube, white neon provides the “zipper” effect that flanks the display, as well as accents to the sign’s crown. Installers Ted Merritt and Dirk Fitzwater executed installation on a Wilkie 65-ft. XRB boom truck and 36-ft. Versalift crane.

THIRD PLACE

Fabricator
National Signs
Houston
(713) 863-0600
www.nationalsigns.com

Designer
OUN
National Signs

Client
Fred Haas Toyota World

The 42.5-ft.-tall sign incorporates a 6 x 12-ft. Watchfire message center, and the channel letters were fabricated with acrylic, aluminum and steel, which were formed with the shop’s forming equipment and MultiCam CNC router. The cantilevered arm is illuminated with animated US LED modules.

HONORABLE MENTION
Fabricators
TDI Signs Inc.
Long Beach, CA
(562) 436-5188
www.tdisigns.com

D3 LED LLC
Rancho Cordova, CA
(888) 993-3353
www.d3led.com

Designers
Art Rivas
Drew Rivas
Lansing Pope
TDI Signs

Client
Quiksilver LLC

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