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Magic? No. Just the Paint Department.
What do you do when the client requests 300 lb. bronze letters hung from the ceiling? You can either reinforce the ceiling, or you can make bronze weigh less. CNP Signs & Graphics chose the latter for their work with Harrah’s Rincon resort, a Vegas-style casino and resort in San Diego, CA.
When Harrah’s originally contracted CNP Signs & Graphics to provide new signage for their buffet and café areas, the specifications called for deep, polished bronze letters attached to glass panels that hung from the ceiling. Solid or cast bronze letters would be prohibitively heavy and cause safety concerns, so a modern marvel called Luminore was used by CNP to cut the weight to a fraction of the original specifications.
Luminore is the kind of product that gets CNP paint pros excited. It’s a metalizing system that allows us to apply a layer of real metal quickly and easily over almost any lightweight substrate or core material. The new metal veneer cures quickly, rendering a finished surface that is absolutely indistinguishable from solid metal. This process works much like paint because it can be sprayed, brushed, etc. The result is almost a perfect match to a solid metal or cast letter.
CNP Signs & Graphics is able to think outside the box, and come up with solutions using modern miracles in bottle like Luminore to produce stunning results for its customers.
Classic Beauty – Modern Materials
The U.S. Grant Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the most distinctive buildings in the City of San Diego.
When the owners decided on a major renovation, they searched out the artistry of CNP Signs & Graphics for their traditionally-inspired primary signage. Street-level sign specifications called for large marble frames holding engraved and gilded panels. To create the perfect look without the incredible weight of marble, CNP tapped into the skill of their primary painters. Gold flake added depth to the fiberglass frames, and feathers were used to apply paint for the marble veins. The effect was classical beauty with a tenth of the weight.
Albert Einstein was once a guest of the U.S. Grant Hotel. He came up with the Theory of Relativity, but we think he would have been hard-pressed to think of a better signage solution for this unique San Diego landmark. If you need solutions to your signage conundrum, please give CNP Signs & Graphics a call.
Jack in the Box Tries Google Wallet
Jack in the Box, according to QSRWeb.com is testing out the Google payment system called Google Wallet in 35 stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
A Jack in the Box spokesperson says the move was driven by the desire to keep up with technology and to give customers greater convenience in their payment options.
Jack in the Box Hits Home Run in Angels Stadium
Baseball fans in Anaheim have options beyond hot dogs this season. Jack in the Box, a major supporter of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball and one of the nation’s leading hamburger chains, has opened three new locations inside the stadium.
The new restaurants, one each along the 1st and 3rd base concourses, and a larger one in the outfield behind section 255, mark the first Jack in the Box locations located inside a sports venue.
It’s going to take quite a drive from Angels hitters to reach the 23 ft. wide by 20 ft. tall Jack in the Box sign in the outfield. But as the only illuminated sign in the outfield it will be easy for them to spot. However, even a big hit is unlikely to damage the sign which was produced and installed in record time by CNP Signs & Graphics in San Diego, CA. Because of the high-profile location of the sign, City of Anaheim planners were very particular about the placement and strength of the sign structure.
Coordinating with multiple stakeholders, complicated engineering requirements, and the extremely short time frame combined to make this a challenging project. The time frame was so short, in fact, final approval for the construction of the sign came only 8 days before it needed to be loaded onto a truck and driven to the stadium.
Angels Stadium has the 5th highest attendance in all of Major League Baseball, with over three million people watching from inside the stadium last season. Because of the location and the number of fans in the vicinity during games, city planners required extensive modification and safety engineering. Compared with all the coordination and permitting, the actual building of the sign and lifting it over the outfield wall with a 90 ton, 220 ft. boom crane was a snap.
Tight schedules are an everyday occurrence for sign builders. But this kind of deadline raised some eyebrows around the CNP Signs & Graphics shop. In the end, the razor-thin engineering tolerances and fabrication came together with quick efficiency on the shop floor. When the big sign was finally lifted over the stadium wall and set into place on the reinforced steel beams, it was a perfect fit.
CNP Signs & Graphics worked with Jack in the Box and Angels stadium representatives every step of the way to make sure the signs, menu boards, and additional lighting were delivered and installed on time and done right the first time. With the incredibly tight schedule, there was no room for second chances. Luckily, the folks at CNP hit the first pitch out of the park.
Public Art Fabrication Is Not a Trojan Horse
Everyone is a critic when it comes to public art. But the fabrication of art made for a public space leaves no room for interpretation. City planners must be confident the statue or art piece can stand the test of the elements. And who better to carry out the designs of an artist creating a public piece than a company like CNP Signs & Graphics that has been erecting outdoor structures for over 70 years.
