Dimensional sign design
Signs that read by shadow
A dimensional sign has no light of its own, so everything it says, it says with depth. Half an inch of projection reads as a label. Two inches reads as a statement. The shadow line under a three-inch letter at four in the afternoon does the work a transformer does for a channel letter, and it does it silently, which is exactly why architects like this family best.
We design the letters, logos, and blades, and we draw what makes or breaks them. We don't fabricate or install, and the set is drawn for any qualified shop to bid. It's one branch of our exterior signage work.
Material and thickness
Specified for the exposure and the read, because a letter that's too thin reads like a sticker with ambitions.
Mounting method
Stud, standoff, or rail mounting detailed for the actual substrate, with the hardware called out.
Projection and clearance
Blade projection and clearance heights drawn to the ordinance, encroachment flagged where the sidewalk is public.
Finish and aging
Paint systems and metal finishes specced for how the sign should look in year ten, not just at install.
We design and document dimensional signs. Any qualified professional can bid the set.
Who we work with
Sign companies
White-label design and documentation for shops busy building. We draw, you fabricate, and your client never knows we were involved.
Architects & designers
Signage and wayfinding documented to sit inside your set, on your schedule, drawn to the standard the rest of your drawings hold.
Facilities & property teams
Wayfinding and sign standards for campuses, portfolios, and multi-building sites that have outgrown the signs they started with.
Brands & retailers
Sign programs that hold the brand across every location and bend to each local code, without ever losing the look you built.
Dimensional signs, answered
Didn't find your question? Ask us directly — straight answers, no runaround.
- Dimensional letters or channel letters?
- Dimensional letters are solid and unlit, and channel letters are built cans with lighting inside. If the sign has to read after dark on its own, you want channel letters or external lighting. If the setting is lit, or daytime is what matters, dimensional letters cost less, last longer, and read more like architecture than advertising.
- Which materials survive outside?
- Cut aluminum and stainless are the long-haul choices, painted or brushed, and they shrug off decades of weather. Acrylic holds color well and costs less but wants thickness to avoid reading flimsy at depth. Routed wood and HDU carry a craft look but need finish maintenance.
- What is a blade sign?
- The sign that sticks out perpendicular to the building, reading down the sidewalk instead of across the street. On a pedestrian street it does more work than the storefront sign does, because a person walking never sees your fascia until they're standing under it.
- Do blade signs have special permit issues?
- Often, yes. A blade sign projects over the sidewalk, and once a sign hangs over public right-of-way many cities add an encroachment permit, a minimum clearance height, and sometimes extra liability language on top of the sign permit. We draw the projection, clearance, and bracket detail into the submittal package so the reviewer's checklist is already answered.
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Good signage starts
with a conversation.
Every project is different. Let’s talk about yours.