CAN ELECTRIC SIGNS MAKE YOUR BUSINESS A TRAVEL DESINATION?

DESTINATION: YOUR BUSINESS...

(Posted on www.holidaysigns.com)
 
 How do people perceive Five Guys, Applebees or Holiday Inn? Isn’t part of the lasting brand of a destination the impression of their bright electric sign? How can you brand your business to make people want to turn in?

 Tourism is a $21.5 billion industry in Virginia, employing 213,000 Virginians across the Commonwealth. Virginia’s hospitality industry thrives on the growing flow of visitors to our mountains, valleys, cities, farms and seashores, and importantly, the retailers doing business in those areas. Our hotel and restaurant customers rely on bright, eye-catching and inviting electric signs to lead this inflow of people through their doors, and many attended the Tourism Summit at the Hyatt Regency Reston this week.
 The conference was held at a luxurious hotel located in the Reston Town Center, just a few miles away from where the new Silver Metro Line now connects Reston to Washington, DC. As I looked out my 10^th floor hotel room Sunday night, I could see the bright lights from the Reston Bowtie Cinema, one of our recent sign projects; and during a luncheon video presentation highlighting Norfolk’s skyline, I noticed the high-rise electric sign we made for the Dominion Resources Building shining bright. It’s neat to see our signs at work! There is just something about the way a city street lights up at night that really leaves a lasting ambiance. It is kind of a romantic feeling and it makes me remember the area and I want to come back. It’s all a big part of destination marketing, which was a topic of this year’s summit.
 The three-day conference offered many great workshops about new ways to boost Virginia as an attractive tourist destination, and the group became energized during a lunch session yesterday by Governor Terry McAuliffe. The Governor said that the Virginia tourism industry has become very important, especially in light of sequestration.

 Here are portions of an official press release from the conference:
 “We’re unified by one common goal: to make Virginia a better place to live, work, play, and raise a family,” said Governor McAuliffe.
 VA-1, the Commonwealth’s annual summit that focuses on ways to maximize Virginia’s tourism potential, had more than 400 people from all sectors of Virginia’s tourism industry in attendance this year.  The summit also aimed at identifying new and game changing ideas to stay competitive, leveraging new opportunities through networking and relationship building, and advancing Virginia’s prominence as a premier, global travel destination.  Breakout sessions included topics such as “The Power of Creative Communities,” “Building Major Music Festivals,” “Marketing Virginia Weddings” and “Eco Travel & Tourism.”
Also driving home the importance of tourism in Virginia, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones said, “Tourism has consistently proven to be a sound investment for Virginia. “It is an instant revenue generator, channeling millions of dollars into the Commonwealth’s coffers and into the revenue stream to local governments.”
 For more information on Virginia Tourism, visit vatc.org, virginia.org and vhta.org.


Branding & Wayfinding Signs:

• What is the Cocooning Effect?
• Shopping Center Repositioning
• Re-Branding a Retirement Community
• Turning Eyeballs into Smiles
• Green Marketing
• Site Lighting and Your Brand
• Flexible LED Case Study
• Custom Awnings
• Richmond Executive Airport
• Branding Grace Church
• Shopping Center Makeovers Boosting Economic Development
• Branding and Anniversary at Kings Dominion

Digital Messaging Signs:
6 BENEFITS OF DIGITAL SIGNS:

• Part 1- They Connect With The Community
• Part 2- They Can Be Paid For By Your Vendors
• Part 3- They Grab Attention of the Masses
• Part 4- They Allow You to Own the Media Channel
• Part 5- They Have a Long Track Record of Getting Attention
• Part 6- Use Them for Promoting Loss Leaders

Mark Hackley is an account executive at Holiday Signs. 
Contact him at:
mhackley@holidaysigns.com
540-416-3154

Holiday Signs Helps People Find Their Way

ROANOKE REGIONAL AIRPORT:

WAYFINDING SIGNAGE

Lionberger Construction of Roanoke, Virginia chose Holiday Signs to provide the wayfinding signs for the Roanoke Regional Airport Improvements Project in Roanoke. Airport official Sherry Wallace said one of the biggest issues of their passengers was not being able to find the restrooms. The estimated $3.1 million renovation project included provisions for new terminal and gate directional signage, including improved wayfinding for restroom areas.

In addition to working closely with our client, Lionberger Construction, the Holiday Signs design, production, and installation teams interfaced with architects from Baker Inc., and wayfinding consultants from Valancourt International to provide new and improved signage that enhanced the renovated spaces at the airport while at the same time resolved old problems air travelers had with finding their way around.

The project consisted of an all- aluminum system with custom brushed finishes. The ceiling mounted signs in the terminal required special equipment for installation due to the height above the floor level. Each sign type comprising the new system was prototyped and reviewed prior to construction in Richmond. Several recommendations for design improvements were suggested by Holiday Signs and worked into the final project. Signs were designed in strict accordance with ADA and FAA guidelines. Full-size scaled templates of every sign were prepared prior to final production for approval of typefaces, letter heights, spacing, wording by the wayfinding consultant and architect.

One of the biggest challenges was the timing of the project. The airport management team had well-defined completion goals. Holiday Signs

effectively coordinated design, prototypes, fabrication, security clearances for workers and final installation within very strict phasing time frames. This phase of a multi-phase renovation project began last summer and is in the final stages of completion.


Contact: Mark Hackley, Account Executive mhackley@holidaysigns.com (540)416-3154

Photography by RRA

Wayfinding Airports Facilities Signage Roanoke Regional Airport Sign Design Virginia Directions

DOMINION ENTERPRISES CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS HIGH-RISE BRANDING SIGNAGE

Corporate Identity By Day

Dominion Enterprises, based in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, moved into a new high-rise building in downtown Norfolk and needed to brand it and make a 24/7 statement for the corporate headquarters. Holiday Signs was selected as the sign contractor for the project because of our technical expertise with signage for high-rise applications.

One critical and overlooked aspect of any high-rise project is the impact of design on the future costs of sign maintenance and repair. The design and manufacture of signs installed at high elevations is significantly different than signs installed at ground level. Issues of strength, structural integrity, illumination, visibility, reliability and serviceability are all magnified due to higher wind loads, tougher service environment, much greater viewing distance and limited or significantly more difficult access to both front and rear of the sign. Even more import- antly, signs installed at a company’s headquarters become a symbol of the company itself and require the boldest designs, best construction and reliable performance to make the appropriate  statement  high  above  the  city.

Considering all  this,  Holiday  Signs  proposed a solution for effective corporate identity signs at this location including provisions for efficient maintenance. When the architect and general contractor compared our proposal with another, they liked that our approach used LED lighting and accessible power supplies while the other recommended a neon lighting  system  with  transformers installed inside the letters. Not only was neon a bad choice for overall power consumption, but reliability and maintenance concerns stemming from a neon system far exceeded the excessive power costs.

 

Corporate Identity at Night

Another important element of our solution that set us apart was that we recommended gray and red as the daytime colors of choice considering the building colors and achievement of the best possible contrast. Then we suggested a 3M Dual Color film for the face material so the logo  would  shine  white during the night. The competing firm proposed all white graphics for both day and night and the contrast of the white letters against the light-colored cast stone walls of the building would have provided a very weak projection of the company’s corporate identity during the daytime.

To ensure the finished product did its job, we prepared prototype models of the lettering prior to final production with three levels of lighting: one was as specified in the design drawings engineered by others; another was what we recommended for lighting; and a third was a sample halfway in between one and two. By presenting actual lighted samples  at nighttime on the wall 32 stories high to the CEO, CFO and other Dominion executives, we showed them without a doubt how to best illuminate their image.