Signs of a Luxury Hotel in Toronto

Toronto landmark, The Westin Prince Hotel on York Mills Road has now become the Pan Pacific Toronto and Sign Source Solution helped with the transformation.

Our nimble and efficient sign company helped with the rebrand. We overhauled the signage on the outside of the building and property to help the new hotel owners make a name for themselves in Toronto’s competitive accommodations marketplace.

Originally opened in 1974 as the Prince Hotel Toronto, the property was one of the first and longest-running hotels to be awarded the AAA Four Diamond accreditation in Canada. Pan Pacific Toronto will be the fifth hotel for Pan Pacific Hotels Group in North America, joining other hotels in Vancouver, Whistler in British Columbia and Seattle.

Channel Signs Signal Change at Luxury Hotel

The luxury tower’s evolution into a Pan Pacific brand hotel started one year earlier with a $15 million dollar revitalization of all four hundred and nine guestrooms and public spaces.

Along with sprucing-up the inside the structure, the property designers also needed to polish and rebrand the exterior of the building, and they approached us with a request for new Building Channel Letter signs and Push Thru Acrylic faces on custom outdoor pylon signs for the entrance and exit.

Adhering to the guidelines provided by Pan Pacific directors, we generated mock-ups which are high quality Photoshop images representing the newly proposed sign solutions.

The artist’s vision plus measurements and schematics show how the new signs would look. The documents also outline the sign’s material composition and detail their placement on site. These ‘specs’ are done and submitted to the client, the hotel directors, to allow their design and marketing teams to see the proposed work and make a timely decision.

Two channel letter signs that read ‘Westin’ at the top of the building, one facing North, and one facing South, were removed, and this was a big job. Each character was seven feet tall and made of tin.

We had to assemble and deploy a glaziers’ swing stage over the side of the building on the 22nd floor to give us enough elbow room so we could remove the individual characters. Some of the letters had to be chopped in half and then cut again into even smaller pieces so they’d fit through the rooftop door and into the service elevator on site.

This work was all done successfully on or by Oct 30th 2019, and you can see some glimpses of the ordeal in the triptych above. It’s chilling to behold and we’re going to return and install the replacement soon. Stay tuned for more updates on that part of the project and triumphant photos on our Facebook and Instagram channels.

We refurbished some design elements in the existing pylon signs on the property.

We removed the main entrance canopy sign, and we also removed the four individual Westin branded steel name plates that faced both directions on the entranceway and exit pylon signs.

See the specs for the new replacements. Notice it’s basically the same piece of steel in the background? That’s not by accident. It’s much cheaper to repurpose an existing plate than to source a new sheet of something slightly different. I’m sure the client appreciated our frugality and the environment will appreciate our material conservation.

CThe ground signs faces were made-over by welding new aluminum sheets on top of the old after we cut out the old The Westin Prince name and added the new customer name, Pan Pacific / Toronto and Logo. As I said above we did this instead of sourcing new material and making whole new panels which would have been much more costly.

The Ghost of the Flower Garden Clock Sign

When we removed the old hotel’s name from the clock sign in the flower garden on the south side, we found the letters which had been there for over forty years had left behind a sun bleached phantom imprint of themselves on the cement sidewall. It was a ghost sign.

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recommended the hotel re-paint the parapet which is a smooth concrete half-wall to get rid of the bad memory. But this is nature’s way of reminding us that The Westin Prince Toronto was an indelible landmark and not so easily erased from existence.

Below is the artist’s inspiration for the new flower garden clock sign.  Now the letters stand free atop the cement. This is clever for their iconic logo and name will appear as though they’re also golden flowers on display; it’s a well branded welcome bouquet.

This is the proposed methodology for mounting the new sign over the clock garden. You can see how the letters and logo will now sit comfortable atop the cement behind the circular flower bed display.

Everyone is excited about the new hotel and the evolution of this once-Princely establishment. In addition to several new upscale restaurants and other modern on-site amenities, Pan Pacific Toronto will also have 30,000 square feet of meeting spaces including 18 meeting rooms and a ballroom that will accommodate up to seven hundred guests. Most of the meeting rooms have windows and natural light. Events are also possible on the greens.

Do you need a new channel letter sign on your building? Let us design the solution.

Source: https://signsourcesolution.com/signs-of-a-luxury-hotel-in-toronto/

Choose Pylon Signs In Toronto To Boost Sales

Pylon signs in Toronto can be a fantastic way to increase and attract more customers to your store. Typically matchbox-shaped, this type of outdoor business sign is fixed to a poll and can be illuminated to increase visibility at night and in the evening hours. Signage is often overlooked as a marketing tool because many people assume that their only purpose is to simply notify customers that a store exists. However, high-quality pylon signs in Toronto can certainly do more than just that! A clean, neat, and stylish sign can create a sense of trust and belong with customers.

