Interior metal dimensional letter signs are very popular for offices because they have a very high-end and professional look. However, you can run into issues if the logo uses multiple colors because you can’t always show that using just metal. Take a look at a rendering that our client, Richardson|Ober PC, provided to us when they started considering designs for their new lobby sign. The logo features four color blocks that use different shades of maroon. Our client was considering painted acrylic which would look like the rendering, but they also wanted to look into metal options with aluminum and bronze. They decided that they wanted the sign to be made from aluminum so we needed to figure out a way to represent the different colors using aluminum.
We used 3/8″ thick aluminum which is a pretty standard thickness for our dimensional letters. We can make thicker letters if the client would prefer, but once we are going thicker than 1″, it is more cost effective to switch to non-illuminated channel letters. The aluminum letters were clear anodized. Anodizing aluminum makes the material harder, more durable, and less likely to corrode. Aluminum can be anodized different colors which is another reason that people choose aluminum over different metals, but in this case, we did it for the longevity of the letters and not color, which is why we used clear.
The letters, “RICHARDSON|OBER” were given a horizontally brushed finish. When using brushed finish for letters that are read from left to right or right to left, you want the grain of the finish to go horizontally also because that’s how the eyes will move to read the lettering.
There are four panels that make up the logo and we used a different metal finish for each one and installed them with varying lengths of spacers to add more dimension while differentiating each panel. We used clear anodized, brushed, orbital, and random arc finishes to achieve this look.
