2008 International Sign Contest

FIRST PLACE

Fluoresco, SPD and the City of Las Vegas engineers collaborated to revitalize and transform a struggling Sin City neighborhood into the vibrant Fremont East entertainment district. Lutz referenced Googie architecture to devise the 30-ft. gateway sign, and several icons from former Vegas landmarks to create the icons. Fluoresco fabricated the signature neon sculptures (which rise from traffic medians throughout the district), banners, street signage and pavement medallions that recount the area’s history (see ST, November 2007, page 104).

SECOND PLACE

Developers built the Otay Ranch, a Chula Vista, CA shopping center, where a Spanish-style ranch had once stood overlooking the Pacific. To reference this history, RSM created environmental graphics that prominently feature a California Cattle Brand motif, a randing-iron logo, hacienda-style gateways, wall hangings and tile friezes – SignTech fabricated the aluminum hangings and tiles with a Flow Intl. waterjet cutter or the shop’s Gerber Sabre 408 router, then faux-finished with Matthews acrylic-polyurethane paint to replicate wrought iron and ceramics. Halo lighting fashioned with Sloan LED modules complements the monument sign and brand icons integrated throughout the property. Sign Industries handled installation.

THIRD PLACE

To develop this Chicagoland lifestyle center, RSM considered the work of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and developed a theme that centered on butterfly wings. To fabricate the program, SignTech implemented pre-cast concrete, brick, stone, bronze, ceramic tiles and artisanal glass. The building marquee, designed to resemble a vintage theatre, features an array of colored Sloan LED modules, neon tubing and incandescents to create its lively ambience. To create the spandrels that emanate from several buildings, SignTech routed acrylic panels and applied translucent digital prints, produced on SignTech’s Mimaki JV5 solvent-ink printer, with an overlaid, waterjet-cut aluminum panel to emulate leaded art glass. To provide the entry monument’s three-sided illumination, fabricators heat-formed acrylic returns for the LED-lit logo and letterforms. Olympic Sign handled installation duties.

HONORABLE MENTION

Commercial Monument Signs