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Project Spotlight: AmpliTech 

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Innovative Company, Innovative Signage

Named one of the top 10 most innovative telecom solutions companies in 2022 by Inc. Magazine, AmpliTech is headquartered right here in our own Long Island Innovations Park in Hauppauge. They design, develop, and manufacture custom leading-edge RF components for the commercial, SATCOM, space, and military markets. Signwave was proud to partner with them in 2022 to design, fabricate, and install all the signage for their new building on Plant Ave.

 

Exterior Wayfinding Signs

 It was important to the founder that we begin with the exterior monument signage, to firmly establish the AmpliTech name in the industrial park community. We determined the best solution to be a durable, double-sided, sculpted foam monument with faux stone base, aluminum faces with printed vinyl graphics, and dimensional letters on the capstone for the address. The sign is externally illuminated with ground lighting. One of the many benefits of using removable faces on the base material is that they can be easily replaced if there is any accidental damage, or if the logo needs an update. Placed prominently at the corner of Plant Ave and Oser Ave–one of the main industrial park thoroughfares–the sign stands out as a beautiful and practical tool for brand recognition.

This monument sign captures attention and markets a brand on a main industrial park road.

 
Additional wayfinding signs can also be found at the two entrance driveways. They prevent any confusion between the delivery area and parking for staff and visitors. We also created custom aluminum signs to clarify the uses for the different doors in the rear, and to mark parking spaces for visitors (using U channels) and executives (placed directly along the back wall). Printed vinyl graphics on the glass front door are standard for many of our customers, and we included that in our signage package for AmpliTech as well.

Wayfinding is easy when you clearly mark your visitor and delivery entrances.

 

Interior Signage and Design

 Once inside, you’re immediately greeted by the clean and modern lobby design. This includes a clear acrylic wall sign with printed custom vinyl graphics applied to the back surface facing out, a technique known as second surface installation. The sign is mounted to the wall using standoffs. The combination of standoffs–which, as the name indicates, raises the sign out so it “stands off” the wall, plus the second surface graphics give multiple layers of dimension to a simple but effective sign.

Second surface vinyl with standoffs gives multiple layers of dimension to this lobby sign.

One of the focal spots in the office is a beautiful full wall mural using a photograph of a key moment in the company’s history: when they were added to the NASDAQ stock exchange. It serves as both a commemoration and an inspiration on a daily basis. Unfortunately, one of the key staff members was not visible in this photo. It was very important to everyone that he be included, so Signwave’s designers stepped up to add him in using the magic of photo editing. Light, shadow, and positioning all had to be accounted for, and the work is so seamless we’d challenge anyone to pick out the “new addition.” Signwave is extremely proud of the talents of our staff designers.

A mural celebrating a company milestone brightens the office.

 Speaking of inspiration, we were also tasked with creating a motivational word wall for the break room. After going through several “word cloud” type designs. the customer landed on a motivational quote. This quote from another technology company figurehead you may have heard of, rendered in company logo colors, reminds everyone that they are important to the team’s success.

Motivational wall art is a colorful touch in the break room.

 
And not least, we created some custom gallery wrap canvas prints for the CEO’s office. Again we used our staff’s photo editing talents to create beautiful artwork that harkens back to the company’s momentous entry into the stock exchange. Installing canvas wraps in such a way that they all line up evenly is challenging, but Signwave installers are up to the task. And using removable mounting hardware means that the canvasses can be rotated out or relocated without damaging the walls.

Custom canvas gallery wraps capture some of the biggest moments in company history so far.

 

Learn More

 To learn more about AmpliTech and all they offer, visit their website HERE. 
And to learn how Signwave can help you promote, outfit, and maximize your new working space from floor to ceiling and outside too, give us a call at 631-761-9292 or fill out the website “Contact Us” form.
 
 
 

3 Reasons You Should Winterize Your Signs

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The 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.

