Since the mid 1980s, Lee Designs, Orlando, Fla., has been operating as a custom sign company. Though Lee Designs is located in southeastern Florida, much of its initial work did not come from local establishments, says project manager Doug Pastre. Instead, Lee Designs took on prominent international and national clients, including Sea World, Disneyland and the Indianapolis Zoo. 

 

In 1997, Mike Johnston bought Lee Designs and began exploring commercial signage, Pastre says. While custom signs are still a large offering, Johnston saw commercial signage as an emerging opportunity, especially in the southeastern Florida region. 

 

“At the time, the economy down here was really booming,” Pastre says. “There were shopping malls and businesses opening left and right, so we were trying to take advantage of that.”

 

ELECTRONIC SIGNAGE OFFERING

When Lee Designs was established, most of its electronic signage was illuminated by neon, which was fabricated in-house, but Lee Designs has significantly increased its LED use over the years. In fact, 90 percent of Lee Designs’ electronic signage work now uses LEDs; whereas, eight years ago, 90 percent of Lee Designs’ electronic signage work used neon, Pastre estimates. 

 

Once permits and coding are confirmed, fabrication begins.

“Over the last few years, LEDs have really taken off,” Pastre says. “They’ve become efficient, economical. They’re a lot more reliable.”

 

Pastre also finds sign servicing is simple when working with LEDs. If an LED goes out, Pastre only has to replace the malfunctioning module. The process can be completed onsite and in one trip, Pastre says, which isn’t the case with other traditional lighting sources.

 

Even with Lee Designs’ increased LED use, there are certain projects that still use traditional lighting sources, such as neon. Open-face channel letters and border lighting, for example, are well suited for neon, Pastre says. 

 

THE LITTLE CAESAR’S PROJECT

Recently, Lee Designs was invited to build a sign prototype for the popular pizza chain Little Caesar’s because it had just underwent a new branding campaign. The new look, Pastre describes, is sophisticated, refined and clean. Naturally, Little Caesar’s also wanted new store-front signs to boast the updated look. 

 

“They wanted the signs to be uniform and have something that catches your eye,” Pastre says. “These signs are extremely bright and really classy looking. It’s like going from an Oldsmobile to a Cadillac. The new signs are really punched up.” 

 

Little Caesar’s was particular about the quality of craftsmanship for the rebranding effort, Pastre says, and took much time to research the specific products and materials that were to be used for the new signs, which included SloanLED’s V Series modules, 3M vinyl and a high-quality acrylic. And just as the products and materials were important, Little Caesar’s was also searching for a sign shop that could produce large volumes of high-quality work. Lee Designs was invited to submit a prototype after repairing a Little Caesar’s sign that was built by another shop and soon learned good news: Little Caesar’s named Lee Designs as an approved vendor for its nationwide rebranding project.

 

SloanLED V Series modules were used.

“We’ve got Little Caesar’s projects right now as far north as Massachusetts, as far west as Topeka, Kan., and Austin, Texas,” Pastre says. “We’ve had a few calls from California and Oregon. It’s been all over the country.”

 

Before Lee Designs begins each Little Caesar’s project, Pastre contacts the local code enforcer to find out exactly what specifications are allowed, which maximizes the sign’s square footage and ensures safe installation. Once the permits and coding are confirmed, Pastre can begin fabrication. 

 

To create each sign, Lee Design first electronically sizes the layout based on its location and then routes .063 aluminum on a CNC router. The aluminum backs and sides of the signs are hand welded for a cleaner edge, Pastre says, and then the acrylic and 3M vinyl are applied. 

 

Of course, no channel letter sign is complete without illumination, so Lee Designs then inserts SloanLED’s V Series modules in white and orange, which are provided by Apopka, Fla.-based supplier Tubelite. 

 

Aluminum backs and sides were hand welded for a cleaner edge.

Since these signs have been built, Pastre has been impressed with the brightness of the LEDs, particularly the white module. When comparing the old signs to the new signs, the brightness is clearly improved, Pastre says, which was a major factor for Little Caesar’s when selecting the LEDs.

“White, apparently, is the hardest color to get a good, bright white,” Pastre says. “That’s what’s so impressive about the signs—the brightness of them. They’re all sealed modules, so they’re all UL and just easy to work with.”

 

Lee Designs started the Little Caesar’s project in October 2009 and has since fabricated 60 signs. The Little Caesar’s project is slated to run until December 2011 for stores in current operation, Pastre says, but Lee Designs could see additional jobs as new restaurants are established. Though the project is far from over, Little Caesar’s is already happy with the results, Pastre reports. 

 

“I do a lot of correspondence with Little Caesar’s vice president of marketing, and he’s actually been referring me to some people,” Pastres says. “I think the signs look great, and Little Caesar’s must feel pretty good about them, too. I think the more that they go forward it will be really effective.”