Annenberg PetSpace is a unique community space featuring an interactive place for pet adoptions, an education center, and a leadership institute (source). They wanted a very high-end display of their logo right in their entryway where they had an open wall.The first thing to think about when getting an illuminated sign of any kind is if there is electricity running through the wall where you want the sign. Making a lobby sign illuminated isn’t just as simple as adding LEDs. The signs we made are very high-end and permanent so they are not battery-powered or plug-in.
The second thing we think about is how we will connect the LEDs for each component of the sign. As you can see, each letter and each part of the logo is a separate piece that needs to be hooked up on-site by our installers. Sometimes if there is a drop ceiling, we’ll have access inside of the ceiling so we can put the transformer there and drop the wires down inside of the wall. If this isn’t an option, we look at what is behind the wall where the sign will be going. In this case, we had full access to the area behind the sign so we made a wireway behind the wall to protect all of the wiring and connections.
Once we’ve established that it is possible to install an illuminated sign in the desired space, we start thinking about the design of the sign itself. Annenberg PetSpace has a logo that incorporates many different bright colors. But especially since the sign was going on a bright blue wall, they decided to make the whole sign metal and have the logo reverse-lit.
These are made exactly like reverse-lit channel letters, they are just installed indoors instead of on a building. Every piece of the logo was custom formed and routed. The figures were an inch thicker than the letters to add more dimension. Every component of the logo has white LEDs installed inside. The back is clear and the sign was mounted spaced off of the wall so the LEDs would have room to shine onto the wall and create a halo effect around each part of the logo. Reverse-lit channel letters are also commonly called halo-lit channel letters for this reason.
We gave the sign a brushed finish. Making the logo all metal gives it a very high-end look, especially against the blue background. This sign is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone that visits the business.