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Today’s Signage Quiz (Number 2 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: The pylon sign is a single- or double-sided sign cabinet, illuminated, and supported above ground level on slim vertical support single or double poles. The shape of these supports may be: a) Plain and unembellished. b) Square. c) Round. d)

News From the World of Signage

News From the World of Signage Vintage Neon Signs Convey An ‘Old-Time’ Feel From the early 1920s to the late 1960s, neon signs were – if not “the bee’s knees” – at least a high-tech expression of the signage industry’s latest and greatest. In the intervening years, new technologies (up to and including color LEDs) have made neon signs look dated, which is enough not only for designers to start re-using that technology to evoke an “old style” look, but for collectors to move in and devote themselves to acquiring, preserving, and displaying the neon arts. One such effort is a current exhibition at the Castle in downtown Appleton, WI. The exhibition, aptly titled: “Neon: Darkness Electrified,” opened last month

Year in Review: 2014

2014 was an exciting year for Metro Sign and Awning. Some of our very cool projects included Beverly and Salem Depots, Waterside Place, and The Crossings. Beverly Depot and Salem Depot are two exciting and innovative projects we worked on for the MBTA, with our participation being arranged through Suffolk and Consigli Construction. We installed a new “T” logo there and adding the all-important way-finding signs. Waterside Place was a Design/Build Project we did for The Drew Companies. As you may remember, it is a big part of the development of both luxury and affordable housing now moving forward in Boston and some of our surrounding suburbs. We were involved from the earliest stages, building both customer-facing and back-of-the-house interior

Two Recent Projects Requiring Pylon Signs, Awnings, and Tenant Directories

Adams Plaza, Quincy, MA Kimco Realty views Black Friday as an opportunity to refresh the aging pylon sign at Adams Plaza in Quincy, to improve visibility for their tenants, as well as to draw in extra curiosity and traffic!  Here, on the right, is the “before” photo. Compare it to the new and improved “after” version, shown here on the left. A more modern look, more substantial-looking pylons, and improved interior elements give the Adams Plaza pylon sign — and the tenants it advertises — a whole new lease on life. Project completed on time, to specifications, on budget. Thanks for the opportunity to serve.     Hadley Corner, Hadley, MA Tenants are now moving in at Hadley Corner! Metro

Fascinating Details You May Not Know About Blade Signage

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

Metro Sign and Awning Does Interior Signage

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

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

Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act

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

Secrets of Pylon Signage

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

Interesting Developments in Signage

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

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