It’s a Sun Sign Day – Building Signage Evolves With The Brand

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SUNation, a leading Ronkonkoma-based provider of solar energy services, developed a brand that was all about the sun. They first came to us in 2017 for a building sign that displays the pride the company has in their people and services. Signwave’s design challenge was to create something that looked great by day, but really performed after dark. We created a dual-lit channel letter sign with halo lighting reflecting on the wall behind the sunburst in their logo. We printed the front faces for the channel letters on translucent vinyl that retained excellent vibrancy either front-lit (during daylight) or backlit (after dark.)

illuminated channel lettering

The original SUNation sign from 2017

Fast forward to 2022, when SUNation underwent a complete brand refresh and new logo. Signwave was called in to update the building sign accordingly. Because of our previous experience with the company, the brand, the building and the Town of Islip, we were able to rollout the new signage on spec, on budget, and on schedule.  Congratulations to the SUNation team on your brand refresh!

Installation day!

The beautiful finished sign

If your company is planning branding changes, please contact Signwave at 631.761.9292 to assure your building and office signage, as well as vehicle graphics, are transitioned to your new brand identity.

Project Spotlight: Studio631

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Full Facility Signage for Offices

Today we’re proud to spotlight a recent full facility signage project for Studio631 Recordings in Islandia. Studio631 provides a professional studio experience for artists at every stage of recording whether you’re a performer or a producer. Niko and Matt came to Signwave as they were building out their new space on Patco Court, knowing that they needed a combination of bold branding and clear wayfinding. Using their logo, Signwave put together a custom package that solved all their challenges both creatively and practically.

Exterior Facility Signs

Initially the owners only wanted exterior signage. Because the building management has established signage design standards, we created a painted pan face overdoor sign with clean lettering to match the other building tenants. But we added the company logo to the door in cut white vinyl for a little individuality.

cut vinyl on a painted pan face sign plus cut vinyl on glass door

The exterior signage meets the landlord’s requirements while still utilizing the logo font for individuality.

Custom Lobby Sign

As we worked together, Niko and Matt developed a trust in our design and fabrication expertise and asked us for ideas for a lobby sign. We were able to create a very modern clear acrylic panel sign with dimensional painted letter and flat cut black vinyl, all mounted to the wall on standoffs. The different levels of material in the sign create multiple visual effects with light and shadow, and the owners loved the beautiful finished product.

clear acrylic with dimensional letters and vinyl on standoffs

The logo sign for the Studio 631 lobby wows with several layers of dimension: a clear acrylic panel with dimensional letters layered over black cut vinyl, on standoffs so the shadows add even more depth.

Custom Flag Signs

As we worked on the lobby sign, they realized it would be necessary to mark each studio with a separate wayfinding sign. So Signwave went to work again to create a custom design that would fit the studio aesthetic while providing clear direction to the various locations down the hallway. Our final design gives the impression of an old school vinyl record, using logo elements and font on a double-sided circular flag sign.

printed vinyl circular flag sign

A closeup of the Studio 631 flag signs, custom printed on vinyl with corporate colors and logo elements

circular flag signs mark studio doors

Each studio is marked with a custom double-sided circular flag sign.

Signage projects often evolve as the process moves forward. Signwave has the creative solutions and flexibility to help solve all your facility signage challenges. Give us a call at 631-761-9292 and see how we can help you!

3 Reasons You Should Winterize Your Signs

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It’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?

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Fluorescents can be a fire hazard. This sign is a perfect opportunity for a retrofit.

“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

An LED bar that fits into your fluorescent fittings

  • 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.

    Each LED element is quickly and easily installed into your existing sign cabinet.

  • 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.

 

An LED retrofit plus an update to the vinyl face makes the K&M Truck Repair lightbox stand out in Ronkonkoma

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.

Neon – It’s a Gas!

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The Las Vegas strip. The Pike Place Market sign. Times Square. These words probably all draw up images in your mind that have one thing in common: NEON. For over 100 years, the technology used to create neon lights has remained very much the same, and purists the world over still rely on it for colorful, eye-catching signage. From large, show-stopping outdoor signs to small interior window signs, here’s a little background info you might not know about your favorite gas!

