Your brand is your promise! And like your brand, your sign should reflect the level of attention and detail that you are promising to your clients.
Through the creative use of both conventional and specialty materials we can achieve a sign display that is a true extension of your brand and business strategies. Depending on the message that you are trying to convey we may use materials such as perforated aluminum, copper or other metallic finish sheets, etched metals and various aluminum composite materials to achieve the finished look.
There are a number of manufacturing steps or processes that may be used, depending on the materials, such as water jet cutting and laser cutting for fine detail where required. Materials can be layered for effect and depth and various light sources can be specified such as neon or LED illumination, depending on whether the design calls for brilliance or for more subtle effects.
The sky is the limit and our design team can assist you in getting started. The process would involve a first step of meeting with you to determine what your business’ message is and what your goals are. Do you want to attract more prospects to walk through your front door or possibly your goal is to change the profile of the prospects that come in. We can help you tailor a sign program that will suit your goals and turn your imagination into reality.
Take a look in our photo gallery for a number of stunning displays using specialty materials and various manufacturing processes.
BC Hydro has once again just announced to electrical contractors that they work with, that major changes to the Product Incentive Program are coming. This announcement follows the January 12th change in the incentive amounts in certain categories, where incentives were reduced up to 35%.
This latest round of changes is far more all-encompassing and we believe will have a profound effect on the amount of businesses that move forwards with energy efficient lighting changes.
The majority of the lighting categories have had the available incentive reduced by 50%, while several others have been reduced by 75% and one category in particular, disappeared altogether.
While 1-888-burnt-out? has been an avid and faithful supporter of the PowerSmart program , this latest round of incentive changes has left us scratching our heads.
As an example, in December if you were to have switched out a 75W PAR 38 halogen bulb for a 15W LED bulb, the incentive amount from BC Hydro was $49.50, when coupled with the LiveSmart bonus. The new LED bulb would cost somewhere between $50.00 and $75.00 depending on the quality.
After January 12th, the incentive was decreased to $33.00, including the Livesmart bonus. Under the latest round of changes the incentive is now $8.80, a decrease of approximately 83% since January 11th. Basically all screw in LED lamps follow this same formula, with the majority of the other changes being in the 50% decrease range.
The incentive for converting fluorescent refrigerator lighting to LED has also now been completely eliminated for small business. If you’re one of the big chains they will still pay you to change over though.
It is our opinion that this latest round of cuts will essentially curtail the desire for energy wise moves to be made by small and medium businesses in BC and the PowerSmart program will lose its effectiveness. Ultimately electrical contractors and distributors are the sales force for PowerSmart, and I would guess that interest has diminished substantially based on the latest changes. Due to the low cost of energy in BC (among the lowest in North America by a longshot), the only way that making the transition to energy efficient lighting inside your premises makes financial sense, was to have sizeable incentives in place through BC Hydro, to subsidize the cost.
However, if you are thinking of taking the steps to switch to LED lighting, you still have 6 weeks to get it all installed and all of the paperwork submitted. One piece of advice though…don’t wait much longer as it does take time.
Do you remember sitting in a Mr Mikes restaurant years ago, eating one of those incredible classic cheeseburgers? The one on the toastedFrench bread with that great tasting sauce dripping out of it! Well you can still get one of those as well a whole menu full of great steaks and the like, all in a casual yet modern setting.
1-888-burnt-out? and its sister company, Urban Image Inc. have been involved over the past few months in working with the company that owns the Mr Mikes brand (RAMMP Hospitality Brands Inc.) to develop a completely new and revitalized image for the exterior of the Mr Mikes experience.
The end result is nothing short of stunning with all of the signage components coming together to provide a clean, crisp image for the new look storefront. The first location to receive this new look was Prince George BC which was just completed last week and opens to the public on March 27th.
All signage including the illuminated roofline highlights, are illuminated by powerful, long life LED modules. The entire signage program, signs on all 4 elevations as well as the roofline trim on 4 elevations, only draws 21 amps. This means that this entire sign program is powered by one 30 amp circuit…the energy savings will be incredible when compared to conventional illuminated signs or neon. In addition there will be little or no sign service or repairs required for years to come!
The vision for the design of the background for the sign displays was to have rustic look, using wide format reclaimed planks. However the maintenance required to keep these looking fresh was going to become an issue. We were able to recreate the look and feel of the wood planks by way of digitally printing the image onto a conformable vinyl substrate which was then wrapped around a 2” deep aluminum cabinet to represent the depth of the planks. A matte film was then applied to ensure protection from the damage caused by UV rays.
Things That Make You Go…HMMM?
Well, I’ve been in the sign industry for over 30 years now and thought that I had seen it all.
I’ve been involved in signs that have been installed practically every place that you can think of. I’ve installed neon signs in windows, channel letter signs at the top of 40 storey towers, freestanding signs in waterlogged swamps, LED signs in cramped spaces where we had to use our most diminutive technicians…you get the idea.
Well today we installed what I would call a first…upscale signs in 2 washrooms. Now these aren’t plastic signs that tell you to wash your hands or not throw certain items in the toilet mind you. These are pieces of jewellery…clear anodized aluminum signs with push thru ½ acrylic letters.
And the copy is so fine in detail that we couldn’t use conventional routing / cutting equipment but rather ended up having to use water jet technology to cut the aluminum and the acrylic. These signs hang in between 2 panes of glass, one being translucent to prevent total viewing of the washroom and its subject, and they are internally illuminated with white LED modules.
To top it off, they are located directly in front of you (4’ away) when sitting on the throne!! What a view…we think this is a trend that should catch on!!
