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Author: Erin Bartholomew

orion arlington lakes monument sign

Signs for the Future

monument sign for Orion Arlington Lakes Apartment homes
A new monument sign for Orion Arlington Lakes Apartment Homes

While you are deciding how to approach the future of your business, your clients will also have their eyes on the future. Now is the time to solidify the relationship your business has with loyal customers, as well as attract new potential clients.

With the world changing so quickly around us, it can be easy to feel lost and unsure how to proceed. Sign Artist continues to assist our clients in preparing for the future, and we recommend taking this time of working remotely and unorthodox schedules to revisit your approach to business. Although Sign Artist specializes in signs of all kinds and other interior graphics, our graphic designer is available to tackle a wide range of design problems. Do you feel like your logo needs a refresh? Now is the very best time to update your branding. This may entail changing/modernizing your logo, replacing interior elements like wayfinding and ADA signs, updating lobby signs, and even trying something new like a large format photo wall mural.

Wayfinding signs help your customers navigate easily

With a wide pool of choices, first impressions on clients are more important than ever. To compete in the world beyond the internet, you will need to update all identifying features for your business. Signs should be kept clean, repaired, and replaced whenever necessary. Even if this may just entail changing the graphics in a cabinet sign, Sign Artist will be there to guide you through the process.

Cabinet sign for Great Northern Instore
Sign Artist replaced the sign faces in this cabinet sign for Great Northern Instore

How can you start planning when you are working from home, or not able to meet with us in person? For the present, Sign Artist is conducting meetings and site visits virtually, and we will be flexible to your technology needs. For clients who do not wish to use Zoom, or other video apps, we can use phone and email to exchange information. With photos and measurements, our graphic designer will be able to create accurate renderings of your future sign in its destined location.

At Sign Artist, we believe in being there for clients. With the rise of Covid-19, we are also rising to the occasion with creativity, flexibility, and availability. We will continue to provide the very best in signage, customer service, and innovation.

great northern instore acrylic dimensional letters on exterior of building

Great Northern Instore Signs

Sign Artist was exited to provide Great Northern Instore with new acrylic and cabinet signs.

Great Northern Instore acrylic dimensional letters on a brick building
Custom dimensional letters pop on the Great Northern building.

Sign Artist turned the Great Northern logo into an acrylic dimensional letter sign. We also created a new cabinet sign, showcasing the logo in a different way.

Great Northern Instore cabinet sign on exterior wall
New Cabinet sign on the Great Northern building.
cabinet sign with Great Northern Instore panels
Sign Artist fabricated new panels for a lighted cabinet sign featuring the logo and building number.

Sign Artist Tip: Many lighted cabinet signs are able to be updated with new panels every few years, so be sure to keep your lit signage looking up-to-date! Contact us to learn more.

Great Northern Instore cabinet sign lit up.
Cabinet sign illuminated!
ADA compliant suite sign

It’s In The Details: ADA Signs

ADA compliant library meeting room signs.
Elmhurst Public Library welcomes people with disabilities by using ADA signage.

ADA Signage is important to extend accessibility to employees and clients with disabilities. Sign Artist is able to provide custom, unique, and attractive ADA-compliant wayfinding signs, office suite markers, and restroom and stairway signs. These signs make navigating your office or building much easier for clients. Contact the Sign Artist team to create signs that will make your business or office space easier to navigate for everyone.

Suite sign with ADA compliant braille text.
Braille text extends readability for the visually impaired in this suite sign.
ADA compliant custodial sign
Accessibility must be taken into account for all signage situations.

window graphic for york solutions

Custom Window Graphics

window graphic for York Solutions

Cut vinyl window graphics are multi-functional signs that can display your brand, give directions, and impart information like hours and phone numbers.

Another great thing about window cut vinyl is that it can be applied on any window or glass door, interior and exterior. Durable, easily changeable, and quick to install, cut vinyl window graphics are the choice for many savvy business owners.

