Trendspotting: Skyline Signs Tell the Tale (And SPECS Show Wrap-Up)

This week I’d like to discuss the re-emergence of skyline signs, but first allow me to offer a quick thank you to the entire Chain Store Age and SPECS Show teams for executing a trade show I won’t soon forget.



Of course, I’m talking about last week’s show at the beautiful Hilton Anatole in Dallas, #SPECS2016.



As American Signcrafters grows year-after-year I find our scarcest commodity to be my time and the time of my top executives. With that in mind we made a conscious decision to be exceedingly selective in the trade shows we participate in.

After much research, including soliciting the advice of colleagues and respected figures in the retail industry, we made the decision to participate in SPECS 2016. We could not be more pleased with the results.



Every step of the way our Sales Manager and the show’s Executive Director of Events standing by to steer me in the right direction. Time and again the staff went above and beyond the call of duty. As a first time exhibitor I was impressed by the staff’s attentiveness and attention to detail.



So much so that I’ve already circled my calendar for next year’s show in my home state of Florida.



Shifting to this week’s discussion in “Trendspotting” I turn your attention to the skies where the resurgence and importance of skyline signage tells a compelling retail story.



This trend was earlier written on by Community Architect who noted that high-rise signs which were “banned by sign regulations and zoning codes in favor of a clean and uncluttered look” are now making a comeback.



The Baltimore Sun explains some of the reasons this is the case writing that “company names show the strength of a commercial market, signaling that companies have invested and plan to stay. Signs not only raise awareness among potential customers, they also help landlords attract tenants and can bring new business to a market.”

I agree. As high-rise sign specialists, American Signcrafters attests that this 2014 trend has become reality.



In the last several years American Signcrafters has been responsible, in part or in whole, for the fabrication, restoration, or installation of iconic skyline and high-rise signage atop 1740 Broadway (formerly the MONY building), 30 Rockefeller Center, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and the JW Marriott Essex House.



I argue, and pictures illustrate, that in each case the project has had a positive and transformative effect on the building and its community, and conferred the underlying brand iconic imagery whose brand value is immeasurable.



These days, one cannot picture Brooklyn without the aesthetically pleasing Barclays Center. Nor can anyone refute what the Barclays Center has done to transform its community. Nor can one think of 30 Rockefeller Center as anything but the iconic home to NBC Universal’s storied history.



As another example, the H&M skyline signs atop 4 Times Square are nothing less than crown jewels atop the beloved building home to the H&M Times Square flagship retail. And it’s not just in New York where skyline signage is seeing a renaissance.

In Baltimore for example, “The signage today signals a new economy,” or as the Baltimore Sun reports, “Across the waters rise the letters for Under Armour, the homegrown retail success that marries the region’s manufacturing roots and its nano-technological present and future. Even old mainstays like the Domino Sugars sign signal innovation – while its appearance has hardly changed since 1951, the sign recently switched to solar power.”



Still there are many more examples. For instance, American & Interstate Signcrafters are currently working on the Brickell City Centre development in Miami, which features its own skyline redefining signs.



As national skyline and high-rise sign fabrication and installation specialists we are observing first hand more and more of today’s top brands turning their gaze to the sky.



We look forward to being a part of these often historic, undoubtedly iconic, and lasting, custom sign projects.



As always readers are invited to contact Lisa directly with questions and inquires at [email protected].