Artist Robin Brailsford has used the technical expertise of CNP several times over the years. The pictured piece of public art, “Spirited and Faithful” Quartzite Equestrian Statue, is located in the JC Grant Park in Frisco, TX.
CNP Signs & Graphics was responsible for fabricating the aluminum frame and skin into the shape of a horse to the artists specifications. Once the structure of the horse was built, it was wrapped in diamond wire steel mesh so that the artist could apply pieces of quartzite flagstone for the body.
When completed the horse was 7 ft tall and weighed over a 1,000 pounds. The horse was shipped to the Dallas area and installed using engineered,epoxy-concrete footings.
For more information about Public Art fabrication and installation, please visit CNP Signs & Graphics.
LA Drops Plans to Tighten Restrictions on Business Signs
LA businesses and the signs industry have won an important fight against harsh restrictions and fines considered by the City of Los Angeles, reports the Los Angeles Business Journal this morning. The rules were considered by many business owners to be excessive – fines for a violation of a sign measuring 20 x 20 were proposed to be $6,000 for the first violation, $12,000 for the second, and $24,000 for the third.
Instead the city is considering a proposal from business groups and the sign industry to levy a fee on all business owners with sign permits. The money would go to hire more inspectors to target thousands of business signs without permits, writes the Journal.
As we noted in the CNP Signs & Graphics blog months ago, the changes proposed by the City were highly restrictive. “The City of Los Angles wanted outdoor pole signs reduced from 42 feet to 25 feet,” says Roy Flahive of CNP Signs & Graphics, a national sign company located in San Diego, CA. “The signage allotment for a piece of property would have been reduced from 4 sq feet to 1 sq foot, per lineal foot of frontage, and it would have reduced monument signs by half.”
The new fees levied against businesses with legal signs will go toward hiring new inspectors. These inspectors will be targeting the large number of illegal signs in the City. Some estimates of illegal signage are up to 50% of all signs in the incorporated area. Business groups and anti-sign activists can agree on one thing – the illegal signs add to the problem of clutter and excessive ambient light.
World’s Largest Sign Convention
The World’s largest sign convention, The Expo, is coming to Las Vegas later this month. The International Sign Association (ISA) hosts this mega-convention that features over 1,800 booths. More than 20,000 attendees are expected to attend the event whose key-note speaker this year is retired four-star Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McCrystal will speak about his four-star management strategy which focuses on openness, teamwork and forward thinking strategies.
The seminar will feature the latest products, technology and applications for the sign industry; from the most sophisticated computer programs to sheet metal fabrication and sign installation equipment and crane trucks. But one of the largest functions of The Expo is creating networking opportunities for the attendees and exhibitors. For CNP Signs & Graphics it means connecting with knowledgeable sign installers and servicers across the country to better their serve national accounts.
The Expo will be held at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas with educational and networking events on April 27th, and the largest number of seminars of any past ISA convention on the 28th and 29th. These educational programs include everything from crane operation safety to adapting the wisdom of the Art of War (Sun Tzu’s military strategy book from 590 BC) into your dealings with contractors. This seminar does not include enhanced interrogation techniques, but negotiation strategies and tips on avoiding conflict.
For more information, visit their website www.signexpo.org
In and Out Burger in Dallas
Hungry burger lovers in the Dallas area flocked to their first-in-the-state In and Out Burger franchises earlier this month. News agencies around the world picked up on this story, from the Huffington Post and USA Today to Le Monde in France (no doubt they had something nice to say about the famous American hamburger).
More exciting than the lines and the grand openings, though – the signs. Built by CNP Signs and Graphics, the molded plastic monument signs, directionals and building accent were a beacon to the thousands of In and Out well-wishers and devotees.
CNP has partnered with In and Out to do their signage as they expand into the Dallas market.
News Alert – Signs Still Work
Turns out signs on buildings are still attracting the attention of potential customers. With so many sexy online ways to promote your business, the stout monument sign, the tried and true channel letters and the always reliable building signs have gotten scant attention in the past few years.
But not because those avenues for business promotion are not working, says USA Today in a recent article. “Besides being pretty cheap,” says writer Rhonda Abrams, “they’re persistent.” So many ads on TV or the web appear burn brightly on your computer screen for a few moments, and then they are gone. Facebook posts, writes Abrams, get pushed down within an hour.
But signs stick around – especially if they are from CNP Signs & Graphics. Once they are installed, they don’t need to be fiddled with or constantly updated like so many social media tools. A sign, once designed and installed, often doesn’t need to be modified or adjusted for years. And if you’ve got long-lasting LED lights, you probably won’t have to change the lights for the rest of the decade.
SD Airport Hires CNP for Directional Signs
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