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Just for Fun: Funny Signs

Steeped as we are in the sign business, we make a serious effort to do our jobs as perfectly as we can. But we also get a laugh now and then from signs that “fail,” as well as those that are intentionally funny.Here are a few signs that have been tickling our funny bones during the past few days. This one proves it’s possible to get a laugh without using words at all: (Can you guess what happens to the road after it crests that rise?) But some signs are funny for the self-referential thoughts they express. Like this one: and this one: Or equally well, for the lack of thought they express: Some signs make much ado about nothing,

Drive or walk along a commercial thoroughfare and you’ll notice that most of the signs – mounted flush on the fronts of the buildings – are extremely difficult to see from anywhere but directly in front of each shop. That’s not good for business. To improve visibility in these situations, one of the best technologies the signage industry has developed is the so-called “blade” sign. The name describes any sign that extends directly out from the surface of a structure – usually perpendicular to a building’s wall – and thereby presents its full face to all the traffic moving along the side of the building (see accompanying photo). Under most conditions, blade signs can be two-sided, effectively attracting attention from

When you think about it, signage is not just a single specialty, like auto repair or dentistry. It’s a combination of several different functions and activities, including design, outdoor construction, marketing, fabrication with specialty materials, and more. In different situations, we put these skills together in various combinations to provide our customers with whatever type of signage meets their highly specific requirements. Such is the case with Interior Signage, which is one of our specialties that we haven’t mentioned often enough. Interior signage projects come in all levels of complexity, and depending on the project can require us to do everything from designing to building the various signs. Our fabrication team is expert at working will all types of materials, doing

Inside Metro Signs – John McNally, Lead Fabricator It’s just another day at the factory for John McNally, the lead fabricator and working foreman in Metro Sign and Awning’s fabrication shop. It usually starts with an intense look at one of the sketches the design department hands off to him when they give the go ahead to build a new sign. “Then it’s up to me,” says John. “Basically, I have to figure out the best way to build it so it lasts.” Living in a world of square and rectangular tubing, sheet metal, and various kinds of clear and translucent plastic, John keeps busy using band saws, radial arm saws, welding equipment and very high bonding adhesives to slice

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which first became the law of the land in 1991, has made incalculable improvements in the lives of countless people. More recently revised in 2010 and made mandatory as of March 15, 2012 for virtually all new construction and renovations, the ADA has resulted in a system of “best practices” that make it possible for disabled persons to access and enjoy an extremely wide range of public and private built environments. Many people think the ADA just requires Braille on certain signs, but it’s considerably more comprehensive than that. Compliance can impact a great many of your project’s signage (and design/construction) specifications. Unfortunately, the ADA’s requirements are sometimes ambiguous. That’s one reason Metro Sign

It’s hard to drive or walk far in today’s built-up areas without encountering a pylon sign, sometimes called a pole sign or a roadside sign. As the name implies, this is single- or double-sided signage supported above ground level on some kind of slim vertical support. Along highways, pylon signage can tower 200 feet or even higher. In urban areas, they’re likely to top out at 30 feet or so, the better to be visible to foot traffic and to link the sign’s messaging more closely to a particular piece of real estate. The pylon sign itself usually consists of an illuminated sign cabinet supported by one or two unembellished poles, which may be square, round, or of an interesting

OK. We admit it: we love signs and signage. It’s fascinating. We can’t get enough. And we love to learn more about technology, industry developments, and basically anything that has anything to do with signs. That’s why we’re fascinated by the following stories (and we hope you are too): “Judge Rules … Signage Rules … Unconstitutional” It’s far away, but Saugutuck, MI, is the location where a county judge recently decided that restrictions on signage are unconstitutional! Basically, a couple of homeowners posted signs declaring their opinions on a very large number of matters (see accompanying photo). Neighbors objected, and the case found its way to court. The result? Now there’s a new precedent that gives property owners virtually unlimited

How much do you really know about signs and signage? Avid readers of this Metro Sign and Awning blog are probably near-experts in signs and signage, with a detailed understanding of signage technology and an encyclopedic knowledge of signage history. To see how much you know, here’s a quick quiz based on previous posts in this blog. How many answers can you get right? All the answers should be known to you, provided you’ve been reading this blog: Question 1: The new “T” Logo and wayfinding signs that our Metro Sign and Awning installation crew fitted at the MBTA’s new Beverly Depot was among the finishing touches on a facility that includes: a) Parking for more than 1,200 vehicles. b) A

Wearing three different hats at work is a great way to insure your days are always busy. But three hats aren’t really enough to cover all the work that Sue Curran does at Metro Sign and Awning. A typical day can involve her in anything and everything from setting up and networking a new computer to invoicing vendors, generating statements for customers, and handling payments, in addition to the never-ending Human Resources work that goes with that part of her title. But her main priority, she says, is “making sure everyone is feeling good about their job, and about working at Metro.” To that end, Sue tries to maintain a schedule of what she calls “extracurricular activities.” These can lead

Monument signs have a great look: solid, substantial, historic, even permanent. Such three-dimension constructions have a long history, having been made for generations from stone, earth, and other long-lasting materials, and more recently from semi-permanent materials such as concrete, stucco, and brick. But you’d be surprised to learn how easily we can achieve that look with lightweight, low-cost materials and processes. Today, monument signs can be fabricated “to order” from man-made materials that give that permanent look while being lighter, easier, and cheaper to fabricate, transport, and install. Modern Materials; Venerable Look These modern monuments often begin with a solid core of molded expanded polystyrene or something similar, bonded onto one or more vertical PVC pipes that will later provide