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3 Reasons You Should Winterize Your Signs
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs, Digital signs, Office & Campus Signage, Retail & Restaurant Signs, Signs, Vehicle Wrap /by CindyThe new year is almost upon us, and advertisements will be everywhere telling you it’s time for a “new you.” Believe it or not, it’s also an important time to make some changes to your signage. You may not need to “slim down” your signage or do a “budget overhaul” to make it work, just make time for some “self care” with small adjustments, like the suggestions below. A resolution to update your signage to the season will have a big impact in 2023.
Three Reasons Your Signs Need Winterizing
Increased Visibility for Outdoor Signs
In cold weather, the foot traffic around your business decreases dramatically. An A-frame on the sidewalk suddenly impacts fewer and fewer potential customers–the pile of snow along the road from the plow blocks it from view, and most people are staying indoors anyway. The majority of people passing by are in vehicles, so you don’t have much time to attract their attention. You need big, bold, colorful, and quick messaging. Consider an illuminated channel letter sign on your building, or a colorful window graphic. Window vinyl can be applied “second surface” or on the inside surface facing outward, to protect it from the elements!
New Product Offerings Need Custom Design
Do you have a special on down-filled weatherproof jackets this week? Have you created a brand new Instagram-worthy secret-menu latte drink? Do you carry a new brand of winter tires that you’d like everyone to know about? You’d better check your signage and make sure you aren’t still marketing bathing suits, or frozen fruit drinks, or air conditioning system tuneups. When your product offerings change with the seasons, it’s crucial that your signage does too. Update your window signs, in store displays, even your vehicle graphics to feature your most up to date product lines.
Changing Business Hours for Entrances and Door Signs
No matter what business you’re in, your hours can be affected by the seasons. Outdoor recreational facilities may need to change their closing hours because it gets dark earlier. Even if you posted your holiday closures on your website, make sure they’re easily found by customers who show up to your physical location as well. And we know too well in 2022 that staff shortages due to illness can lead to early closing or late opening, and it’s important that you keep your clients aware to avoid frustrations and lost business. Flexible signage options include LED message signs that can be mounted inside your window to be viewed from outside, or a changeable letter sign.
Signwave is ready to do a signage evaluation for your facility to make sure you’re winterized! Call us at 631-761-9292 or fill out the contact us form, and we’ll get started.
3 Reasons You Should Winterize Your Signs
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs, Digital signs, Office & Campus Signage, Retail & Restaurant Signs, Signs, Vehicle Wrap /by CindyIt’s a new year, and advertisements everywhere are telling you it’s time for a “new you.” Believe it or not, it’s also an important time to make some changes to your signage. You may not need to “slim down” your signage or do a “budget overhaul” to make it work, just make time for some “self care” with small adjustments, like the suggestions below. A resolution to update your signage to the season will have a big impact in 2022.
Three Reasons Your Signs Need Winterizing
Increased Visibility for Outdoor Signs
In cold weather, the foot traffic around your business decreases dramatically. An A-frame on the sidewalk suddenly impacts fewer and fewer potential customers–the pile of snow along the road from the plow blocks it from view, and most people are staying indoors anyway. The majority of people passing by are in vehicles, so you don’t have much time to attract their attention. You need big, bold, colorful, and quick messaging. Consider an illuminated channel letter sign on your building, or a colorful window graphic. Window vinyl can be applied “second surface” or on the inside surface facing outward, to protect it from the elements!
New Product Offerings Need Custom Design
Do you have a special on down-filled weatherproof jackets this week? Have you created a brand new Instagram-worthy secret-menu latte drink? Do you carry a new brand of winter tires that you’d like everyone to know about? You’d better check your signage and make sure you aren’t still marketing bathing suits, or frozen fruit drinks, or air conditioning system tuneups. When your product offerings change with the seasons, it’s crucial that your signage does too. Update your window signs, in store displays, even your vehicle graphics to feature your most up to date product lines.
Changing Business Hours for Entrances and Door Signs
No matter what business you’re in, your hours can be affected by the seasons. Outdoor recreational facilities may need to change their closing hours because it gets dark earlier. Even if you posted your holiday closures on your website, make sure they’re easily found by customers who show up to your physical location as well. And we know too well in 2022 that staff shortages due to illness can lead to early closing or late opening, and it’s important that you keep your clients aware to avoid frustrations and lost business. Flexible signage options include LED message signs that can be mounted inside your window to be viewed from outside, or a changeable letter sign.
Signwave is ready to do a signage evaluation for your facility to make sure you’re winterized! Call us at 631-761-9292 or fill out the contact us form, and we’ll get started.
Why Do I Need an LED Retrofit?
