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ARCHIVE: Category Archive for: Signage 101

In A Nutshell: Boston Redevelopment Signage Requirements

The Boston Redevelopment Authority recognizes that storefronts and signage significantly shape the character of a given district. To help control and improve that character, the BRA and the City of Boston have enacted regulations and established guidelines for the city as a whole, and for many special districts. The idea is to help ensure that storefronts and signage complement their local neighborhoods. Nevertheless, every effort is made to allow individual business owners to effectively promote their goods and services, and also to express their individuality and creative ideas. Over the years, Metro Sign and Awning has developed a good deal of expertise and experience in working with the various regulatory agencies, helping business owners, architects, and developers to realize their

Classic New England Signage

We can’t really take credit for this one. Browsing the web the other day we came across a blog that celebrates New England through signage you’re unlikely to see anywhere else. It resonated with our hearts as well as minds, so we decided to link to some of the photos it displays.   For example, we New Englanders have a unique way of stating things:   Thickly Settled   And we love our heritage, enough so that we’re unlikely to update a sign just because it is showing its age, like this one.   Slow School   Other areas of the globe have winter, but few of them are inhabited by people so comfortable with the annual changes in weather

Keeping Signage In Good Shape: Best Ways To Remove Graffiti

Keeping Signage In Good Shape: Best Ways To Remove Graffiti In today’s rough and tumble world, signage is subject not only to the usual wear and tear, but also to the appearance of graffiti. And that can be problematic, because if you don’t remove the graffiti within 24 hours, it’s likely to attract more of the same. That’s why, although we spend a lot more time thinking of what signage to build for our clients and the best ways to install it, we have also cultivated a certain degree of expertise in graffiti removal. That’s a big reason we sometimes select special materials – such as high pressure laminate – for signage intended for the MBTA or for schools, where

Signage in the News – Parking Guides, Indy 500, Train Signs and More

Have you discovered the Metro Sign and Awning Industry News page yet? Each week we gather information of interest to those in the sign industry, as well as business people who care about signage. Here are a few recent highlights: Los Angeles Introduces New Concepts in Signage Nikki Sylianteng had an idea. The designer reached out to Seleta Reynolds, who was about to take over as Director of Los Angeles’ Department of Transportation. As a result, about 100 brand new parking control signs are currently being tried out in a 15-block area near downtown Los Angeles. The goal is to develop a new generation of simple, well-designed signs that tell drivers where they can and cannot park their cars at

Issues in Sign Illumination

It’s understandable that local communities would want to regulate the signs that businesses install. City residents are naturally interested in maintaining high standards regarding community appearance and aesthetics. The problem is that local codes can easily become overly restrictive, and inadvertently prevent business owners from advertising in legitimate ways, particularly as technology and community standards change. Sign lighting is one of the most problematic issues within this regulatory arena. For example, many communities have regulations that simply assume nighttime illumination of signage is automatically harmful and unsightly. As a result, these communities often enact overly restrictive codes that can negatively impact the community’s economic health, as well as impose unnecessary costs on small business owners struggling to keep their heads

Channel Letter Signs Offer Many Advantages

Channel letters are among the most common signs we make, and for good reason. They are cost effective, easily shaped, extremely vivid (when designed well), and long lasting. Here are a few facts you probably don’t know about channel letter signage: 1. Because of the innate flexibility of channel letter fabrication, these three-dimensional signs can be made in almost any font or graphical shape, in almost any size, color and style. The major limitation on channel letter signage tends to be local zoning codes and other regulations. 2. Channel letters displayed against a solid color background can be seen and recognized from great distances. One common guideline is to size the letters 1.5 inches high for every 25 feet you

5 Things You Didn’t Know About ADA Signage

The term “ADA Signs” is now in widespread use among architects, general contractors, developers, and signage experts. “ADA” stands, of course, for the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the term “ADA Signs” is misunderstood almost as often as it is interpreted correctly. For example: 1. A great many people believe that “ADA Signs” refers to those containing Braille symbols for the benefit of people who are visually impaired. That’s like saying elevators are installed in buildings for the benefit of people who are unable to climb stairs. The claim is true, as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. While signs containing Braille and other raised characters are a highly visible expression of the ADA requirements,

Metro Sign & Awning Announces A New E-Book on the Intricacies of Wayfinding Signage

We’ve written in this space about wayfinding signs more than once, but we’re still getting questions about them from business owners, architects, developers and construction industry people. To satisfy their curiosity and give everyone a place to start finding answers on their own, we’ve now compiled a brand new e-book on Wayfinding Signage. It covers such important topics as: What makes wayfinding signage so difficult to do well? Why bother struggling to get wayfinding signage just right? How to take the big first step on any wayfinding signage project. and much more. As experts in wayfinding (and other) signage, we actively enjoy sharing what we know with others. So it was fun for us to compile this easy-to-read e-book, which

Today’s Signage Quiz (Number 3 in a Series)

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: How many ways can you easily calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) of your signage: a) In comparison with other advertising expenditures. b) In comparison with any other expenditure – a purely financial calculation. c) In comparison with your competitors’

6 Things I Know About Basketball and the Sign Business part II

What a game, right? Now you know why I wanted to take a break. This is Part 2 of my blog post, 6 Things I Know About Basketball (and the Sign Business). In case you missed Part 1, find it here. 4. It’s not all fun and games. Taking your play to the next level Of course winning feels good. But even when our team is playing top-notch ball, we know there’s a team out there that could beat us. And particularly with young athletes, we know the competition is going to get tougher each year.  As a coach, I have to balance letting the girls enjoy the game and their successes while at the same time pushing them to

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