Colonial Coach Works in Granada Hills is an automotive repair shop that has been serving the San Fernando Valley in collision repair for over 50 years. It was time to give their outdoor signage a more modern look and we were more than happy to assist them with their re-branding. Re-branding refers to the visual change of a company’s signage that can sometimes hint at a change in the internal workings as well. Modifications can involve a font style or a color shade change that help give the business a more modern look and target new demographics.After updating their logo they contacted us to design and replace multiple sign faces for their illuminated box signs. We assisted them with one face for their roof sign and six faces for their pole sign.
As you can see from the photos, we opened the back of the roof sign to make it easier to replace the fluorescent tubes with LED tubes. Normally a box sign is closed, with the faces in it, however, the faces are made so they can be easily removed. The face is attached by a retainer so the whole thing can be taken off for light repairs or to change the face itself.
We created a new face to replace the existing 60″ x 144″ box sign face and converted the old fluorescent tubes to new, high efficiency LED tubes. The white you are seeing for “Colonial COACH WORKS” is Tuf Glas because the letters are cut out of black translucent vinyl and applied directly to the sheet of Tuf Glas. We also used translucent vinyl for the red stripe so the whole box sign will illuminate at night time and the letters will really stand out.
The reason Colonial Coach Works decided to convert to LED is that LED tubes have a lifespan that is double of fluorescent bulbs. Although fluorescent light bulbs are cheaper to purchase, the replacement units are expensive so anything you save will be spent on the upkeep in the long run. Fluorescent lights are also notorious for flickering. For a very large sign like this that attracts a lot of attention from the roof, you do not want any flickering. LEDs are a safe light source and are cheaper to repair. Replacement is quick and easy and there is no hazardous waste or disposal fee like fluorescent light bulbs that contain mercury and phosphor.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about LED retrofitting or box signs. If you are interested in creating a custom sign with us, you can request a free quote here.
Stay tuned for our next blog where we’ll go over the additional replacement pole sign faces we made.