We love being a custom sign company. We come across projects every day that we have never seen before and it is fun and exciting to figure them out.
Mighty 8th Media, one of our best customers, came to us with an interesting challenge in May. One of their customers, Pinnacle Bank (no relation to us), was getting ready to celebrate their 80th anniversary. They wanted to create a sign with an eye-catching design and a different look to it to put in each of their 13 branch locations.
Creating a Concept…
Our first idea started out by trying to create the number “80” with sign foam. However, in order to get really large numbers that would not wobble over and create potential safety issues, the cost would be extremely prohibitive for the quantity they would need.
We then batted around a couple of ideas with Tammy Brown and her team and an idea started to form. How about a large free-standing dimensional sign made of foam with a vinyl print adhered to it? With this as the start, we then recommended to make it three-dimensional by routing out Pinnacle Bank’s circular crest separately and gluing that to the foam board.
We used ¾” ultra-board for the backer, and ½” ultra-board for the seal. Ultra-board is a type of foam board that is a heavy-duty, all-plastic panel that features a high-impact polystyrene surface perfect for display boards. Once we ordered the materials, we set to create the signs. We had to have the circles for the medallions custom-routed, and then, when all the pieces were ready, assembly began.
Some Challenges…
There were a few unexpected challenges we encountered while in the process of assembling the displays. One was alignment of the circle on the background. Joanne solved that by creating the same image on the background as the raised circle to make sure that all were placed in the correct spot on the main panel.
Another challenge we encountered was how the sign was going to stand up. With ¾” and ½” thick pieces of ultra-board, the sign was going to need something strong to make sure it could support these thicknesses, especially with a height of almost six feet. We decided to use spider feet to stand up the displays.
However, we didn’t anticipate how top-heavy the display would be with the three-dimensional medallion being towards the top of the display. We found when we finished the first one that we had a slight leaning issue. But, no fear, we were able to add some spacers to the bottom of the front feet that would offset the weight, allowing the displays to stand straight and tall.
And in the end…
After all 13 were completed a courier came and picked them up to bring them to the main branch in Athens, GA in order to have in time for their anniversary celebration on June 13th.
Our design team enjoys the challenge of a coming up with a new type of sign or using new materials. One of the beauties of being a custom sign company is that every business sign can be different and we are limited only by our (or your) creativity. If you have a need for a special sign for a special event, give us a call or fill out our request a quote.
