We’ve all had that experience. You’re driving home from a long day at work. At a red light, you glance to the side, and- woah, that logo looks cool. What a creative business name. Maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow. Or maybe you’re on an errand and spot the glowing letters of your favorite fast food chain. Looks like a new location has popped up, positioned conveniently between your house and the grocery store. Score.
On the other hand, we’ve all experienced this, too: you’re trying to find a specific location, maybe to drop off a package or pick up that niche supply you’ve been needing. “Your destination is on the left,” intones Google Maps, but when you crane your neck, you don’t see it. It takes three loops around the block and a lot of cursing before you find an unmarked entrance in the back of the building. You grumble as you get out of the car. How does anyone find this place?
According to the Sign Research Foundation, 36% of American consumers have gone out of their way to visit a new store because of the sign, and 61% of American consumers have failed to find a business because their sign was too small or unclear.
Making an excellent first impression–or an impression at all–is a crucial part of drawing customers into your business. Signage is your opportunity to introduce yourself and your brand, increase brand awareness, direct customers to the right location, and even advertise deals or specials all in one place and for a much lower price than a long ad campaign or TV spot.
But creating signage, like any other business venture, can be complex. Here at MRC Signs, our goal is to help you create signage that wows and to make that process as easy and transparent as possible.
How Signs Are Made
“Signs are easy, right? You just design it, manufacture it, and put it up.”
If only! The behind-the-scenes of sign creation is complex. Many hands must touch a sign to make it successful. At MRC Signs, we drive this process from start to finish:
Sales: Signs start as an idea. Our sales staff work with you to decide on your budget, needs, goals, and aspirations, then put it all together to send to our designers.
Design: Our designers work with you to create the perfect sign that incorporates your branding, logo, color, and business name with any technical limitations you may have.
Quote: Once you know what you want–or if you already know what you want–our sales team sends you a quote.
Permitting: After you approve the quote, our team has to do some heavy lifting: paperwork. Our permitting team works with local officials to make sure your signage complies with local laws and regulations.
Manufacturing: Also called fabrication, our team uses the best materials to manufacture your sign.
Installation: The big reveal: your sign goes up! Our fully equipped vehicles install your signs with the highest quality workmanship.
Maintenance: To keep your sign as enticing as the day it was installed, schedule regular, preventative maintenance.
MRC Signs has committed our expert team to making this complex process as easy, transparent, and professional as possible. Give us your dream sign idea and we’ll make it work.
Essential Characteristics of a Good Sign
Signs can be as creative as you and your business are, and come in many shapes and sizes. Four main characteristics describe every sign: its type, its lighting, and its design and placement.
Each of these features impacts how your brand is viewed by potential customers, so nailing them is crucial to making a good first impression. See our next post for an in-depth discussion of types of signs, or skip straight to sign lighting, sign design, or sign placement.
If you want a useful guide for choosing the best signage for you, we’ve got a cheat sheet to make choosing your signage as easy as M-R-C. Enter your email below to gain access to our signage cheat sheet and other future offers!
Still have questions? No worries, we’ve got you. Get our next installment directly in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter, or if you’re ready for the next step, reach out to our team to get a quote.
You’ve spent plenty of time planning how you want the interior of your business to look, but have you considered how it will be lit? The type of lighting you choose can dramatically alter the appearance of any room. There are four common types of lights that you might use in different situations.
Incandescent: This traditional variety of light bulbs was first invented in the 1800s, and is still common in many homes today. They are relatively inexpensive and usually give off a warmer color. However, they are not very energy efficient when compared with other light sources, and they typically have a short lifespan.
Applications: This type of light bulb is best used in smaller lamps, or where you desire to create a warmer atmosphere, such as in a restaurant dining room.
Fluorescent: These bulbs come in various shapes and sizes, and typically use about 30% less energy than incandescent lamps and last several times longer, making them a more cost-effective choice in many settings. They give off a cooler color than incandescent lamps.
Applications: These bulbs are often the go-to choice for illuminating large spaces like offices and warehouses.
Neon: Neon light is created when an electric current is passed through an evacuated tube filled with a small amount of inert gas. Neon gives off a soft, colorful glow that varies depending on the type of glass used. The disadvantage is that the lights are very fragile and they cannot be repaired once broken.
Applications: Neon lighting is primarily used to create signs.