 

The right outdoor business signs can help you increase sales. Signs work to not only notify customers of a store’s location but are also considered an indication as to whether or not a store looks reputable and worth a customer’s time. There is no doubt about it, a great pylon sign can attract more customers to your store, which will translate into more sales for your business.

4 Reasons To Choose Pylon Signs For Your Toronto Business

 

Depending on the industry you’re in or the type of business you operate, an illuminated pylon sign or a more traditional pylon sign can help you grow your customer base. If you aren’t sure if a pylon sign is the right option to increase visibility for your business, let’s take a closer look and some of the top reasons why they make a great choice.

1. Cost-Effective.

First of all, pylon signs are cost-effective and need minimal maintenance. Additionally, pylon signs are durable and will last for a considerable amount of time, which means you’ll be getting an excellent return on your investment.

2. Visibility.

Pylon signs are placed at an elevated height, giving them great visibility from a distance. Illuminated pylon signs can be ideal to increase visibility at night, and make it easier for customers to identify your store in a busy retail or traffic-heavy location. A pylon sign can be installed right outside your store, but they are large enough and captivating enough to be seen by anyone who is driving or walking past your location.

3. Customizable.

Pylon signs in Toronto are customizable. Based on your branding, you can select a pylon sign in a variety of sizes, colors, and fonts. Use a font that is easily readable from a distance and then consider adding a backlight that compliments your brand and enhances the look of your business.

4. Appealing.

An attractive and appealing pylon sign will help you catch the attention of potential customers. A great pylon sign can persuade people to enter your store and find out more about what you have to offer. When you customize a pylon sign, you’ll be able to promote multiple products and services, which is another effective way to engage customers and intrigue them enough to go into your store.

Need A Pylon Sign In Toronto?

Sign Source Solution can help business and store owners find a pylon sign in Toronto that will boost sales and help them grow their business. If you need an outdoor business sign that makes use of height, is attention-grabbing, and most importantly effective, contact Sign Source Solution to find out more about how we can help you create and install a custom pylon sign.

Source: https://signsourcesolution.com/choose-pylon-signs-in-toronto-to-boost-sales/

Building Big Box Store Brands with Beautiful Outdoor Signs

No sign job is too big or too small for Sign Source Solution, and just recently we helped one Canada’s biggest fabric retailers put a bold new look on the bruised outdoor signage of one of their busiest big box stores.

If you read anything about the history of the Fabricland Corporation in Ontario Canada, you’ll learn that they started life in 1968 as a small fabric store at Queen and Roncesvalles in Toronto.  In the last fifty-one years, Fabricland has grown into Canada’s largest fashion fabric distributor, with over one hundred stores across the nation. In a crowded urban marketplace, their iconic red and white logo is instantly recognizable and visible for miles; their fetching store signs are a big reason why their organization is so successful.

Clearly visible from the roadway, their storefront wall box fluorescent bulb signs at 1510 Warden Ave location impact thousands of people every day. In the fall of 2019, both of these signs got a make-over. Today, much sharper and brighter signs light up the corner of this busy big box store, and that’s important because Warden Avenue is almost as busy at night as it is during the day.

The sign over the awning had blown bulbs and faulty ballast. The sign that faced the street (Warden Ave) in the photo above was removed and replaced with a slightly bigger sign from another Fabricland location.

Unfortunately due to the size difference, we had to build custom brackets to support the extra weight of the sign and to span the gap between the windows. And of course there was a security camera in the way, and that surveillance equipment could not be moved and played havoc with the installation of the refurbished signage.

The sign that faced East (Warden Ave), had to be replaced completely as the acrylic and vinyl was old and had visibly cracked.

Fluorescent bulb signs like this are really only good for between five and seven years and there are several factors that determine the longevity of such signage. A list of detrimental specifics would include how much sunlight exposure the sign has in its position.

The color of the sign is also critical to how it ages, and red fades fastest. What type of weather does the area get? The elements are key, as wind, rain, and storms can cause unanticipated damage.

How close to the road is the sign? What type of materials were used? What is the brand and type of paint that was used? Is your sign vinyl (premium or intermediate) or digitally printed?  All of these bits of information must be considered when trying to anticipate the lifespan of a commercial sign solution.

We removed the old 4’ x 20’ sign and it went straight to the junk collector.  In its place, we installed a significantly bigger sign that was 5’ x 25’ and which you can see lurking ominously behind the chain-link fence in the photo above.

This item was removed from another location by another sign company (and they broke all the bulbs while transporting the item), and we agreed to install this signage on-site in the place of its cracked redeemer.

