Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008 - (Page 34)

Electrifying Issues BY RICHARD B. CRAWFORD Sign Illumination: It’s Time to Pay Attention Education is the best solution for fighting antilighting rhetoric. n-premis sign illumination—particularly sign internal illumination—is becoming increasingly regulated by local municipalities. For sign professionals, this statement should come as no surprise. Sign illumination regulation follows a steady national trend to regulate all types of outdoor illumination at night. Communities are re-examining their outdoor lighting policies or instituting new regulations where none existed previously. All of these policies and regulations should have the attention of the onpremise sign industry, as they may impact on-premise signs in a very real and significant way. O 34 Sign Builder Illustrated May 2008 PHOTO BY PHILIP DESIERE A Brief History of Sign Lighting Illuminated signs are a historic feature of the American landscape. Signs have been illuminated as far back as 1840, starting with gas lighting. In 1891, the first electric sign spectacular was erected in New York City. By 1900, electrical sign shops were in full swing in the United States. And any pre-1900 buildings that didn’t have an electrical sign were often retrofitted with the new illumination technology of the time. These days, a professionally constructed internally illuminated on-premise sign provides the best identification for any location at night—best in terms of traffic safety and best in terms of least lighting impact on the surrounding environment. There are a wide variety of internal lighting techniques available today, and each method may have a particular application where it is most appropriate—depending on the sign’s location, the type of lettering being used, and the sign’s size. Over the past ten years, however, we’ve noticed a general trend where local municipalities and its planners are attempting to prohibit or severely regulate the internal illumination of onpremise signage. We’ve seen prohibitions on internally illuminated signs, regulations of lighting output based on certain lighting measures that are very difficult to understand and apply, requirements that internally illuminated signs should have only opaque or dark backgrounds, and attempts to prohibit neon lighting in various forms. For those that have interest in learning about the science of on-premise sign internal illumination, a 2004 United States Sign Council (USSC) study (Environmental Impact of Onpremis Sign Lighting) is recommended. This

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008

Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008 Contents SBI Agenda Quotes & Comments Contributors Costly Concerns Dispatches Sign Show Dateline: Time to Find a New Identity Teaching a New Dog Old Tricks Sign Illumination: It’s Time to Pay Attention Restoring Old Photographs for Digital Printing Price Doesn’t Sell the Signs You Want to Make Architects in LED Codes for Electric Signs: Don’t Get Blindsided! Digital Displays at the Pearl Harbor Museum The Art of Wayfinding Signage Grand Format National Following Traffic Sign Regulations Designs on ADA Signage Painting Professionally SBI Marketplace Imagine-It Graphics

Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008

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