ARCHIVE: Category Archive for: Exterior Signage

Why It’s So Easy to Love Neon Lights

Neon lights evoke a certain nostalgia. This long-lived lighting, while not as efficient as LED neon lights, is durable and long-lived, often lasting for 50 years or more. The technology behind neon is over 100 years old. Its invention predates the battery, phonograph & other simpler technology. Still a favorite of interior architects because of its uniqueness as an American experience especially in the post-WWII era, the neon light owes its existence to another innovation: the process of air liquefaction. This process converts gases (like neon) to liquid via cooling and reheating. However, because bulbs require large quantities of neon and pure neon is difficult to obtain, it took 10 years after developing air liquefaction to patent neon lamps. Learn

For more than 100 years, neon signs have blazed brightly, humming faintly as their curved and bent tubes illuminate the night. From New York’s Times Square and Miami’s Ocean Drive, to Las Vegas’s strip and Tokyo’s Shinjuku, neon light signs advertise products, companies, and so much more. An Evolution in Technology Neon’s lo-fi tech made it attractive to even smaller businesses. Barber shops and restaurants, bars and local entertainment venues hung signs to attract attention. These bright, colorful signs shine even through dense fog and rain. But they’re still more expensive than LED neon signage. In fact, the very first neon signs cost up to $12,000. While prices have dropped considerably, they still represent a significant investment of marketing dollars.

Find out what it takes for your brand to be recognized and remembered with our comprehensive guide to apartment branding.

2021 Signage Trends

An explosion of technology innovation has fueled and supported creativity across many industries — and the signage industry is no exception. Companies — retailers, business owners, healthcare facilities, and other entire industries — have been forced to strategize ways to remain relevant and profitable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The signage industry has been right there offering unique solutions to help companies achieve their goals in part by upgrading, rebranding, or revamping their images. But what does that look like in 2021? A return to minimalism A focus on sustainability Increased use of digital signage Diverse innovations Greater personalization Expanded faux finishes More Interaction Refreshed Wayfinding Celebrating Minimalism Constantly bombarded by messages and tens of thousands of images daily, we crave a

Banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions reap many benefits from effective signage. Well-designed and placed signs can: Grow outreach Promote financial products, services, and branch events Share news and other updates with customers and employees Improve customer experiences Enhance inside and outside wayfinding Visual elements echoed in each branch create a cohesive journey for customers. From bold, eye-catching monument, blade, and pylon signs to window graphics, posters, and electronic signs, we’ve got you covered. Invest in Your Brand Our Metro teams help you communicate brand messages through different graphic opportunities — wall graphics, channel letter sets, monument signs — to communicate stability, reliability, and great service. Wrentham Cooperative Bank When Wrentham Cooperative Bank rebranded, Metro teamed up with NES Group

You’d think a parking garage would be a fairly cut and dry project, with color-coded signs for each level, arrows to direct traffic flow, ADA signage, elevator occupancy signs, and indications pointing out stairwells, right? Well, like the posted 5 mph speed limit, not so fast. A lot more planning and coordination goes into designing, manufacturing, and installing signs for a parking deck than it first appears. Metro began work on the Hamilton Canal Innovation District Parking Structure in collaboration with general contractor Shawmut Design and Construction of Boston, MA. In addition to providing signage for the brand new parking structure, future plans for this project include creating and installing signs for the office building yet to come. Collaboration and

Whenever a client requests a sign that’s a little different from the norm, the Metro Sign team gets excited. We love a good challenge! Workers Credit Union, in Littleton, MA, needed interior and exterior signs for its new headquarters and office. We partnered with general contractor Nauset Construction Corporation to create the signage package, which included a unique canopy sign. The first challenge: The canopy sign had to sit on top of a custom steel and glass canopy, which certainly limited how we could safely attach it. The second challenge: It had to look great not just from the front, but from the back, too, because it was clearly visible from a second floor conference room whose windows overlooked the

Lights! Camera! Action! In 2019, the family-owned and operated Majestic Cinemas began a major build-out at the Arsenal Yards shopping center. It included an exciting signage package to draw the attention of prospective visitors to the new movie theater. The signs complement this eclectic collection of retail, restaurant, and entertainment spaces in Watertown, MA’s historic Arsenal Yards. Metro incorporated color-changing LEDs into the canopy and blade signs. This approach allows the theater to adjust the colors to highlight seasons, events, holidays, and featured new releases. Edits on the Cutting Room Floor The space that houses the theater was once an old tank armory and factory. Boylston Properties and The Wilder Companies collaborated to convert this old brick building into an upscale

Well-designed signage allows companies — including financial institutions like banks and credit unions — to increase brand awareness and build trust among their customers. Static and dynamic signage can become powerful communications tools that help to: Build your brand and create a presence on the street Promote competitive differentiators including rates and unique services Highlight a bank’s mission and driving ideals Present information in more easily understandable chunks Offer wayfinding for people navigating by car or foot People expect to see wayfinding signs on college and business campuses, in museums and hospitals, or in retail shopping centers. Financial institutions also benefit from wayfinding, however, including exterior directional signage, parking signs, or property protection signs and interior signs that help control foot

In early spring of 2020, Manzo Freeman Development (MFD) — a privately-owned commercial real estate firm — reached out to Metro Sign and Awning with an idea for a new signage project. Metro had previously designed and installed a curved canopy for The Landing at Hudson Mills. Pleased with that design, creativity, and quality fabrication of the canopy at the Hudson Mills’ entrance, MFD had a new project in mind: a free-standing sign at the parking lot entrance. A Cost-Effective Solar Solution MFD wanted its new sign to reflect the company’s updated branding. The project, however, faced a pretty significant challenge: powering the LED lights in the new parking lot sign. This sign stood quite a distance from the Hudson Mills