Signs of the Times - April 2012 - (Page 29)

Keith Denny, Cima’s senior design and co-principal, developed a clean color palette with white and PMS shades of gray (a significant improvement over the previous color, teal, which hasn’t been fashionable since the Clinton administration). Complementary signs, such as this marker on the mall property’s periphery, were rebranded with faces rebuilt with CNCrouted and painted, aluminum faces. Chalfont, our staff is very familiar with the mall, and we were excited to begin revitalizing Granite Run Mall through new signage and environmental branding. Our primary mission required designing, fabricating and installing new freestanding signs, wayfinding and gateways that captured the mall’s new design intent, while adhering to tight budgetary guidelines. Denny started creating a color palette with Proud and Robyn Marano, Madison Marquette’s regional marketing director. Denny said, “The mall’s original signcolor palette featured lavender, light gray and teal. The copy was 3M Scotchlite™ applied vinyl, which created a time-consuming changeover for each tenant. I chose a cleaner, more contemporary tone with Pantone Matching System (PMS) 431 and 428 [dark and light gray] and black, with white, Scotchlite media for the changeable panels’ directional copy. And, I chose more legible, simple fonts.” Cost constraints dictated that we repurpose as many existing sign structures and components as possible; doing so generated fivefigure savings. Even with “recycling” some sign components, Madison Marquette clearly wanted enough signage alterations to refresh the brand and let consumers know it was developing a fresh, progressive image for Granite Run. Within a week, the Cima team presented initial concepts for our mutual vision – a new color palette and new sign components, ready for implementation. When fabricating a sign project, enlisting the right partner is vital to our success. To fabricate the Granite Run job, Cima chose K&S Concepts (Lansdale, PA). Cima’s Jim Rose teamed with K&S to supervise installation. Success is in the details The mall’s existing sign package comprised four pylon signs of various sizes: 12 roadway directional signs and five gateway elements that required identification. The two, main-entrance pylon signs offered exceptional traffic exposure, but needed improvements. Each structure measures approximately 40 x 17 ft. and features routed faces backed with sheetmetal. Denny’s new design added several layers of dimension. First, he designed a 0.125-in.-thick, curved aluminum header that spans the sign’s entire width. We mounted these headers to the existing structure using custom-bent, 2 x 4-in., painted aluminum angle. The angle supports the new header and also adds another reveal between the existing structure and the new elements. K&S removed the existing faces and replaced them with 0.125-in.-thick, aluminum pan faces with 5-in.-deep, Sloan LED-illuminated, white channel letters. The new channel letters included custom trim caps and painted returns and trim cap, which create a floating effect with the new, white faces. The existing design facilitated coves, which we incorporated by adding 15mm, white EGL neon that provides a halo effect for the “Granite Run Mall” header. Cima explored the option of using an LED product for SIGNS OF THE TIMES / APRIL 2012 / www.signweb.com 29 http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - April 2012

Signs of the Times - April 2012
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Technology Review
Software Update
Sign Museum News
New Products
Times Square Update
That Sign is Fine (Art?)
Victory at Yorktown
Temporary, with Permanent Appeal
The Value of Signs
Anatomy of an M&A Failure
Industry News
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - April 2012