LED: Light Emitting Diode (commonly referred to as LED) lighting is an increasingly popular choice that has a wide variety of uses. LEDs last longer than both incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, and they also use far less energy. Another benefit is that they remain relatively cool to the touch.
Applications: LED is an excellent choice for accent lighting, and is available in a full spectrum of colors. It can also be used to create dynamic signage.
Whatever your lighting needs are, MRC Signs, your preferred sign company in Philadelphia, PA, can assist you. We install both indoor and outdoor lighting, and can even retrofit lights to work with the current interior of your business. For business signs in Philly, as well as all your lighting and electrical needs, give us a call today!
We at MRC Signs are experts in the commercial lighting market. We work with small business all the way up to large ones. We will provide your business with the creativity and excellence of a global market key player, but with the dedication and concentration to detail of a small business. We want to provide our clients with brand presence and keep our clients’ customers constantly coming back for more.
MRC Signs completely create and customize your lighting from scratch, so that it fits perfectly with your brand’s image. We specialize in parking lot lights, exterior building lights, decorative lights, street lights, security lights, interior installs and retrofits and of course light emitting diode (LED) conversions and installs. If you are interested in a exceptional sign company in Philly, look no further than us at MRC Signs.
Many Uses of LEDs
Incandescent light sources are being replaced by light emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs are considered to be a semiconductor light source. They have a longer life than incandescents, require less power, and are smaller in size. What they lack in size, they make up for in performance. LEDs have a high reliability and high brightness levels as well.
LEDs are being used in many applications including: Camera flashes, traffic signals, headlights and even aviation lighting. For example, the global commercial airport lighting market is expected to grow up to eight percent or more between 2016 and 2021. This growth is due to an increase in air passenger traffic, investments in modernizing and upgrading airports, and a demand to increase aircraft and passenger safety. Airports will use the LED lights to provide illumination for the runways, taxiways and terminal lights. Aviation is just one of the many industries that are transitioning to widespread use of LED lighting.
Some of the key players in the global LED lighting market are Digital Lumens, Inc., Cree Inc., Philips Electronics, GE Lightings, and Toshiba Corp. If you are looking for the same experience and quality as one of the key players on a more local scale, look no further than MRC Signs.
Providing Excellent Customer Service
We at MRC Signs use LED lighting in our outdoor signs and banners as well as indoor lighting. When creating and installing our LED lighting, we strive to provide our clients with quality, dependability, and affordability by providing excellent customer service to everyone that we serve in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks County, PA. We make sure that all projects are completed on schedule and efficiently. If you are looking for an extraordinary lighting company in Bucks County, PA, check out our website. At MRC Signs, we are dedicated to helping you understand every inch of your customized project.
You can contact us on our website or call 888-387-3969. While on our homepage, be sure to check out our many client reviews. Also, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to find out more about some of our other specializations.
Digitally displayed signs such as LEDs are all the rage these days because they’re versatile, changeable, affordable and allow for nighttime viewing (at a much cheaper price than neon).
For one, LED bulbs last for a long time. And by the nature of how they operate, will never dim in their lifespans. They also save power, which translates to saving money. Arguably the best aspect of digital signs is their restrictiveness and ability to make moving messages. With digital signs, the options are limitless!
Thus, many businesses in Greater Philadelphia in need of a sign company’s services ask us about going digital. While there are certainly many advantages to doing so, there are also some important factors to consider:
Placement Matters
This may sound obvious, but where you put the sign matters. Before you purchase a sign, audit your property and determine the best placement location—somewhere a lot of eyes will easily see it. Follow these steps to best placement practices to optimize on where you put the thing:
Accessibility is key
High traffic areas = great places for your sign
For non-digital signs, make sure to install lights that shine on it at night
Make sure it’s visible from all optimal angles
As far as the last tip goes, it’ll be smart for you to pick a seemingly desirable spot, then walk toward that spot from all sensible points to make sure it can be easily seen from all surrounding areas.
Check the Laws
Much like with traditional signs and advertisements, there’ll be zoning guidelines to follow. Depending on where your business is located, those laws could be strict, lax or somewhere in between. Make sure to learn the laws before you install the sign to ensure that you’re not violating any local codes or ordinances. Remember to confer with your town or city’s zoning office, and if you’re leasing a property, consult with your landlord, too!
