As a business owner, you know that high quality signage is essential for establishing your company and attracting potential customers. But with many types of signage — including digital LED signs, free standing signs, neon signs, and carved signs — it can be difficult to choose the right one for your building.
One of the most popular sign types at Bartush is custom channel letters. The big, bold sculpted three-dimensional shapes in bright colors and illumination effectively male your brand name, purpose, and message stand out against competition.
Types of Channel Letters
While there are only two types of channel letters — standard and reverse — there are many variations when it comes to those two types, as well as illumination and mounting methods.
- Face-lit letters – Face-lit letters, or the standard method, involves letters made with aluminum sides, which will never rust, and backs with colored faces. The letters are illuminated from the inside using either neon or LED lighting.
- Reverse-lit letters – Reverse-lit letters have the open side of the signage facing the building’s wall and the solid back of the sign facing outwards to the customers. When lit, the illumination is seen coming from behind the letters, as opposed to the front in the face-lit letters.
- Face and Back (Halo)-lit letters – Front/back lit channel letters are the combination of the two techniques described above. The signage includes internally lit illumination, as well as back-lit or halo illumination behind the signs
Illumination Method
Illumination is an important part of the design of channel letters. When appropriately chosen, the colors and light can help the signage pop against your building and stand out to potential customers.
- Neon lighting – The original method for illuminating channel letters was with neon lighting. This form of lighting consists of a glass tube filled with gases. While the benefit of this type of illumination includes greater brilliance in some colors, the drawbacks include sometime dimming in cold conditions, requiring more maintenance, and using greater amounts of energy.
- LED lighting – LED lighting as a form of illumination in channel letters is increasing in popularity. This cost-effective and energy-saving form of illumination involves low voltage lights that illuminates the signage.
Mounting Options
Once the sign is constructed and assembled, it is time to mount the channel letters to your building. There are several different options to consider depending on your property management’s rules and limitations, as well as what would look best. We outline some of the mounting choices below and the benefits of each.
- Raceway Mount – One option for mounting channel letters is with a raceway mount. This particular mount involves installing the sign on a metal box that is used to house the electrical wiring and power supply. Many property owners require that the raceway mount be used as opposed to the other mounting options because it limits the number of wall penetrations made during installation.
- Direct Mount or Flush Mount – A direct mount is just as it sounds. The signage is attached directly to the building instead of a metal box and the power source and wiring is housed behind the wall or façade. This mounting type is ideal if a streamlined appearance is important to you when installing the signage.
- Backer Mount – The backer mount and raceaway mount are similar as they both require the signage to be installed on something other than the building wall itself expect while the raceway mount is mounted on a metal box, the backer mount is attached to a metal cabinet or panel that is larger than the channel letters.
Choose Bartush for Your Channel Letters
With over 70 years of experience, the skilled experts at Bartush Signs have the tools and the knowledge to help you choose and design the channel letters that will effectively get your message across and give off a stunning display in the process. We handle everything from design through installation. Contact us today.