Invigor Design Group in Washington D.C. reached out to us after seeing a photo of a sign we made on Pinterest. Their client, WVC Miami in Miami, Florida was opening a store and was interested in getting a reverse-lit logo sign. The Microblading LA sign we made that was posted on Pinterest was exactly the style they were looking for. You can check out the blog and photos of the Microblading LA sign here. When we think of a reverse-lit sign, the first sign that comes to mind is reverse-lit channel letters. Channel letters are fabricated metal letters that are hollow and house LEDs. Channel letters are great signs that are very popular for storefronts, but there are some restrictions regarding the fabrication process. The first issue is that due to the way the letters need to be bend and welded, the letters need to have a minimum stroke for fabrication and to fit the LEDs inside of them. The second issue is that our reverse-lit channel letters have a depth of 3 1/2″. Any deeper and the LEDs would be too far away from the wall to illuminate, and if you’re too close to the wall, you will get hotspots.
Because of these restrictions, we started to use acrylic for reverse-lit signs that are smaller or have thin lettering. The acrylic has a hollow channel behind it and smaller LEDs are used. The LEDs care enclosed so they are not exposed which means that these reverse-lit acrylic signs will pass UL inspection and can be used for exterior use. LEDs come in many different colors and for this sign, we used a standard blue color to match the company’s branding. This worked well as the acrylic was white and the wall was also white. The palm trees and “MIAMI” were made from opaque vinyl and applied on top of the acrylic.