Window Graphic for law group

The options for colors, fonts, and images are endless! You can have printed vinyl in your personal brand colors, or sleek white or black. Sign Artist Inc. is able to design, produce, and install any custom window graphic you could want.

Dimensional Letters Add Excitement

image of brushed metel lawyer sign on brown wall.
The Law Offices of Jonathan Merel chose Sign Artist brushed dimensional letters.
brushed metel university sign on orange wall
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) chose a dynamic red wall which looks great with brushed metal dimensional letters.

Dimensional letters and logos from Sign Artist are highly customizable and come in numerous materials, colors and finishes. We can match your company colors or give your logo a sleek, new look with brushed metal faces.

brushed metal university sign on brick wall.
Turn your vector logo into a key part of your office decor with Sign Artist.

When it comes to deciding how to brand your office space with your unique identity, be sure to consider Sign Artist dimensional letters and speak with our team today.

pop up banner stands

Quick Banners and Banner Stands

Not every sign has to be forever. Sign Artist can provide your business with temporary signage like large format banners and pop-up banner stands. Banners will quickly deliver the message.

Banner for Quick Service Auto Care

High resolution printing and a fresh design from Sign Artist’s graphic designer makes this banner stand out.

Pop up banner stands with Granite Transformations brand

Great for events and short term displays at trade shows and conventions, pop-up banner stands are a portable and highly visible way to get your message across.

Contact the Sign Artist team to get your temporary signage needs solved!

Choosing Sign Fonts

So many fonts, and so many unique choices! A business owner in the process of choosing a new sign may find themselves overwhelmed with available options. Sign Artist wants to share some tips on how to chose typefaces that are appealing, but also legible.

Law office sign on brown wall
University sign on red wall
The wall colors make these silver signs pop!

Fonts that work well in print may not always lead to readability on a large scale. Very thin fonts, or fonts with large stylized flourishes, will be difficult for many people to read.

Some of the most stylized fonts available on the internet are from places like 1001fonts.com. Many of these free fonts are so textured or complicated that they do not lend themselves easily to legibility. To create a professional sign for your business, Sign Artist advises owners to proceed with caution when choosing free fonts.

Hard to read fonts
Try reading these while driving down the highway…

Sign Artist’s font advice? Stick with the classics. A font like Century Gothic or Garamond can easily be just as exciting if stylized with color and texture.

Century Gothic and Garamond fonts
Century Gothic and Garamond are both fonts that are easy to read on signage.

After all, the most fun type of sign is the sign that can be read by everybody!

Ice Cream shop font
A simple font with fun colors and mascot!
FBI ADA signs

Effective Wayfinding Signage

We’ve all been there: visiting an unfamiliar office park for the first time, desperately looking for some clue of where we are. The entrance signs are too small, or placed out of view, and we waste precious minutes attempting to find our final destination. This is what Sign Artist Inc. wants to help clients with: effective wayfinding signage.

Making your business accessible to everyone is also a by-product of effective wayfinding design. Large, easy-to-read fonts, and ADA compliance where applicable all work together to assist those of your customers who need them. 

No matter how artistic and attractive a wayfinding sign is, it is not a good design if it is illegible, or unnecessarily  complicated. The old Graphic Design rule stands: the most beautiful designs combine form and function. That means, they should be just as practical as they are pleasing to the eye.

Worker holds the new letter T

Roosevelt University

When the Roosevelt University sign became Roosevel University, the Sign Artist team stepped up to replace the missing “T”. 

Roosevelt University
Close Up of Missing Channel Letter

First, we made sure the injured “T” got where it needed to go safely…

Large Letter T that was damaged
Seatbelt over the damaged letter T

Then we made a replica “T”…

Worker holds the new letter T

And up it went! The Sign Artist team was exited to help Roosevelt University repair its sign and illuminate downtown Chicago better than ever!

Roosevelt University sign with new letter T in place.