If you want your business to make a huge impact, why not use a monument sign? These popular signs really draw the eye and create landmarks for people passing by. Designing your signage can be challenging and rewarding, but the most important point is to make sure they promote your business identity effectively. Here are 4 monument sign trends for 2021 that are sure to convey yours.

#1:  Adding LED Illumination

A monument sign is a ground sign that typically has a low profile. They come illuminated or non-illuminated. If you really want to catch everyone’s attention, then consider an illuminated approach. Dave’s Signs uses ground lighting for a spotlight effect. However, we can also add internal lighting to the sign.  Beautiful LED lighting is a popular choice because it is so long-lasting and reduces your carbon footprint. If you are going for a modern look with a touch of classic, then LED lighting is your best bet.

#2:  Enhancing Your Existing Architecture

Elements of masonry and wood, or foam that replicates these materials, give ample opportunity to match your monument sign to your building’s architecture. Color and style of the sign can also compliment the landscape theme. A professional sign company uses these elements to streamline the design of your building, creating a  consistent aesthetic and feel. This will give your business an opportunity to build brand recognition by creating a consistent look and feel throughout.

#3: Using Foam Fabrication Replicas

Since the cost of masonry is sometimes a deal-breaker for some companies, using foam in its place can save money. Surprisingly, these replicas mimic the appearance and benefits of the real thing when they are professionally done. Foam monument signs with veneer imitators of stone and brick look just as classy and are plenty durable, too.

#4. Highly Visible Curved Designs

Curved signs are another popular sign trend and ones with professional designs are quite impressive. They can be fabricated from wood, brick, stucco, high-density urethane or from concrete. The curved dimension to these signs additionally makes them visible from many directions.

Dave’s Signs creates Beautiful Signs in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles Counties and Nationwide. Branding Your Business and giving it an identity is the only path to success – we offer a wide array of custom monument signage and graphics solutions that will highlight and promote yours. If you would like to know more, please get in touch with us at (805) 641-1387. Or contact us online for a quote.

Dave’s Signs is pleased to announce that Oakwood Communities picked them to create and install their Wagon Wheel town square landmark sign. We are excited and honored to be a part of the project due to its significance. The big monument is the crown of the development, a “Meet me at the big W,” so to speak.

What Oakwood Wanted in the New Landmark Signs

The goal was to make a landmark sign that would make a statement and enhance the surrounding community. In the case of the WW sign, Oakwood Communities wanted a large focal piece for their town square. There are two of these signs that will anchor the community. The second one is still in fabrication.

Why Did They Contact Dave’s Signs?

Dave’s Signs has been working a little over a year on Oakwood’s extensive sign program. The real estate developer contacted us for help in designing all of their property signs for their new master-planned community at Wagon Wheel Junction.

Our Role in the Bigger Picture

This project has been an ongoing one. Not only have we been working with the city and going through their approval process for the various sign programs. We’ve coordinated with all the contractors, and stonemasons as part of a team so everything stays on schedule and budget.

Structural Challenges of the Landmark Sign

Designs Made from Rough Client Sketches

Oakwood Communities provided a rough drawing of the logo, and we cleaned it up to what is now the sign. 

What’s Next?

The landmark WW sign is installed at Wagon Wheel Junction’s Fountain Square. We received feedback that Oakwood Communities is quite happy with the result, as are all the contractors and other vendors working on the construction site. Currently, we are working on the second Wagon Wheel landmark sign, and it’s in the middle of fabrication.  We are looking forward to the installation and all that comes next.

Stay tuned for more details!

If you are looking for an experienced sign company to design, fabricate, and install your landmark sign idea give us a call at ‭(805) 641-1387‬ or reach out to us online.

Stay-at-home-orders are beginning to lift, resulting in many restaurants opening their doors to start the process of serving delicious food again.

It’s not a stretch to say we Californians have missed frequenting our favorite noshing spots from burgers to sushi cravings.

Previously, restaurants only offered pickup and delivery services, but some now are offering indoor seating. However, the social distancing measure that requires them to distance dining tables six feet apart also reduces their seating capacity to about half of what it used to be.

A Fresh Solution to Reduced Seating

Fortunately, many restaurant owners in Ventura County and neighboring areas are getting their patron numbers up by expanding outside seating. 

You may have noticed this accommodation style along sidewalks, streets, and even in cars if you’ve dined out. 

The move makes dining out alfresco, a dining experience rooted in the Italian tradition. Italian locals nourish themselves with delicious food while basking in the fresh air of their natural surroundings, alfresco, “done or eaten in the open air.”

Keep in mind that if you are an owner offering outside dining amenities, patrons will now want to find your restaurant to try it out. They will soon be on the move for the alfresco experience in their area if they haven’t done so already. 

Therefore, you’ll want to greet your eager diners with signage designed in a manner that directs them to your restaurant. In light of that, blade signs are an effective way to attract street and foot traffic. 

