Clean and Bright for Sales Day and Night

Submitted by Mammoth on Sun, 04/01/2012 - 08:20

There are a few key items to consider when looking at your business’s signage in the spring:

Sign Lighting

Sign Cleanliness

Sign Legibility

Let’s start with lighting. Most of us would consider lighting a pretty simple thing to evaluate. Basically, you would need to verify that they are they are all on, and you’re done, right? Not exactly. Small modifications to lighting can drastically improve the effectiveness of your sign. When we evaluate our sign’s lighting, here are things to consider:

Do the lights turn off and on automatically, and at the right times?

Most signs are installed on a separate circuit from other lighting. It’s best when they are tied to the same circuit as other architectural lighting for your building. Most importantly, they should be on when it is dark, and off when it is not. The only exception to this is that most businesses should consider turning their signs off after a certain time of night. There is little value in having the signs on at 3:00 AM for the 100 cars per hour traveling the busiest streets in town. Our sign lights are usually set to come on at dusk, and stay on until 12:00AM. This provides extended visibility for the business, and saves the company the additional money that would be spent on electricity..

Are they uniformly lit?

If there are dim areas behind the sign face, there is probably a bulb that needs to be checked. If your sign is front-lit, (i.e. spotlighted) those are easiest to check and change on your own. Too often we see that there is a light, and it’s burning, so we never look closer to find that there are supposed to be two lights burning. We also find that the shrubs around the front-lit signs are covering up old light fixtures or simply impeding the light’s ability to get to the sign. Making sure that all the circuits are lighted is a great first step in ensuring that your sign is performing well.

What color or intensity is the light?

Color temperature and intensity are the critical keys to having a sign that rocks. If you don’t believe me, just go have a look down the street and compare the signs. Eventually you will see that while all signs are lighted, some are visually dominant to their competitors. Most signs take on one form of lighting or another. I recently drove over to the area of our local Wal-Mart to deliver some collegiate products we make for them and noticed that their sign is not only lit from inside the cabinet, it is also front-lit. I thought that was odd, and so I drove away about 500 feet and looked at it to find it was completely overpowering all of the signs around it. Wal-Mart knows a thing or two about attracting customers, and we should all learn from their example.

When you can first see a sign while driving, this is the beginning of a measurement of time called the “Approach”. The approach is a measure of how long your sign can be read by an average traveler. If your sign was brighter, it could be seen longer, or it could potentially be the most prominent visual feature in the landscape. If you sign simply blends in, try to consider if the lighting in it or on it should be increased or improved. There are a few things you can do.

1. Replace the bulbs in it with a higher color temperature bulb. Some bulbs are just cool white, which will give your sign a slightly yellow look. They are usually around 3,200K. It is a scientifically known fact that higher color temperature activates the autonomic nervous system and stimulates central nervous system activity. In other words, people are drawn to and activated by higher color temperature levels of light. Typically we seek out a 5,000K or greater bulb. If you are unsure of the color temperature, at a minimum ask for a daylight bulb. To find these specialty types of bulbs, search your local industrial supplier or electrical supply house. They have them, and your sign will be better for it.

2. Clean the lenses of your sign inside and out. In addition to diffusing light and providing color, the lens is designed to let light pass through. Dirty lenses rob you sign of proper color and light intensity. Just use Windex or a mild detergent solution to clean them. If algae is present, you might have to use a stronger cleaner to kill it off. Just don't get crazy here--you don't want anything with harsh solvents in it that could react with the plastic lens or the color pigments on it. Stay with household cleaners, and you should be fine.

3. Make sure all the bulbs are burning, and equally. Any time we go to replace a bulb we prefer to replace them all. This gives balanced light, and ensures we won’t be called back next month for another service call. Some of the bulbs can be difficult to get to, so it makes much more financial sense to replace them all at once than to call out a lift truck or technician more than once.

Would more light make your sign be seen first over your neighboring businesses?

Consider if your sign could benefit from changing the type of lighting altogether. Sometimes we find that a single light fixture isn’t enough, or that there may be a spot light where a flood light would light the entire sign. Keep in mind that at night the only things a customer sees about your business are the things you have lighted. So, look at your building and make sure all of the lights that you have are burning, and consider adding a few to highlight the feature(s) most important to your image and your sales. Sheetz convenience stores have been around for a long time. One of the key elements for them, in the beginning as it is today, is to have an extremely well lit parking lot and store. While increasing sales is a primary benefit, most women prefer to go there because of the lighting and the related safety. When you consider lighting your sign and your business a little more, make sure you consider all of the aspects of bringing attention to your business and your customers.

Does the sign shine and look good during the day?

Most of the signs we see around town are dirty and the paint is oxidized. This is because most of the sigs we’ve seen installed around here are painted with enamel paints and not urethane paints. They look great on the day of install, but after a year or so, the oxidation gives them a whitish chalky look that will continue to worsen with time. The good news is that this is reversible. All you have to do is wash the sign, (hand wash preferred) and buff it, and wax it. It will be looking as good as the day it was installed with just a little bit of work. Unfortunately, you'll have to do it regularly from now on to maintain the clean look..

Sign refurbishment and re-painting are always great options for those who are happy with their sign, but know that a new color and some shine would really bring it back to life and modernize the look of the business. We’ve been doing many refurbishments lately, and there’s good reason for it. It’s less expensive and it is a great “green sign” option too. Imagine if you could re-use the sign for another ten years. That’s conservation, and when it’s been retrofitted with modern energy-saving lighting and colorful new lenses, nobody needs to know you saved thousands on that sparkling new sign. Keep that between you and the bottom line, and call Mammoth to find out how affordable a sign makeover can be.