Recently in Typestries: Illuminated Signs, Channel Letters and Neon Category

The sign for Voodoo Steakhouse (Ship Bottom, NJ) was one of the most materially diverse projects we have completed to date. The architecture of the building called for a substantial structure to support the sign. We designed the support structure, had it approved by our engineer and fabricated 2, 3 and four inch square and angle aluminum tubing, which was bolted to the roof and knee wall structural members. We still had the faces and all of the letters to make as well as the reverse lit halo neon and the front lit neon outlines. The backing panels are alumalite, which was chosen for its durability, rigidity and compatibility with the neon requirements. The lettering is SignfoamIII HDU, which was reverse cut to fit over the neon that makes the halo effects. The steer head is also SignfoamIII HDU which was shaped by hand to give it the proper look and feel. All of the parts for this sign were cut on our Gerber Sabre router. We knew the big issue we would face would be to have so many parts from so many materials fit together properly. It went together like a breeze! The neon portion of this job was a challenge. We supplied our neon glass bender with full size patterns to design from. He returned a mix of american and italian glass and only had to remake two letters due to breakage. One because I'm a fool and one because of a good ol american accident. To connect everything together we opted to use the more expensive and safer Neon Power Pro powerflex cables. We had to custom order these special cables but they made us feel much more comfortable with a neon installation that's only 100 yards from the ocean. Thanks to the Christian, Sharon and the entire VonGorski family for allowing Typestries Sign & Design to complete this wonderful project.

With the increased number of the electronic LED readerboard signs throughought New Jersey interest in these signs is steadily increasing. While the cost of an LED sign often far exceeds many client's budgets, locking, individual letter marquees can accomplish the same task at a much lower price point. If you strategically plan your message changes, manually changing the marquee is really not that difficult. As LED technology proceeds, costs will decline, but for now marquees such as this on for Bass River Elementary school remain effective promotion tools for your organization or business.

Here's a quick shot of a recent readerboard we've installed in Ocean Gate. We're also working on a few fully digital readerboard signs right now. They're not inexpensive, but they do offer far greater flexibility than the traditional manual changeable copy signs. You can display text, images and change the display at will, from the comfort of your pc. Plus, they're very eye catching.

I grabbed this shot of a set of sign faces we installed for Bay Avenue Plant Company in Surf City on Thursday. The client had hoped for a dimensional, sandblasted sign with gold leaf. Because of site restrictions however, they were forced to use a double sided backlit sign. After consideration, our recommendation was to make the sign "look" dimensional while backlit at the same time. This job turned out great and is an excellent example of the fact that the faces for your backlit signs can be more imaginative and effective when you think beyond basic vinyl lettering.

"WE DO" custom neon window signs, display pieces and yes, even "OPEN" signs. Hey, did you know that most of the individual lit letters you see on storefronts are actually lit with neon? And yes, we can make those, too!

One of the indesputible benefits of neon is it's extreme visibility at night time. If you are looking to get your storefront noticed, interior neon in your windows would be an excellent choice. One added benefit: interior window neon bypasses most sign ordinances and local codes–which can give your business an edge without variances, approvals and the like.