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs, Digital signs, Office & Campus Signage, Retail & Restaurant Signs, Signs /by Cindy“Wow, it took me a while to find you guys!” Ever hear that from a customer, due to a dim, unlit, or damaged sign? At that point you call up your local sign shop and ask them to come out to replace a bulb, or check the wiring. At the time of the diagnosis they tell you that yes, they could replace the burned out fluorescent bulb or repair the wiring, but your best option would be to replace the entire works with an LED retrofit. Then they quote you a price that is quite a bit higher than a replacement bulb. What?!! You decide they’re trying to upsell you into a solution you simply don’t need. But what are the unseen costs you’re incurring by sticking with the old technology, and what is the ROI for making the switch?
Cost vs. Value
- Lower Maintenance Costs: LEDs cost less to maintain because you replace them less often. Fluorescent bulbs are cheap but fragile, and you have to pay for a bucket truck to come out and change them up to 2 or 3 times a year in some cases. LED lights running 10 hours a day can last up to a decade, meaning one trip to install and no more labor charge for years to come. Your LED retrofit could pay for itself in as little as 2 years.
- Lower Operating Costs: LEDs use about 1/3 of the energy of a fluorescent bulb, meaning your energy bills will be lower without sacrificing brightness. Also, fluorescents can lose up to half their output in cold weather, while LEDs continue to operate at full efficiency in both very high and very low temperatures.
- Increased Visibility: LEDs are brighter than fluorescents. A regular fluorescent sign bulb shines in 360 degrees, wasting light that shines toward the back of the sign. The light from LEDs is directed straight onto the sign face for increased brightness and readability. If one LED module burns out, the overall effect to the sign is much less than if an entire fluorescent bulb burns out.
- Reduced Environmental Impact: Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and phosphor, and must be disposed of in an environmentally conscious way. If your company has green initiatives and goals, LEDs are a necessity.
- You Can Keep Your Existing Cabinet: With an LED retrofit, you don’t need an entirely new sign. You can keep your existing cabinet and sign face, and our technicians will replace only the lighting elements. It’s a cost-efficient glow up for your sign that will immediately draw attention.
Double Your Value with a New Sign Face Too
Once your new lighting is in place, you may notice that your sign face suddenly looks a bit drab or old. Signwave’s experienced design team can create a bright, fresh graphic that will play off the new lighting perfectly. Done along with the retrofit install, you save even more money by avoiding two install trips. It’s a double whammy that will turn heads and draw in customers.
A Smart Choice with High ROI
Choosing to update your illuminated sign with an LED retrofit is a smart decision that we recommend because it’s our job to boost your business: to help you get more attention and save money. If your lightbox or pylon sign isn’t looking its best anymore, give Signwave a call. We can find the best solution for you.
How To Get The Lighting Right on Building Signs
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs /by DanHere’s a thought for your next building sign: dual-lit channel letters on a backer panel.
Reliable and energy-efficient LEDs illuminate both the front and rear faces of each channel letter element. The front faces are made of translucent polycarbonate available in any color you choose, allowing your logo to be faithfully rendered. With the rear faces being clear, the LEDs shine through creating a halo glow around each letter.
Each element is mounted on a backer panel. The distance from the panel that the letters are mounted will determine the intensity and size of the glow. And the panel itself will be designed to assure the desired color and refectivity. It will assure the desired color contrast to your logo regardless of the building’s exterior surface. The backer panel also serves as a “wireway,” allowing the installer to minimize the number of connections to the building’s electrical service.
The sign’s illumination can be regulated with a building timer, or with a photocell to automatically power the sign when it gets dark.
There are a good number of options to consider in designing an illuminated building sign. Your professional sign company will work with your designers, or create your signs straight out of your imagination. Call Signwave at 631.761.9292 to get started with a free consultation.
Vehicle Graphics FAQ
/0 Comments/in Signs, Uncategorized, Vehicle Wrap /by CindySo you want to turn your vehicle into a 24-hour-a-day billboard for your business but you’re not sure what that involves? Maybe you want to change the color of your personal car, or add some design elements to your motorcycle or boat? Below are a few of the most common questions we get when someone wants to know where to begin with vehicle graphics.
What are vehicle graphics?
We generally get two kinds of vehicle graphic requests: wraps and lettering. A wrap is created by printing with brilliant latex inks onto a specialized vinyl, then laminating it for longevity before applying it with pressure and heat to large sections of the vehicle. Wraps cover all the underlying paint so they can change the entire look of the vehicle. They’re a lot of fun and highly customizable. You can even cover windows with wrap vinyl; it’s a special perforated vinyl that gives the impression of a solid design from the outside, but you can see out from inside. Some wrap vinyl is created with specialty colors and finishes like color shifts, pearlized, matte finish, metallics, or even textures.