Good Design Wins Every Time
We can’t stress this part enough. If you’re going to spend the money manufacturing and installing a sign, the whole idea will be pointless if the message on it isn’t conveyed well. Make sure the sign reduces clutter, features legible fonts and doesn’t involve clashing colors to ensure a strong design.
As long as you consider these things, you’ll be more than prepared when it comes time to call your trusty sign company in Bucks County to help you manufacture the final product. Go ahead, get out there, find the perfect spot and give us a call! We look forward to hearing from you.
It’s hard to imagine a time when the world may as well have stopped spinning as soon as the sun went down. Lights out was a literal fact of life, and there wasn’t a magic switch to help devoid a space of its darkness. Kerosene was introduced in 1846, and with the long lasting, bright flame produced by the coal-based liquid, we were able to stay up a little later. But everything truly changed when the advent of the electric incandescent light bulb allowed society to stay up the whole night through.
We’ve come a long way since the beginning days of electric lighting, and in today’s ever-moving marketplaces, the ability to work 24/7/365 is nonnegotiable. Quality lighting is necessary for your commercial business, and the facility in which it operates.
While we’re best known for the LED signs that we make for Montgomery County, PA area businesses, we’re also fully capable of installing commercial lighting for your company. Get in touch to learn more and set up a plan. In the meantime, read on to discover a few facts about mankind’s journey to produce light:
The Early Days
Back in the days of yore, man was determined to produce light efficiently. During that long, dark period of trial, error and experimentation, we came up with some pretty bizarre solutions. One of the strangest examples takes us to the Shetland Islands in the Northern Isles off the coast of Scotland. An oily avian inhabitant resides there called the Storm Petrel. Before electric light was invented, people from Shetland would take deceased Storm Petrels, outfit them with wicks, and voila—a bird-based oil lamp was born!
The High Price of Keeping the Lights On
Thousands of years ago, artificial light was extremely expensive. A Yale economist named William Nordhaus set out to determine just how much it cost to keep their homes lit in ancient Babylon. His research concluded that their abilities to efficiently keep the lights on was dim. It would cost about a day’s worth of wages for an average Babylonian to run an oil lamp for 10 minutes.
Electric Lighting Changed the World
While many people credit Edison with inventing the electric light bulb, it turns out that bright idea wasn’t his, but rather, was perfected by he and his cohorts. The prototype for electric light actually stems all the way back to 1802. A determined chemist named Humphry Davy built an incandescent light using a massive battery to run an electrical current through a platinum plate. It was dim and inefficient, but set the framework for a generation of other scientists and inventors to try and perfect the idea.
We’ve come quite a way since the incandescent light was invented. For example, just look how much we can do with the LED signs that we supply to Bucks County, PA companies. Imagine what Edison, Davy, a Babylonian or a Storm Petrel-toting Shetlander would think of those!
All in all, we’re fortunate to have access to reliable light sources these days. Get in touch if you need your commercial space illuminated!
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Great Company to deal with . Fair prices and nice Quality Signs. Dale Rimmer Siding
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Philip Fisher
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Top notch in every respect. Matt is a pleasure to work with. Definitely a five star operation!!
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Michael M
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MRC exceeded my expectations. Very easy to work with and did a fantastic job.
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Corinna Garis
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We recently worked with MRC Signs to produce and install new banners throughout Dublin Town Center, in Dublin, PA, in celebration of America’s 250th, and the entire experience was excellent from start to finish. Their pricing was competitive, communication was prompt and professional, and they were incredibly attentive to the details and requests we had throughout the process.
The installation team worked efficiently, the banners look fantastic, and everything was completed with care and precision. We truly appreciated how easy they were to work with and look forward to partnering with them again on future projects. Highly recommend!
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Kyle Messina
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Experience and professionalism. Owner/operator is a very pleasant guy, easy to talk to and knowledge. If u need branding, this is where u go.
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Vibrant Coffee
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Great experience every step of the way getting a large exterior sign designed and installed. Highly recommend!
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Deborah Shepherd
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I am very happy with the quality of the signs that we had MRC signs make for us. The monument front sign, the above the door lit sign, the logo and lettering inside the building, the door graphics, the mission statement sign, etc. are all awesome and I am very happy with them. Look up MRC Signs if you need to promote your location/business. They do a great job. They want to make sure that their clients are completely happy and the go above and beyond to accomplish this task.
