When we were contacted by the new pastor at Community Life Church in New Berlin, he was looking for a company to develop a business relationship with. He had done business with other companies but really felt like he was just another customer. What he didn’t tell us is that he wanted to replace the existing monument sign. As we worked with the pastor on a few smaller projects, we realized that he knew what he was doing. We found out that he had a past in design and extensive experience in electronics and IT.
We started with the design. The pastor had seen multiple designs online that he thought would look nice in front of the church but nothing that really jumped out at him. We decided to step back and talk with the city to see what they would allow us to do. So armed with this information we proceeded to design. We realized that in order to get the attention that we wanted, we would need to incorporate an LED message board. Working within the dimensions that the city had provided, we came up with a traditional arch. One of the nice things about Optimum Signs is that we can design around our customers needs and wants.
This project was going to incorporate a exterior grade, MDU foam monument with 1/8″ hardcoat and stippel finish. But because of the weight of LED message center, we had to build the foam monument around a durastrut structure and the frame for the message center. The durastrut gives us a solid structure to mount the boards to plus it improves the longevitiy of the sign. By building the foam around the LED frames, we ensured that everything fit perfectly. The hardcoat was painted to compliment the customers current building and to make sure that the name of the church was dominate. The LED message board is 2′ x 6′ and is a full color board with WiFi access. The link to the board is a point-to-point, triple DES encrypted link that is the same type used by the US military and is almost impossible to crack. We decided on a 19 mil board because the traffic moving past the sign was about 40′ from the sign and this is the proper viewing distance for a 19 mil sign. The church asked if we could locate the sign in a new flower bed that they wanted to install and with a few small modifications, we were able to accomplish this.
From the initial contact to completion, this project took just over four months. If you need a custom monument sign or even an LED message center, please contact us at Optimum Signs. We can be reached at 262.289.9481 or emailed at info@optimumsignswi.com.
