We took an order last month for a channel letter set from a nursing college in Stockton. Advanced College has its second campus here, opened in 2017. They were looking for a sign that could be mounted high to show visitors and new students they had arrived at the campus. Additionally, they needed a sign that was visible at night. Many students do work placements at nearby hospitals as part of their course. The shifts must have 24/7 coverage, which means some will start or end after dark.
Advanced College offers a range of extremely successful courses in nursing and allied health. Students can study online, and attend classes at a time that best suits them. This flexibility allows the college to enroll students from anywhere in the country. Advanced College provides a quality education underpinned by ethical and social responsibilities.
As is common, we used aluminum to make the 5” deep black returns. Aluminum is waterproof and lightweight. It is easily bent by machine into the shape of any letter. Inside these returns are fitted the white LEDs, which light up the sign after dusk. We used white acrylic faces, but added a 3M vinyl white overlay, color: 8518. This overlay helps protect the faces from the sun’s harmful UV rays, which in time can fade the acrylic.
Once the sign was ready and the client happy with the results, we set about installation. The campus building is quite high and a mobile crane is required for jobs like these. Our sign installers are certified electricians and the crew on this job wired up the letters to a remote power supply. The letters were mounted flush to the fascia and sealed against water ingress.
Channel letter signs not only look great but the LEDs that illuminate them are inexpensive to run. They rarely need replacing, delivering thousands of hours of illumination. Further, by changing the color of the vinyl faces, as well as the LEDs themselves, a wide range of color combinations is available. But even unlit, channel letters appear very prominent to observers because of their deep returns and bright vinyl faces.
Give us a call at 209.229.2220 to discuss your channel sign requirements. If you prefer, you can email us or complete the online form with your details. We’ll get back to you by the next business day.