Lobby Sign Brightens Up Santa Monica Space For Viacom

A halo-lit illuminated sign is a great way to brighten up your lobby, like this one that we created for the Viacom lobby in their West Coast Headquarters in Santa Monica, CA.

Project: Illuminated Lobby Sign

Location: Santa Monica, CA

Client: Viacom

Lobby signs can come in a wide variety of custom shapes and styles, and can be manufactured from an equally wide range of materials including foam, stucco, acrylic, aluminum, steel, wood, bronze….the list goes on and on. There are several things to consider when planning a lobby sign for your business or office space:

Back-lit Lobby Sign

1. BUDGET – lobby signs can be built and installed for a budget of about $1000.00 on the low end  to upwards of $20,000.00. The primary factors that impact the price of your lobby sign include:  design and materials, size, method of installation, and whether or not the sign is illuminated. A smaller budget doesn’t necessarily mean you must sacrifice aesthetics, but some trade-offs may need to be made when selecting materials. When thinking about  your lobby sign, or any custom sign project for that matter,  it is always good to start with a ballpark idea of your budget so that the company designing your sign can make the best recommendations to fit your needs.

2. DESIGN – colors, materials, size, and fabrication all need to work together to produce the desired outcome for your lobby sign.  We always like to see your company’s style guide before attempting to design a sign for your lobby space. If your company doesn’t have a published style guide, no problem. Our award-winning art department will meet with you in person or over the phone to understand your business, your objectives for your sign, and your budget. We will then come up with recommendations and help guide you through the decision making process.

3. SIZE – size matters, for lots of reasons. First, you want the sign to fit your lobby space appropriately. Is the sign going to be the focal point of your lobby? Or will it be more of a subtle branding element? The size of your sign will have some impact on budget, but more importantly it will determine what style and materials can be used to build your sign. Many styles and fonts for illuminated channel letters or router-cut letters cannot be manufactured smaller than 6-8″ in height. If your company name is really long, the height/width ratio of your logo or font may not leave you with enough space for certain materials.

4. TO ILLUMINATE OR NOT TO ILLUMINATE? This is generally a question of budget, as an illuminated sign can often cost 2-3x more than the same or similar sign that is not illuminated. If you have the budget available, an illuminated sign can really add a great deal to your space. Other considerations when deciding on an illuminated sign include how far is the nearest electrical connection to the installation site, and most importantly, what is on the backside of the wall where the sign will be installed. Illuminated letters are all connected to each other with conduit and transformers behind the wall – so if the backside of your lobby wall happens to be your neighbor’s lobby, you may have to either go with a non-illuminated sign or find another location for your electrical sign.

Interested in a sign to brighten up your lobby space? Give the experts at Iconography Studios a call today at 714-527-5424.