Electric Monument Signs
First Place
Fabricator/Installer
Creative Sign Designs
Tampa
(813) 749-2452
www.creativesigndesigns.com
Designer
John Cash
Creative Sign Designs
Client
Martin Health
Creative Sign Designs certainly captured the spirit of innovation with its illuminated, atomic-shaped sculpture for the Tradition Center. The 18 x 32-ft. sign, which is mounted to a concrete base, required myriad equipment and materials to produce. Metal and acrylic components were cut on MultiCam and Cam Tech CNC routers, as well as a Vision laser engraver, and graphics were produced on a Graphtec vinyl cutter; a Mimaki wide-format, solvent-ink printer; a screenprinting press and a paint booth. The atomic structure was built from aluminum, with a clear-fiberglass nucleus painted with a glossy finish. Creative Sign Designs designed the “electron” from acrylic decorated with translucent-silver paint. To illuminate the sign, the shop installed Agilight white SignRayz® LEDs for the electron, and RGB modules for the rings. An infrared controller allows each ellipse to present a different color.
Second Place
Fabricator/Installer
DeNyse Signs
Douglasville, GA
(770) 942-0688
www.denyseco.com
Designer
Huie Design
Atlanta
(404) 892-0677
www.huiedesign.com
Client
North American Properties
Avalon, a mixed-use property in Alpharetta, GA that features luxury rental homes, single-family residential, retail, a theater and office space, required a dynamic sign that would appeal to a broad swath of potential residents and visitors. DeNyse constructed a Reuleaux triangle-shaped base, which measures 10 ft. tall x 22 ft., 4.75 in. deep. The aluminum-and-steel structure was then coated in a textured, faux-stone finish, and hand-sanded to simulate cast stone. To assist with erosion control on the property, and to ensure the footings and pieces matched precisely, DeNyse used a satellite-based, geo-locating system, and built the footings by hand.
The structure features two sets of 4-in.-thick, aluminum, reverse-lit letters that stand approximately 2 ft. tall; each is individually stud-mounted with 1-in. standoffs. Topping off each project name is the iconic Avalon shield. The aluminum and acrylic shield follows a routed, push-through construction method, which gives emblem details an alluring halo glow. Agilight Base G-1 LEDs, fueled by 1260 PS Slimline power supplies, illuminate the structure.
Cherrylion Studios (Atlanta) designed the sign’s 24-ft.-tall sculpture, and Puzio’s Iron Studio, also of Atlanta, built it. A 32-ton Elliott crane helped secure all pieces.
Third Place
Fabricator/Designer/Installer
L&H Companies
Reading, PA
(610) 898-9600
www.lhsigns.com
Client
Reformation Lutheran Church
Reiffton, PA’s Reformation Lutheran Church received a donation from a deceased member’s estate that was earmarked for a new monument sign. Proof positive the money was well spent. Bob McClennan, L&H’s director of marketing, said, “The church wanted to modernize its look and appeal to younger prospective members with a work of art that looked like stained glass at night.”
Scott Long and Michelle Kienle designed the program with CorelDRAW and SolidWorks 3-D rendering software, and the crew – John Heffner, Kane Mell and Paul Watson — fabricated the sign with aluminum extrusions and sheet, clear acrylic routed on a MultiCam CNC router and decorated with 3M translucent, second-surface vinyl, and metal components coated with Matthews acrylic-polyurethane paint. SloanLED white modules provide the nighttime glow. Joe Kaisen managed its installation.