Blade Signs in Brief

A blade sign is designed to project out from the façade of a building or storefront pole. Other types are attached to surfaces that are perpendicular to passersby. They are extremely popular in areas where there is plenty of foot traffic, such as downtown storefronts and shopping areas.

Retro Blade Signs of the Fox Theatre

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Blade signs debuted in the fourteenth century, and sign makers started offering more elaborately designed styles in the 1930s. Nostalgic blade signs that most of us are probably familiar with include the old-style neon signs that adorned theatres in the 1930s and 1940s. The historic Fox Theatre in downtown Riverside, now known as the Fox Performing Arts Center, originally had two examples of these classic neon signs at its entryways. 

The Fox Theatre was shuttered until the 1990s when a revitalization effort was started to reopen it. It was renovated in 2010, giving the Theatre a massive facelift. Weighing in at 900-pound, 22-foot each, two replicas of the original hanging signs were installed during the renovation. A decade later, the building that functioned as a vaudeville stage and movie palace in 1929 is still fabulous today. The signs are a big part of the Theatre’s charm. They attract and direct people to the entertainment venue.

The Advantages of Blade Signs

The advantages that blade signs bring to your business can’t be emphasized enough. The right design can:

• Get you noticed – Blade signs operate similarly to way-finding signs, and they pull the eye to look at them for navigation. This feature has your business stand out from the rest in terms of sending street and foot traffic your way. Eye-grabbing signage also entices patrons to peek inside to see what you have “in-store.”

• Add welcome familiarity –Whether for a restaurant or other franchise, renowned brands, and logos stand out to people who appreciate and find comfort in familiar products. An excellent experience (including a unique and memorable sign), translates to excellent word of mouth advertising and repeat business, all from a well-known brand or brand that is new and exciting.

• Be designed in various ways – Custom crafted signs capture the essence and message of your business’s brand. Dave’s Signs takes your input to make this happen and creates your sign in whatever design style, shape, and size. We design, fabricate and install eye-catching blade signage. Styles we recommend include Sandblasted Panel Signs, Box Cabinet Signs, and Aluminum Blade Signs.

Dave’s Signs operates locally throughout Ventura, Santa Barbara, and L.A. Counties. We also provide custom created signage to organizations nationwide. From providing contemporary signs to refurbishing retro neon signs, Dave’s is the premier sign company to turn to for your blade sign needs. We are also the experts in crafting signs that stay in tune with the brand, identity, look, and feel of your business. Call us today for a quote at (805) 641-1387 or contact us online.

Is your restaurant open for take-out? Do your customers know that? Maybe it’s time for a Take-Out Banner, so your customers are clear that you are open for business.

As you know, this is a tough time for a lot of locally-owned restaurants. Since the public stay-at-home order, going out and sitting down for a nice meal is out of the question. Some restaurants have been able to keep their doors open with the promise of a freshly cooked meal that customers can take home instead. The problem is, not everyone knows that.

Make it Easy for Customers to Know You are Still OPEN

If your restaurant is offering take-out food, then let us help you advertise. By designing a custom banner for your restaurant, more people will know that you are open and will contact you. Let’s face it, people don’t want to have to cook every night, and your restaurant can make that happen!

Contact Dave’s Signs today and let us design a take-out banner that is perfect for your restaurant. We will customize it to fit your particular restaurant’s style. We’ll include your logo, contact information, and any other info you wish to share.

Spread the word! Don’t wait! The sooner you do, the faster your customers will know they can order food-to-go. Contact us today for more information and let us help you tell everyone you are ready and waiting.

For any more information on our take-out banner services, contact Dave’s Signs at (805) 641-1387‬‬ or send us your queries and project details via this Contact Us form.

Students from all across Ventura County in California are making face masks using 3D printers to donate to doctors and nurses in several hospitals. During these trying times, the community is genuinely coming to help one another and make sure that our healthcare workers are taken care of.

STEMbassadors

The non-profit organization known as STEMbassadors is providing the 3D printers and the students are creating the bands. However, they needed routers to make the clear plastic shields. 

Our part started when we were contacted by a friend whose daughter is a STEMbassador at DATA Middle School. STEMbassadors reached out to several different businesses within the community who were thought to have routers and asked to pitch in to make the shields. We were part of a team in the community. We each took part in making the shields so local medical staff could be protected.

Part of a Team

Overall, around 30-40 face shields are being manufactured a day by the students. The bands are being made by the 3D printers in their homes, but they needed routers to make the clear plastic face shields.

Everyone had their part. We were one of several businesses that donated our time and router to create the face shields, and others donated the materials. When all was said and done, we (Dave’s Signs) produced a couple of thousand face shields. Were not sure how many were produced in total by everyone.

The way the community and students have come together to ensure that our healthcare workers are safe is quite impressive and very touching.

While companies and people with routers are creating the face shields, the people behind this operation are the students. It’s a fantastic thing to see a community pull together in a time of crisis and make a difference.

If you would like to help or make a donation, you can email Alex Wulff at STEMbassadors at Alex.Wulff@venturausd.org.