i saw the sign...and it opened up my eyes i saw the sign

today was a VERY exciting day because our exterior sign was installed!!! matt and i [having never been involved in a project where a sign was custom made and installed for us] were interested in the process of how sign-a-rama were planning on installing the letters and shield individually. each individual letter was spread out on the pavement while a large printed version of our sign was hung on the exterior of the building. this was used as a placeholder for each letter so each letter was placed in its correct position. then as each letter was drilled into the brick- piece by piece of the paper came off.

each letter was laid out before the installation

installation sequence

matt, suzanne and i getting ready for the SHIELD to go up!!!

....and 'TA DA' the SHIELD is up!

we had each letter lit white from the front and the shield is backlit using red LED's

gate city signs meeting

as we get closer and closer to the opening date- we realized we need to step outside of the store walls and consider the exterior signage for the building. matt and i had a meeting with gate city signs today to discuss our ideas and some of the options we have for signage. even though the name of the store isn't completely decided yet- we can still move forward with gathering options. as of now- the name that we are leaning towards is the salvation army SELECT store.

during our meeting with jim from gate city signs- we were able to show him our design ideas and discuss our options according to our designs. he was extremely helpful and very informative about the directions we could take- all depending on budget [of course!]. the first thing we needed to check on is the exterior signage guidelines established by the building's leasing company. some places only allow signage with a raceway [which is a strip in which is attached to the building and then attached to the letters] or just have the channel letters applied directly to the facade. we also have the option of having some or all of the sign be lit up during the night.

we discussed a lot about the main sign [ideas shown below] but we also discussed the secondary sign to direct donors to the donation center. jim suggested the idea of not placing the donation center sign on the front of the building but rather placed in the ground so it doesn't take away from the main sign.

we will meet with them again soon-- but first things first....we need a name!!