Illuminated Signs

This is the first decision, and it changes the look, the brightness and the price more than anything else.

• Front-lit — translucent face with the LEDs inside, light exits the front. The brightest and the most readable from a distance, and the cheapest per square foot. The classic shopfront channel letter.
• Halo-lit (also called reverse-lit or backlit) — solid metal face, LEDs fire backwards onto the wall behind. The letter reads as a dark silhouette sitting inside a glow. The premium look, and the one most reception walls and boutique fascias use.
• Combination — lit face and lit halo at once, often in two colours. The most expensive and the highest impact on a busy street.
• Lightbox or cabinet — one illuminated panel with the artwork printed or routed into the face. The cheapest way to light a complicated logo, because the cost does not rise with the number of letters.

Not sure which suits your frontage? Send a photo. We will mock up the same logo in two of these so you can see them side by side before you spend anything.

The industry rule is 1 inch of capital letter height for every 10 feet of reading distance. That is the maximum distance at which the sign is legible in good conditions.

The number that actually matters is comfortable reading distance, which runs 30 to 50% shorter than the maximum. Size to the comfortable figure, not the maximum:

• 3in letters — readable to ~30ft, comfortable at 15–20ft
• 6in — ~60ft max, comfortable at 30–40ft
• 10in — ~100ft max, comfortable at 50–70ft
• 12in — ~120ft max, comfortable at 60–80ft
• 18in — ~180ft max, comfortable at 90–125ft
• 24in — ~240ft max, comfortable at 120–165ft

Two things that change the answer: script and decorative faces need more height than block capitals for the same legibility, and a sign read from a moving car needs more height than one read by someone on the pavement. Measure from where your customer first sees the frontage, not from the kerb outside the door.

Every quote we send states these in writing. Ask any supplier for the same list — a quote without it is not comparable.

• Face material: acrylic, brushed stainless, painted aluminium, mirror-finish or matte black
• Return depth: typically 2 to 5 inches (50–125mm), set per job. The return is the side wall of the letter, and a deeper return spreads the halo wider on the wall
• LED colour temperature: 3000K warm white, 4000K neutral or 6000K cool white, plus full colour on request
• Input voltage: low-voltage DC from a listed external power supply. No mains voltage at the letter
• Indoor or outdoor: indoor as standard. Outdoor builds use a sealed letter and a weatherproof adaptor, and the exact IP rating for your build is written on your quote
• Safety listing: the UL listing for the sign and for the adaptor is stated in writing on your quote, so you can hand it straight to your permit office
• Mounting: flush, standoff studs, or raceway-mounted where the wall cannot be drilled repeatedly
• Disconnect: external switch within sight of the sign, as NEC Article 600 requires for illuminated signage

The face is what people see in daylight, and daylight is most of the sign's working life. Five standard options:

• Acrylic — the only one that can be front-lit, because light passes through it. Widest colour range, lowest cost.
• Brushed stainless steel — the default premium halo-lit face. Grain catches daylight, reads as a clean dark silhouette at night.
• Painted aluminium — matched to any brand colour, lighter and cheaper than steel, the practical choice for large fascias.
• Mirror finish — high impact indoors, shows fingerprints and dust, best above reach height.
• Matte black — the strongest halo contrast of the five, and the most forgiving on an uneven wall.

Ask to see any material lit and unlit before you sign off. A finish that looks right in a lit render can be flat and disappointing at midday, which is when most of your customers walk past.

Almost every exterior business sign needs a permit, and there is no national sign code in the US — every rule is set by your municipality.

You need two approvals, and neither replaces the other. The city permit governs sign area, mounting height, illumination limits, zoning and electrical safety. Your landlord's tenant sign criteria governs appearance, materials and how it attaches to the building. Getting one and not the other is the most common way a finished sign ends up in a storeroom.

What an application typically asks for: the form, a site or plot plan, a building elevation showing mounting height, a shop drawing (an engineering document, not a pretty render), the electrical load for an illuminated sign, a structural engineer's stamp above certain size thresholds, and written proof the building owner authorised it.

Review times vary widely — roughly 4 business days in San Diego, about a week in Seattle if the packet is complete, 15 business days for plan examination in Charlotte. None of those include your prep time or an engineer's stamp. Some cities also restrict who may apply: Minneapolis requires a city-licensed sign contractor, Austin a registered insured outdoor advertiser, while Denver places no restriction on the named applicant.

Applications mostly fail on paperwork, not design — incomplete or inconsistent drawings, missing structural or electrical certification, or an application that does not match the drawing attached to it.

On the electrical side, NEC Article 600 governs illuminated signs: listed components installed per their listing, an external disconnect switch within sight of the sign with a permanent locking provision, grounding and bonding of metal parts, and permanent exterior marking showing the maker plus voltage and current ratings. UL 48 is the safety standard for electric signs and covers every electrically operated or illuminated sign regardless of voltage.

We produce the shop drawing and the electrical load figures your application needs as part of the job. We are not your permit expediter, and we cannot promise a city's answer or its timeline.

Illuminated signs are quoted per job rather than priced off a shelf, because two signs of the same width can differ by thousands. That is how the whole category works — the largest makers in this market publish no price on their backlit and channel letter pages either.

What actually moves the number, roughly in order of impact:

• Overall size — area drives material, structure and freight together
• Letter count — each letter is its own fabricated can, which is why a lightbox is cheaper for a complex logo
• Lighting type — combination lit costs most, front-lit least per square foot
• Face material — brushed stainless and mirror cost more than acrylic or painted aluminium
• Return depth — deeper letters use more material and more labour
• Mounting — a raceway, a structural stamp or an awkward fascia all add
• Indoor or outdoor — sealing, weather rating and a listed exterior adaptor

Send a photo of the frontage and your logo and you get a real number in writing, not a range.

A storefront sign is a small construction project, not a parcel. Here is the process, and where the time actually sits.

• 1. Send your frontage photo and logo. We send back a free mockup and a written quote.
• 2. You approve the mockup and the shop drawing. Nothing goes into fabrication until you sign this off, so the build clock starts here rather than at your order.
• 3. Landlord approval and city sign permit. This is the stage that sets your overall timeline, and it does not sit with us. Contact your city's commercial or municipal sign office early to confirm what they need and how long they take — every municipality sets its own rules and review times. Your landlord's sign criteria is a separate approval and neither replaces the other.
• 4. Fabrication. Small and medium signs take 3 to 6 days once approved. Larger commercial signs take longer, and our team confirms the timeline for your specific job.
• 5. Delivery. Small and medium signs arrive in 6 to 12 days. Larger signs ship as freight and our team confirms the schedule with you.
• 6. Install. By your own electrician or contractor. We supply the mounting pattern and the electrical load figures they need.

Steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 are on a clock we control. Step 3 is the one worth starting first.

Written plainly, because vague promises on a several-thousand-dollar sign help nobody.

Warranty: 2 years covering the LED modules, the power supply and our workmanship. The finish and face material are covered separately, with the term stated on your quote — they age differently from the electronics, so we state them differently.

Delivery: quoted per job, not free. Small and medium signs arrive in 6 to 12 days. A four-foot illuminated cabinet ships as freight, and any supplier advertising free worldwide shipping on one has either priced it in silently or has not quoted you yet. Your quote shows the shipping line as its own figure.

Returns: a sign built to your logo cannot be resold, so it is not returnable for a change of mind. If it arrives damaged, fails in normal use inside the warranty, or does not match the shop drawing you approved, we remake or refund it. That is what the drawing sign-off protects.

Not included: permit fees, permit expediting, a structural engineer's stamp if your city requires one, electrical rough-in at the wall, and the install itself.