The Discovery of Neon and History of the Neon Light

The chemical element neon was first discovered in 1898 by British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers, who at that same time discovered two other inert gases: argon and xenon. When isolated inside a sealed tube, the neon emitted a very bright reddish-orange glow. However because so little of the gas was extracted during their small-scale air liquefaction process, it was too costly to use in quantity. It wasn’t until 1910 that Air Liquide business owner George Claude was able to produce enough neon in his larger-scale process to make it practical for use in lighting applications. His first attempt at neon lighting, to be used in home settings, was unsuccessful. But once he was able to channel the neon light’s extreme brightness and unusual tint into signage applications, the demand began to grow. He sold the first neon signs in the United States to a Packard dealership in Los Angeles in 1923.

Just three years later, Jacques Risler of France discovered how to create additional colors in neon. By coating the sealed tube containing the gas with different fluorescent coatings or “phosphors,” the ultraviolet light emitted by the gases inside caused the tube to glow with various colors. Colors outside the red/orange spectrum usually have additional compounds added to enhance the color, such as argon and mercury. By the 1960s there were about two dozen color options available, and today there are almost 100.

Iconic Neon

Here are just a few examples of how neon can be used to create signs that are recognizable the world around.

Classic Texas barbecue neon sign

The grandfather of all neon cities, Las Vegas

The Pike Place Public Market in Seattle boasts one of the most recognizable neon signs in the US.

Neon can be fabricated in a wide variety of colors

Your (Business) Name in Lights

One of the main benefits offered by neon signage is its longevity. A well cared for neon sign can last for years, even decades. But just as in the early 1900s, neon can be very costly to fabricate and repair, making it outside the budget of many small businesses. So what alternatives have come along? Enter LED technology.

Just a few of the color options in LED neon style rope lighting

LED (light-emitting diode) technology is used in just about every illuminated sign we create at Signwave, from lightboxes to channel letters. It’s super bright, cool to touch, energy efficient, versatile, long-lasting, and affordable. There are even LED rope products that can mimic the look of classic neon tubing with more flexibility and color variety. With all the options that LED technology opened up, a classic-looking neon sign with modern benefits is in anyone’s reach.

Are You Ready To Be Iconic?

Whether you’ve been in business for 40 years or 40 days, you can be a neighborhood icon with the right signage. Are you ready? Call Signwave today and we’ll come to you for a consultation and site visit. We can help you stand out in the crowd.

 

 

 

color precision, color match, color perfection, color matching, sign color

Getting the Sign Colors Right

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“Close Enough” isn’t good enough when it comes to your brand. Good signage has to match a business’ brand — everything from the establishment’s overall aesthetics, to the packaging, even their ad campaigns. If signage and branding don’t match, then recognizability will suffer as a result. A sign might be highly visible, but it won’t “click,”if it doesn’t connect with the product or business. But when it’s done right, when the sign colors and style match the brand, your signage will stand out and bring the customers in.  
Read more

Property sign for Brentmako, Long Island, NY

What kinds of signs do you need for your business?

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There 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:

Employee Entrance sign

Employee Entrance sign at Designatronics

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.

Northport Wellness Center outdoor directory sign

Outdoor directory sign for a Medical Center in Northport, NY

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?

A&E logo wall graphics

A&E logo closeup

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.

Interior logo graphics installation

Corporate Logos For A&E Networks, New York City

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The Unseen Value In Signage

A&E Networks is a leading global entertainment brand based in midtown Manhattan. With internationally renowned cable and satellite channels such as History, Lifetime, FYI and Viceland, they needed an exceptional level of quality in their corporate logo signage to extend the imprimatur of their brand to the staff and guests that daily inhabit the 17 floors of their office building. That’s where Signwave’s fabrication team answered the call. With laser cut acrylic logos created to meet their exact material and design specifications, we fabricated and installed complete lettersets,  located in the corridors opposite each floor’s main elevator banks.  Read more

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