Poke is a raw fish salad that originated in Hawaii that has been trending in the Los Angeles area. New businesses popping up means new signage to be made and one of the first signs a new business or location considers is their storefront sign. A storefront sign is perfect for advertising while helping people find the business. Even before you officially open, having a storefront sign up will
attract attention.
Hoke Poke is a poke chain in Los Angeles that started in downtown. They just opened a new location in Valencia that was in need of a storefront sign. Like most restaurants, they display their logo on everything from the cups to the chopstick wrappers so it’s only natural to have their logo prominently displayed on the building.
They wanted individual letters that could light up so we went with front-lit channel letters. Channel letter signs are popular for restaurants because most restaurants are open after sunset. If you want to keep advertising at nighttime, you definitely want to invest in an illuminated sign, whether you get channel letters, a cabinet sign, or light your sign from a separate light source.
Their logo colors are pretty specific so we digitally printed the color onto vinyl to be laid onto the acrylic faces. When making front-lit channel letters, we use translucent vinyl so the LEDs can shine through. For most signs, we paint the returns black and make the trimcaps black so it creates a 3-dimensional shadow effect and also creates a slight border around the letters. However, for this sign, the returns and trimcap were painted to match the face color so the sign is one solid color.
Depending on different buildings, the storefront area can be very different. They can vary in size, shape, and height so this is something that we always look into even before the design process begins. With this storefront, we had to get over the roof-like awning. Luckily, we were able to do that easily with our bucket truck.
The sign looks great and will definitely attract attention as the franchise grows. Hoke Poke is opening another location in North Hollywood in the summer and will hopefully continue to grow and provide the Los Angeles area with fresh poke.
Check out our website gallery for other front-lit channel letter signs we’ve made. We can digitally print the faces like we did for Hoke Poke, use existing acrylic for the color of the faces, or use day & night vinyl which can be different colors depending on whether or not the sign is illuminated.