Lettering is done by cutting the designs out of a long-lasting, solid colored vinyl that is then transferred precisely onto the surface of your car, usually on the doors, rear, or windows. It’s a cost-effective way to use vinyl to customize your vehicle without everything that goes into a full wrap.
We can do full wraps, partial wraps, and combinations of wraps and lettering. As a custom sign shop, it’s our job to help you create exactly what you want.
Most vinyls are guaranteed for two years with reasonable care. In our experience it can last much longer than that, especially if you care for your wrap properly. More on that later.
Wraps can be removed and will not damage your paint, as long as the paint is in good condition at the time of wrapping. Most people find that the wrap protects the underlying paint.
You better believe it. Our experienced creative team will work with you to create the design that speaks your message best. Whether you just want to change the color of your car, or shout to the world that your business is out there and ready to serve, if you can dream it we can create it.
It depends! (You knew that was the answer, right?) Square footage, the amount of design, complexity of the install, all these contribute to the cost. All you need to do is call us or, better yet, bring your vehicle on over to our shop and we’ll get all the information we need to provide you a quote. And please don’t hesitate to tell us when you’re working in a budget, because we are happy to offer you what works best for your wallet.
A large van will take about 2 days, where a small van or sedan would take a day. If you have graphics on your vehicle already that need to be removed, we’ll account for that in our time estimate.
Don’t wash a freshly applied graphic for at least the first week. Hand washing is best, but you can run it through a car wash if you wish. We do NOT recommend ever power washing any kind of adhesive graphics as they may lift and begin to pull away from the surface. Parking inside will help increase the longevity of your graphics, if possible.
Call Signwave at 631-761-9292 or stop by and see us. We’d love to answer your questions in person and get you started with a beautiful and profitable vehicle wrap today!
What kinds of signs do you need for your business?
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs, Office & Campus Signage, Wall Graphics & Lobby Signs /by DanThere are so many types of signage that appear inside and outside of office buildings, commercial properties, hospitals and campuses. Each one gives an impression to all who work and visit there. What is your property signage saying? Let’s look at a few of the many ways your signage can help give your property appeal – or turn your visitors away:
Wayfinding and directional.
Are all parking lot entrances and exits clearly marked? Are the signs visible from the road, and from enough distance to assure drivers know where to turn in? Are the signs durable and attractive? Once in the parking lot, do visitors know how to navigate to the parking area and building entrance they need?
Exterior building signs.
Is the property management company clearly identified? Is branding of anchor tenants clearly visible? Is window signage used in attractive ways? Is all signage in compliance with local regulations?
Lobby signage.
Is there a directory of tenants that allows visitors to know how to reach their destination? Are all appropriate safety signs displayed? Is all signage in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act? Are elevators, staircases and public facilities clearly marked?
We can help with a sitewide audit of your signage to make sure it is doing all it can to make your property shine. Fill out our contact form, or give us a call at (631)761-9292.
Changeable Letter Sign For Dairy Queen
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs, Retail & Restaurant Signs /by John LiFranchisees need precision in following specifications to assure that their signage is exactly aligned with brand requirements. In Dairy Queen’s case, it means Lexan sign faces with translucent black vinyl and faithful renders of their their logos and brand. The changeable letter sign has rails so the backlit lettering can be easily swapped out depending on the special of the day. Read more
Safety Signs
/0 Comments/in Building & Property Signs, Press Releases, Signs /by DanThe Robert J. McMahon Children’s Center, part of the SCO Family of Services, is a residential center for children and adolescents with special needs. As part of their recent capital improvement program, they installed playground equipment throughout the grounds to provide a fun recreational outlet for their residents. The equipment went in without a hitch but one thing was missing – the signage to help ensure that the residents would enjoy a safe and injury-free environment.
Enter Signwave. We consulted with the facilities staff and did a complete site survey to determine the optimal placement, size, color, and content of all of the safety signage for their playground equipment throughout the property. We designed the iconography and text for maximum readability while assuring the look would be complementary to their existing site signage and branding.
We fabricated the signs using .040 aluminum with rounded corners to assure that there would be no sharp edges to snag on people or clothing. We printed with bright, long-lasting latex inks on calendared vinyl, and laminated it to assure protection against the harsh outdoor conditions. We acquired the specialty hardware needed to secure these signs to the chain link fences, posts and walls at the facility. Our installation crew was onsite and the project completed in a week from initial engagement.
Need to post rules for safety? Let’s make sure your signs take all of the details into consideration. Schedule an on-site review and ask us to review materials and mounting options with you.
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Long Island, NY • 631-761-9292 • © Signwave, LLC