Graphink designs, fabricates and installs channel letter signs in Miami. We have been building storefront signage from our Doral shop since 1998, with CNC routing, a neon department and five full time installers under one roof.
How the letters are lit
This is the decision that changes how the sign reads at night, and it is worth making deliberately.
- Front lit. The standard. LEDs sit inside each letter behind a translucent acrylic face, so the letter itself glows. Brightest and most legible from distance.
- Reverse lit, also called halo lit or backlit. The face is solid metal and the light washes the wall behind, leaving a glow around each letter. More restrained, and the look most often specified for offices, clinics and upmarket retail.
- Front and back lit. Both at once, for maximum presence.
- Non illuminated. Flat cut acrylic or metal letters, sometimes with standoffs. Lower cost, no electrical work, and often what a landlord permits where power is not available.
How the letters mount
Two options, and your landlord or building may decide for you.
- Raceway mounted. Letters fix to an enclosed metal bar that carries the wiring and transformers. One set of penetrations into the facade rather than many, which is why property managers usually prefer it and why it is easier to remove cleanly at the end of a lease.
- Flush or direct mounted. Each letter fixes straight to the wall with the wiring run behind it. Cleaner appearance, more holes in the building, and more work to make good afterwards.
Construction
Letters are built from aluminum returns with acrylic faces and trim cap edging, lit with LED modules rather than the fluorescent tubes used on older signs. Aluminum is used because coastal air corrodes steel, and a sign facing the street in Miami takes salt air and UV year round.
Letter depth, return color, trim cap color and face color are all specified separately, which is what lets a channel letter sign match brand artwork rather than approximate it.
Landlord criteria and permits
Most Miami-Dade municipalities require a permit for illuminated exterior signage, and shopping centers and office parks usually publish their own sign criteria covering letter height, depth, illumination type and mounting. Send us the criteria with your artwork and we will design to it rather than design twice.
Also available
Where individual letters are not the right answer, we also build illuminated box signs, sometimes called cabinet or light box signs, which house the whole sign face in one enclosure. We produce custom neon and storefront window graphics as well, and full storefront signage where a frontage needs several elements to work together.
Get a quote
Send your logo artwork, a photo of the storefront, and any sign criteria from your landlord. Call (305) 468-9463 or request a quote.