Mounting a sign like this is a bit like a space agency attempting a moon shot. There were a few attempts. On our first sortie, on Sept 26, 2019, the bucket truck was too small and could not reach and support the new sign as planned. But it wasn’t a total loss however as all the lights on the North face, the sign above the awning, were replaced at that time.

On our second attempt, Oct 4th, 2019, the security camera proved an insurmountable obstacle. The device was in the way, and so a custom-bracket solution was imagined and designed right there in midair and measurements were made as required.  Design and fabrication of the metal brackets happened shortly afterwards.

On our third attempt, Oct 14th, 2019, the boys removed the old sign and installed the three custom-made brackets and secured them to the wall and parapet wall. Then we installed new fluorescent bulbs and hoisted the oversized sign into place with the right crane and bucket truck combination. The two lifters worked in tandem to install the bigger Fabricland sign.

A lot has changed since Fabricland was born on the corner of Queen and Roncesvalles in 1968. If you look at photos of the area in the nineteen sixties you won’t find Fabricland as the store was just too small, but you will see how the street was alive with all manner of big wooden signs, some of which were hand-painted that had tungsten bulbs lighting them from above and below.

In the past fifty years many new types of signs have emerged, such as ‘light bulb lettering,’ more sophisticated neon, internally lit channel letters and more recently, LED screens. Since the 1980s the hand-lettering sign-making industry has been almost completely eclipsed by vinyl signage designed on computers and cut on plotters. This also means that most of the sign industry today now use typefaces designed by font foundries, rather than hand-painted by individual artists.

Fabricland has also changed and evolved in the last fifty years. They have grown to offer a huge selection of all the basics needed for any sewing project. This includes broadcloth, flannelette, fleece, cotton, and cotton blends, as well as bridal, party wear and other speciality fabrics.

Fabricland Home Dec Center is an important part of the retailers’ business network; here’s where they offer the public everything needed to create custom draperies including a more complete selection of drapery and upholstery fabrics, trims and hardware. These new signs are sure to turn heads and raise awareness in the area.

Source: https://signsourcesolution.com/building-big-box-store-brands-with-beautiful-outdoor-signs/

We Do Lawyer Signs, Kormans LLP gets new Exterior Business Signs

Lawyers need exterior business signs just like any other self-employed professional, and they frequently select crisp matter-of-fact designs on white backgrounds. It then becomes Sign Source Solution’s job to bring these concepts to life.

As a vocation, lawyers have a unique relationship with sign makers in that they have a special term for the board that displays their names outside their offices; most lawyers call it a shingle. This is an old English term that’s still used today, even though the sign is no longer a hand-carved and painted wooden placard suspended from a perpendicular stick above the doorway on chains (where it could swing freely above a muddy sidewalk and creak ominously in the wind, as it was in medieval times.)

‘To hang a shingle and practice law’ is an important milestone in the career of any attorney. It still has legal implications too as establishing the professional’s name, that date they were ‘called to the bar’ (licensed), and their office location is how attorneys are tracked in our modern legal system.

Law firms need high-visibility signage at the front of their offices and rather than be fancy over-stylized branding exercises, most lawyer’s signs generally only have two focuses: the firm or barrister’s name and the type of law they practice.

Even though they’re bare bones affairs, these ‘establishment signs’ are still very important and will directly affect the success of the lawyers who work there everyday; a clearly visible front entrance sign can become the best marketing tool a legal business can ever secure, especially if they have a prominent location on a busy thoroughfare.

Storefront Signs Impact Busy Neighbourhoods

Such is the case with Kormans LLP’s new offices at 3173 Bathurst Street in Toronto on the N.E. corner of Bathurst and Woburn St. In the summer of 2019, the firm will move into this freshly renovated stand-alone building in this highly visible new location.  Not only is Bathurst street one of Toronto’s busiest north-south vehicular traffic routes, but it’s also at the top end of a vibrant niche community inside the city.  Thousands of people will pass Korman LLP’s new office site every day and impressing them in a situation like this is what sign makers like us dream about.

Here are the designs we presented, and they have approved right away because this is just exactly the type of illuminated business signage that compliments stand-alone buildings and makes them look important, especially at night.

These big rectangular storefront signs will let all passers-by know exactly what business is occurring on the premises and how it can help them in their own lives.

LED Retrofit: We Replaced Fluorescent Tube Troughs with a Bold New LED Sign System

Sign Source Solution was thrilled to have been selected for the tricky task of replacing the exterior sign boxes and installing new sign systems. The decades old and very heavy steel boxes that once held illuminated Plexiglas panels had been ‘gutted’, and they were all empty when we got there; the florescent tubes and ballasts that had once been inside had already been removed by bricklayers and other professionals who’d spent time improving the outside of the building. But the original sign boxes still had to come down, and that was a big job.

