Channel letter manufacturers create custom three-dimensional letters, symbols and other graphics for use across many applications. The process starts with design; specifically the creation of custom logos and sign layouts.
After joining, the returns (sides of a letter) are welded together and painted to match your brand’s PMS colors, then a translucent acrylic face is attached to complete its look.
Design
Channel letters offer businesses versatile exterior illumination that increases brand recognition and visibility, promoting their business while simultaneously increasing visibility. Available in various sizes, shapes and styles – they can even be front lit to add an eye-catching halo effect around its shape! – channel letters provide businesses with versatile exterior illumination to promote their brand while increasing visibility.
Aluminum is often chosen for channel letter signs due to its corrosion-resistance, making this signage type suitable for raceway mount or flush (direct) installation.
Channel letters are created using router, water jet or laser cutting aluminum sheeting based on vector artwork, which is then welded together into letters and returns before being bent by computerized machines to form the letters and returns. LED lighting may then be added within each return before attaching a trim cap to complete its appearance.
Fabrication
Letter and symbol shapes are cut by computer-driven machines from an aluminum sheet that can be painted according to client branding guidelines, using standard or custom colors. A trim cap is then added on each character for a smooth, professional finish.
Face (public-facing side of a channel letter) is usually made of translucent acrylic or polycarbonate material. If a channel letter is Front-Lit, black perforated vinyl may also be applied so that daylight appears black during the day and white at night.
Once assembled, flanges are welded around the back to form a channel for lighting components such as neon gas tubes or energy-saving LEDs to fit. Illuminated and non-illuminated channel letters may then be installed flush mounted against buildings, halo-lit on raceways or placed flush against surfaces such as sidewalks.
Assembly
Channel letters can help a business meet its branding and visibility goals with ease. Commonly lit with LED’s that consume less electricity than traditional neon bulbs, channel letters can make for striking sky or high wall signage solutions.
Illuminated channel letters stand out from other storefront signs with their three-dimensional appearance and serve as a reliable and effective marketing tool for businesses that wish to increase brand visibility and foot traffic.
Channel letters consist of metal enclosures with back and sides that define the form of letters or other shapes, each featuring a planar transparent lens with trim cap glued around its outer edge, as well as screws threaded through both parts to hold onto both forward ends of the enclosure and keep its lens secure.
Installation
Channel letters offer your business an eye-catching 24-hour visual that stands out in retail centers, streets or city sidewalks. Their 3D signs are easily readable and offer various design, color and illumination options that can be tailored specifically to match brand identities and ad campaigns.
Return creates, in general, the body or depth of your sign and can range anywhere from 3-8 inches depending on zoning requirements in your city or county. Computer-driven bending machines create the shapes and symbols on your sign while aluminum sheeting can be painted using either standard colors or shaded to match branding specifications.
Channel letter signs can be mounted either directly onto a building facade or bulkhead using screws, backers or raceways for direct mounting, making installation quick and painless. Raceways provide access to power supplies and wiring connections allowing you to avoid drilling multiple holes into its facade or bulkhead surface.
Finishing
Channel letters are designed to stand out and make your business visible day or night, drawing customers’ eyes from far away such as highways or shopping districts. They’re especially effective if seen from further away.
Standard front-lit channel letters feature aluminum backs and sides (called returns ) connected by acrylic faces that spell out your name or message. They are the most widely used type of channel letter signs, often illuminated using LEDs or neon.
Computerized Cutters(tm), a Plano-based newer CNC router manufacturer, was the first machine capable of bending and forming side walls (returns) for channel letters that precisely matched their CNC routed backs and faces. This process, known as trim capping, fastens acrylic faces to cans while also creating borders around signs.
