We were contacted by a new company in the North Hills to put their name up in lights. Kidzville, an interactive indoor play space for children with a relaxing coffee shop for parents and caretakers, was retrofitting a space at Mt. Nebo Pointe and needed an illuminated channel letter sign for the exterior wall on their building.
The photos below show the completed sign on display at the Kidzville location near Pittsburgh. The white acrylic letters create a very bright illuminated display for twilight hours, while the black aluminum sides of the letters create a bold look during daylight hours. The sign was placed a couple of inches off the wall to add a three-dimension effect to the display. This feature makes the sign that much more noticeable and visually appealing.
With eight customized and furnished playhouses within its play village, Kidzville gives children a one-of-a-kind play experience. The organization’s mission is to create a fun space for children that is indoors, safe, and enables them to have fun in a technology-free environment. While providing an environment for imaginations to run free, the play space also hosts a specialty coffee bar with free Wi-Fi for parents and caretakers.
As a new business, Kidzville wanted to make a big impression on potential customers and large lighted channel letters are an excellent way to accomplish that. Exterior illuminated LED signs are an important part of a retail company’s marketing strategy and may be a factor in attracting customers, particularly in a busy shopping complex such as Mt. Nebo Pointe, which has strong tenant anchors like Target and Sam’s Club.
Channel letters can be manufactured in almost any size, font or color. This allowed us to match Kidzville’s logo very closely. The channel letters are illuminated with LEDs, which is an excellent and efficient way to light signs.
Our client expressed her vision for the sign and we shared several options for how to bring the Kidzville name and logo to life. The design we landed on was a strong representation of the brand font in a total 23”x11’-2.75” size, with the actual letters being 23” tall, and 5” deep. The channel letters were fabricated out of aluminum and attached to a ‘raceway’, which is a three-sided rectangular box that functions as a mounting mechanism. Using a raceway allows for fewer attachment points to the building, which is often a requirement made by large building development landlords.
The installation method was somewhat standard as we used a lift to raise the entire sign – letters and raceway – up to the attachment point on the building. We secured it with six-inch bolts and attached the wiring to the connection point on the inside of the building. We tested the lights and set the timer for our client so that the sign would 
illuminate at certain hours during the night.
If you are looking for a sign company that has experience in effective, wide-reaching outdoor signs and importantly – want the project to be managed smoothly – consider Spark Signs & Graphics. We specialize in outdoor and indoor signs of all types, vehicle wraps and trade show and event displays. Call us at 724-510-0677, check us out at www.sparksigns.com, or visit our showroom in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.
Written by: Sparks Signs & Graphics – Pittsburgh, PA