The team had a very difficult time removing the original sign-boxes as they were forged from cold rolled steel in the nineteen seventies and not made of aluminium as they would have been in later decades. And to make matters worse, we could not use an overhead crane as we were too close to the hydro lines. So, we had to call in some outside help, and we were lucky these laborers were as skilled and strong as the job required, or we’d still be there struggling with those blessed boxes today!

Once we’d overcome that adversity, we set about designing a whole new sign system that would bring a new aesthetic to the exterior of this squat one-story building which used to be a tombstone and burial monument store.

You can see below all three places where we were contracted to create sign solutions.

Now look carefully at how #1 and #3 areas are so close together they touch. Indeed, the edges occupy the same space. One of the most impressive elements of this sign solution is how those boxes were joined, each cutaway inside on a forty-five-degree angle so essentially it became one wrap-around sign.

The insides were fashioned from state-of-the-art Allanson SpeedLamps LED T12 fluorescent replacement bulbs to have a built-in, Class-1, high power factor driver. They are rotatable with sealed end caps and are rated at 50,000 hours of lifetime (but how would anyone know? Do you think someone waited around to see if they really lasted that long?) The built-in LED driver (not a ballast) also reduces the time we spent making the signs and therefore it reduced the cost. The big savings, however, is in power consumption.

We installed two of the three signs at the end of July, right on schedule. The third will go up in August. The new sign boxes are made entirely from non-corrosive aluminium and by entirely we mean all four sides and the back of the box. New acrylic panels were printed, and the Allanson SpeedLAMP system was employed inside with power system guaranteed for five years and expected power consumption that’s 75% lower than its older florescent ancestor.

Want some more details? The insides are made by Allanson which is a North American company that has no overseas manufacturing. That means the product that has very high-quality control and a good warranty as opposed to systems that come from Asian manufacturers at a lower cost but which have no warranty and no quality control.

Allanson Speedlamp specific details,

• 6500K is the LED bulb’s colour temperature – that’s bright white
• A direct 120-277V power source (no external driver required)
• The LEDs are available in both single and double-sided strips
• The strips are available in all popular T12 lengths (for easy retrofitting)
• 50,000+ hour lifetime rating, L70
• Rotatable R17d sealed end caps
• Operating temperature: -30C to +60C
• IP 65 rated

Memorializing Izenberg Goldberg Monuments

Readers familiar with the Bathurst and Woburn intersection of Toronto may remember the business that once occupied this location, 3173 Bathurst was formerly the site Izenberg Goldberg Monuments, a granite tombstones and monuments maker.

The firm was famous for how they’d developed proprietary techniques for creating beautiful and lifelike custom etchings on black granite memorials. You can still see their work today and it will be around for centuries to come in graveyards and cenotaphs across Canada.

Here is our digital monument to a fellow sign-maker.

Source: https://signsourcesolution.com/we-do-lawyer-signs-kormans-llp-gets-new-exterior-business-signs/

Why Use Lobby Signs for Business Signage

Lobby signs are usually the first thing that people see when they walk into your office or place of business. Whereas outdoor business signs help tell the entire world about your existence as a brand or business, more intimate office lobby signs welcome your captive audience and potential customers/repeat clients with open arms as they wait to be served. Indoor signs—especially logo signs—help reinforce your brand and keep your business on top of your customers’ mind. The reception or lobby area of your business is the best place to create a good first impression as people walk in. A beautiful lobby also instils a lingering thought in the minds of your clients and visitors as they leave your premises. This is exactly why you should seriously invest in good quality and well-designed lobby signs for your business.

The phrase first impressions count can’t be more accurate when it comes to designing office lobby signs. Just as you wouldn’t hire a receptionist without a personality and cannot do a good job in ushering visitors and clients in, you also don’t want a lobby sign that does nothing to promote a good impression of your business. 

Signs have the power to set the mood of your business as well as the ability to communicate key traits that your business possesses. A professionally designed and produced lobby sign, for instance, showcases your business’ professionalism and dedication to quality service—whereas a haphazardly made business sign or lack thereof communicates the opposite. The most successful businesses don’t pass up an opportunity to showcase their dedication to quality client service, and one of the best ways to make clients feel valued and give them a taste of your company’s professionalism is by welcoming them with high-quality lobby signs.

Sign Source Solution Ltd. helps businesses from all over Vaughan, Concord, and Greater Toronto stand out from their competition through high-quality outdoor business signs and custom signage solutions. The company designs and fabricates the best office lobby signs, indoor wayfinding signs, and outdoor signs that help businesses capture the attention of their clients and increase the exposure of brands.

Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/article/1051648390-1-why-use-lobby-signs-for-business-signage/