MERJE, Architectural Signing Inc. Provide Texas Town’s Welcome

Fredericksburg, TX’s Convention and Visitors’ Bureau branded the town with a wayfinding and sign campaign that reflects the town’s German heritage (it has approximately 10,500 inhabitants), which is common throughout Texas’ hill country. MERJE Design (West Chester, PA) successfully bid the project’s design, and Architectural Signing Inc. (Norcross, GA) provided fabrication. The project entailed 56 signs, which encompass gateway elements at the city limits, directional pole signs, informational kiosks and other types.

The program comprises flat-cut, aluminum faces, which were CNC-routed or formed with a manual braking machine, and are decorated with Matthews acrylic-polyurethane paint, or digitally printed graphics that were fabricated using 3M’s 3390 reflective, white media and 1170 UV-resistant overlaminate. The monument signs’ graphics somewhat resemble paper cutouts, a technique that Merje’s Glen Swantak said represents “scherenschnitte” (“scissor cuts”), a German artform. The signs’ shapes were influenced by the region’s Gingerbread architectural style, reflected in Veriens Kirche, Fredericksburg’s oldest building.

As expected with a public project, numerous approvals were required. Stakeholders on the project included the Fredericksburg City Council, Fredericksburg Historic Commission and the Texas State Historic Commission. Input from the Texas DOT was essential, because the town’s main route, a state highway, must comply with department regulations.