Burbank, CA – Custom Channel Letter Signs and ADA Signs for Labor Union

We were contracted through Warner Constructors,  a construction company we have worked with for several years, to make some signs for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees’ (IATSE) new West Coast office. They purchased a building in Burbank, California that they were remodeling. Like any public building, they needed to be ADA compliant so they needed ADA signs. As you can see from the photos, the signs have a gray and white theme for the most part. Per ADA code, the signs use non-glare acrylic, 1/32″ tactile copy, approved sans serif font, and Grade II Braille.

While the project was underway, they decided to add two more interior signs. These were not signs required for ADA compliance, but two 24″ x 24″ plaques they wanted on the first floor. One has information about the office and the other is to identify the different floors. The building information sign was made from 1/4″ thick stainless steel with etched and infilled lettering. The directory sign was made from 1/4″ glass with black vinyl applied second surface. This means that the vinyl lettering was reverse plotted and applied on the back of the glass instead of on the front. This helps the vinyl last longer because it is not going to be brushed up against and people are less likely to pick at it. It also looks nicer because, from the front, you only see the glossy finish of the glass and the texture of the face doesn’t change where the vinyl is. Both plaques were installed with standoffs so they are spaced off of the wall.

In the original drawings, the exterior sign was to read “IATSE WEST COAST”, but it was later changed to just “IATSE”. Both the “IATSE” sign and the address numbers were originally going to be reverse-lit channel letters, however, we ended up making the “IATSE” sign non-illuminated reverse channel letters because they were installed on the awning, not the building, and the letters were too far away from the exterior building wall to reverse-lit. we typically mount our reverse-lit channel letters 1 1/2″ off of the wall to create the proper amount of illumination without having any hotspots.