In our previous blog, I discussed the non-illuminated channel letter sign and acrylic dimensional letters that we made for Chronic Tacos’ Palmdale location. Now I will go into detail about how we created this compound channel letter sign.
Two of the three signs we made were compound channel letters which are a combination of front-lit channel letters and reverse-lit channel letters. These were installed on the front and side of the building where they would stand out most at night time. In this case, the letters are front-lit white and reverse-lit red.
We get this effect by attaching white LEDs to the front of the aluminum backer and red LEDs on the back. This will assure that the red will only shine from behind the letters so the white letters stay white. The aluminum backer is recessed and behind the red LEDs, we have another backer which is made from Lexan, a very strong clear polycarbonate. This is all inside of a 5″ black aluminum return that we painted a high-reflective white on the inside for maximum illumination from the LEDs.
The face of the letters is made from 3/16″ white acrylic that made so the LEDs can shine through. Each compound channel letter was mounted individually with 1.5″ aluminum spacers so there would be space for the red LEDs to shine onto the wall.
Compound channel letter signs are a great way to give your sign a completely different look at different times of the day. In the photos below you can see how the sign looks both in the daytime and at night.
Day:
Night:
