Featured Project: Problem Solving for the Pulse Café

Signarama in Springfield, Massachusetts, brings us this featured project. The Pulse Café in nearby Hadley, Massachusetts, contacted Adam Niska and his staff and asked about getting an estimate on a sign for a new design that branding company The Plaid Penguin, located in Charlotte, North Carolina had come up with.

“After meeting with the management team on-site to perform a detailed survey of the proposed signage locations and cover the details of the requested elements and solutions, we provided them with samples of the various options beyond what the original specs called for,” Siska writes to SDG. “They were originally to be non-illuminated cladded signs with flat cut metal dimensional letters. After meeting with the team and showing them all of their options, including the original spec dimensional letters, they ended up moving forward with a custom illuminated solution for all their exterior signs instead. Bringing in working samples of each definitely helped to streamline the solution for them.

“The team at Pulse Cafe also played a significant role in the signage as they provided the steel posts and footings for the free-standing sign by the street (spacing and distance requirements we provided them with to ensure an accurate fit), they also provided all of the cladding for the signs, which was reclaimed from a train box car floor, and the epoxy resin used to seal the reclaimed wood to make it outdoor-durable.

“We fabricated the frames from SignComp Hinge Body Kits in order to make these signs easily serviceable in the future. We provided the face frames to the team at Pulse, to which they cladded the faces with their reclaimed wood, and then sealed the faces in epoxy resin with a matte finish. The one unexpected part that we hadn’t thought about is the significant weight that was added not only by the reclaimed wood itself, but also the epoxy resin. When complete, each cladded face weighed nearly 175 lbs.

“We brought the faces back to the shop where we lined up the patterns and drilled all the necessary holes for the channel letters and custom cast dimensional letters. The team at Pulse Cafe opted to keep the logo consistent in sizing, which limited the word CAFÉ in the logo. So much so, that the word café was small enough where it could not be physically produced as an internally illuminated halo lit letter like the rest of the logo. These were produced as custom cast dimensional letters with spacers and stud mounting to replicate the channel letter mounting as closely as possible. We then added J-molding extrusion to the faces to frame in the exposed edges of the cladding and painted all the boxes and trim to match. And finally, we mounted the channel letters and dimensional letters to give the current finished look that you see here today.

“The Letter Track Light Box with 6” Pronto Copy and acrylic tracks is internally illuminated with LEDs like the rest of the signage to give them a completely ecofriendly, energy-saving package.

“The side wall sign is a SignComp Narrow Hinge Body Box that was fabricated to fit within the window recess with only 1/8” to spare on either side of the frame. The same boxcar flooring cladded the face and utilizes the same halo lit channel letters and non-illuminated custom cast letters for the face.

“The upper side wall of the restaurant is a direct-mounted Halo Lit Channel Letter Logo with the same non-illuminated custom cast dimensional letters for the word CAFÉ.

“Our two-man team worked on the roof to mount the halo/dimensional wall sign, a three-man team to lift and secure the cladded wall sign into place, and lastly we used our Versalift bucket truck to hoist the two cladded faces into place on the free-standing ground sign.

“Overall this was a very challenging and successful project to work on, and we continue to play a role for the various signage solutions they will use for the rest of their business-soon to add menu boards, interior dimensional branding, and a vehicle wrap.”