The Historic Ventura Pole Sign
When is the last time you searched Google Images for “Ventura Sign?” Try it. What you’ll find is dozens of pictures of the Historic Ventura Sign we designed by Dave’s years ago.
If you’ve driven on the 101 Freeway through Ventura, you’ve noticed this sign. And if you thought about it, you’d probably assume that the city had it made to promote tourism. Actually, the sign belongs to the Becker Group, a real-estate investment company that has been serving Ventura County investors for almost 30 years.
The Becker Group owned the property just off the 101, where the sign currently resides, and wanted to add value not only to the property but also to the community. They knew that featuring the city with an attractive, eye-catching sign so close to the thruway would attract people downtown, to explore our picturesque city by the beach.
So why does this sign work? The colors emulate those of a perfect sunny day at the beach. Blue surf, white sand, and yellow sunshine neon light up the skyline at night, and also during the day because of the brightly colored letters. The shape of sign is the same as an ocean wave.
In the case of this particular sign, the exposed neon not only catches attention, it also lends to the historic feeling of the sign itself. It looks like a beach town sign from the 1950’s. And this is a feeling that Ventura has worked to preserve, particularly on Main Street.
The placement and size of this sign are also keys to its success. The sign is significantly larger than it looks from a distance, so that cars driving by at 60 – 80 mph on the freeway can see exactly what it says. They remember it. What most people remember from passing through Ventura is homes on the hill, a beautiful coastline, a walking bridge over the freeway, and this sign.
It’s one of our favorites, and over the years it has been featured in countless postcards, on city brochures, and even on the Ventura Visitor’s Bureau website.
Signs like this make us particularly proud to be one few remaining in-house neon sign production houses in the country. The vivid colors of these bright lights continue to demand attention in a way that only neon can.To read more about our neon signs, click here.
