This Art Deco building, built by local architect Charles Agree in 1928, was formally home to a car dealership. Working directly with Carhartt and their Architect our company provided the specifications and construction design to achieve what they desired for their flagship store. Several exterior and interior sign types were called for from simple channel letters, distressed steel letters, blade sign and a unique corrugated billboard sign located in the parking ramp that provides two messages. Interior pieces include illuminated dimensional branding in the showroom area and parking entrance. Fit and finish for all projects is kept tight and consistent.
The Blade sign shown is a great example of a “Push Through” letter style. The custom perforated vinyl gives a black letter during the day for contrast, and a white illuminated letter in the evening. Heavy gauge materials and epoxy coatings will give this sign many years of trouble free service.
Small details matter. ½” thick “Corten” steel letters are designed to initially distress for that rustic look, then naturally forms a non rusting coating that will last forever. Knowledge of materials and making them all available to our customers gives them a greater range to create and meet their expectations.
Whether bronze, aluminum, brass, stainless or really anything you can think of, Spectrum Neon can provide these or mimic these looks using the best in paints or powder coating.
This sign grabs customer’s attention coming and going. Two distinct messages are incorporated into a single sign using a corrugated all aluminum construction. The modular design allows for future change out of the graphics.
The digital full color HD print used here uses a solvent ink process with a UV overlay that ensures that the image stays crisp and vivid.
The historic David Whitney Building stands as a flagship Restoration in the center of downtown Detroit. Spectrum Neon worked closely with developers The Roxbury Group, to dovetail period correct design guidance for the residential suites and have them blend smoothly with the established branding of Aloft to bring both aesthetics into a visually complementary sign program.
The picture here shows the final result of a years long effort to refurbish and reinstall the original 1959 north facing stainless and neon roof mounted letters to their new location facing downtown. Careful engineering of support structures and smart design of components enabled this installation to be performed without the use of cranes or material lifts, saving time and money.
You start by listening, then begin the steps to make the customers ideas real. Existing structures can pose challenges when attempting to fit a project to what’s available. Ability to adapt to onsite conditions gives the customer greater flexibility to create their vision.
This fully lighted custom canopy and engraved LED lighted Aloft blade sign was designed and engineered at Spectrum to be safely secured to an existing People Mover station platform. Our installers are experts and know their business.
By offering a single source for signs, our customers appreciate having a simple solution to complete their projects in the straightest line. Spectrum Neon can offer knowledge of design, materials and offerings of the latest in current products for any sign application, and at the same time help respect costs so that customers can gain a balance between budgets, while still obtaining the look and style they desire.
The David Whitney Building, at 19 stories, contains over a dozen sign types both interior and exterior including ADA and wayfinding, Custom exterior signs and high rise installations as well as neon, plaques, light fixtures and custom printed wall coverings.
TechTown is Detroit’s entrepreneurship hub. They are an incubator and accelerator, with a full suite of programs for both tech and neighborhood small businesses. They work with businesses at all stages, helping startup, emerging and established companies develop, launch and grow. The 3/8” Solid aluminum plate letters shown were painted with Matthews epoxy coatings for longevity and great color saturation.
This beautiful former hotel first built in 1924 was converted to a 129 apartment complex that features 1st floor restaurant and retail outlets. The Woodward facing wall sign is almost 30 feet in height and includes both front and halo lighted letters and backlighting. Premium LED components and careful attention to the final assembly will ensure this sign stays lit for many trouble free years.
Working directly with new owner and second generation restaurateur George Sboukis, this classic restaurant has undergone a full-scale remodel and now sports an updated look and color palette. Starting as a pencil sketch by Mr. Sboukis himself, the final result is a clean and bright addition to a fully restored Detroit icon.
This Greektown favorite is known for its Detroit-style pizza, and these simple channel letters bring light and excitement to a local legend.
This combination luxury apartment and retail development asked us to design and standardize a sign program for their retail tenants, the result being a series of blade signs and facia sign bands that can be utilized for any branding. By developing, designing and carefully specifying at the beginning a project, our customers can realize real savings and avoid confusion in the case a project needs to go out for bid.
10 foot hockey sticks? When Redwing Chris Chelios asked us to help with his Detroit and Dearborn restaurant locations, we created these standout neon and aluminum structures. The Detroit location across from Comerica Park is a great example of Neon’s longevity. First installed in 2006, this installation has not lost any of its original brilliance or required a single service call in 11 years of almost continuous operation.
Sometimes a job just ends up going to the dogs. In this case that was exactly the intent. We love working with our customers and appreciate their commitment to an idea. The sign work for Canine to Five stands out and works perfectly with their exterior design.
You can build cheap or you build smart. This installation uses individual push thru copy panels mounted to an all aluminum sub frame with no visible fasteners. The clean design has a rich look, but includes simple cost effective materials and construction methods. We can provide complete services for footings and masonry including brick, limestone and stone for a complete package from a single source.
Strong design on paper is one thing, taking your ideas and bringing them out as eye-catching dimensional signage and at a realistic budget starts by calling us early so that you can understand and develop a budget that avoids surprises at the tail end of your build out. We can work early with you to take the stress out of putting your ideas into motion.
The QLINE streetcar loop serves 12 locations on Woodward Ave from downtown Detroit, through Midtown and the North End. In all, 23 separate stations required MDOT and FTA specified signage to address wayfinding and station ID. Like most jobs of this size and scope, the ability to react to changes as the job progresses, and not lose momentum and stay on the customer’s schedule is key to final completion.
All materials were specified to withstand decades of use through Michigan weather. Though simple in appearance, these 3/8” thick stainless handrail plates needed to be individually cut by waterjet to fit each unique profile, then brushed to a #4 finish.
6.6 miles of track is a lot of ground to cover. Very often a project requires simple well built signs that need to be installed alongside several trades often at the same time. QLINE is a good example of a labor and project management intensive endeavor that requires tight communication from one end of the line to the other.
Once Detroit’s tallest building when first completed in 1924, The Westin Book Cadillac reopened its doors in 2008 under the guidance of The Ferchill Group and is fully restored back into a world class hotel and condominium development. This project perfectly showcases our ability to provide complete sign packages that include interior ADA and wayfinding signs, custom stainless lettering and plaques, Beautiful exterior building letters and hanging canopy signs.
No one lighting solution fits in all situations. The exterior Westin letters shown are internally illuminated with neon and 9 years later, have not required a single service call for outage. While there are companies that can make neon, Spectrum has the expertise to design all the components that go into a neon installation that result in a long term trouble free experience.
Working well with others makes the job go smoothly. Starting with the GC and through individual trades as the job progresses, our project management communicates and delivers timely coordination to ensure your job runs smoothly.
The vast range of materials and construction methods to finalize the interior branding and wayfinding, adhered to Westin’s strict standards. The ability to bring all of the different sign elements together to ensure their standard of quality, matched the customer’s expectations and is a hallmark to our commitment to provide exactly what is specified.
