Channel letters are great for awnings, like this sign we made for Arts in Action Middle School. Channel letters have a lot of depth so we are able to attach them from the bottom, as well as from the back. These reverse-lit channel letters were made with 3″ returns which means that the letters are 3″ deep. The faces and returns were made from brushed aluminum, and the backs were made from clear Lexan. In order for us to be able to attach the channel letters to the awning, the contractor created a support structure for our letters to go on top of.
Reverse-lit channel letters have clear backs so the LEDs inside of the channel letters shine onto the building wall, creating a glow around the letters. Since these letters were far away from the wall with nothing to shine onto, we created back panels for each letter that matched the letters but there slightly larger than the letter size to catch the light. They were also made from aluminum, and painted with brushed aluminum-colored paint. They were welded onto the raceway that we made, and the channel letters were attached to the back panels with 1″ spacers. A raceway is a hollow metal box that is used to hold the electrical components of the sign. In some cases, we are able to install a channel letter sign directly onto a wall and wire it from behind, but if we don’t have electrical access or we are installing on an awning like this sign, we install the letters onto a raceway at the shop and the entire sign is installed as one piece at the site. When the sign is being installed on a wall, the raceway typically goes between the sign and the wall, and the letters are attached from the back. But in this case, everything was installed on top of the raceway.