Branding buildings in Virginia is one thing I do on a regular basis. Come to think of it, I’ve been branding buildings with custom signs since I was 19! That’s all the way back to the 1980’s! Whether it’s a church, a veterinary hospital, or a beer factory, I have probably done it somewhere along the line.
In this blog, I will highlight three projects I have completed in the last several months. All three sign jobs have a few things in common: They all incorporate dimensional wall letters; they all utilize some form of high-performance vinyl graphics; they all use lettering systems with a lifetime warranty against fading and breakage.
First, a job I did for Ridgeway Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, VA. The customer worked with an architectural firm to build a much-needed addition and they needed a main ID sign on their brick wall along with several free-standing directional signs out in the parking lot. Working with the church’s building committee, we were able to come up with a good system that was both functional, attractive, and reasonably priced.
Second, a project for a local Veterinary Hospital that outgrew their old location and built a new facility on the other side of town. The owners of Waynesboro Animal Hospital along with their General Contractor reached out to Augusta Sign Company for help in branding their new location. The building was situated on a busy street in town, so a good signage system was very important to them. The contractor built the building and the free-standing road-side sign structure, and I came behind them and installed the signage. In this case, the signage consisted of formed plastic letters and also flat-cut-out acrylic. The letters were mounted into EIFS which is synthetic stucco finish that many building designers choose for construction.
The third project was signage provided for Skipping Rock Beer Company in Staunton, VA. The owner provided architectural drawings and we were able to collaborate on signage design that was within the local sign codes. On one part of the building I provided fabricated metal letters, and at the entrance area I provided ACM panels that accommodated the company’s logo.
Branding buildings in Virginia and making complimentary way-finding signs goes along with my passion and experience in architectural design. You see, before plunging full-time into the signage field, I worked as an engineering technician in Bethesda, MD, and an intern-architect in Charlottesville, VA. The experience gained has helped tremendously in making quality, functional signage for my customers.
Mark Hackley is President of Augusta Sign Company, PO Box 519, Waynesboro, VA 22980. 540-943-9818, mark@augustasigncompany.com.
LONG PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
installing dimensional letters that commemorated a major donor, naming a new wing in his honor. Also, I remember lettering room names with dimensional wall letters after new construction.
at this point that I began to serve them with pole banners,large banners for their athletic fields and events, and yet more exterior directional type signs.
developed my skills in signs and customer service at a facilities management level. Eventually I made it back to the Bethesda Naval Hospital where I morphed into an engineering technician for many years. It was in this role that I developed my skills in signage design on a facilities management level.
signs that fulfill the combined needs of facilities and marketing managers. Marketing people want their school brand to be recognized across the campus while facilities managers want people to be able to find their way around campus and also want them to be safe out there. I believe my signs help. And that’s why I enjoy making signs for Eastern Mennonite University. Many thanks to my college sign customers there and across Virginia!
Afton, Crozet, Massanutten, Middlebrook, Goshen, Clifton Forge, Mount Sydney, Mount Crawford, Dayton, Broadway, Timberville, New Market, Stanley, Luray, Front Royal, Woodstock, Mount Jackson, Edinburg, Strasburg, Stephens City, Kernstown, Winchester, Fairfield, Natural Bridge, Fincastle, Troutville, Buchanan, Vinton, Rocky Mount, Ferrum, to mention a few!
Churches, Medical Offices including Dental, Optical, and Veterinary, Professional Offices, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Downtown Retailers, Specialty Shops, Hospitality, Private Farms and Residences, Industrial, Specialty Services, Schools, Libraries, and Museums.
area churches of all denominations and many times I will donate my time to install them if they are reasonably close to my shop in Staunton, Virginia. I make simple banners in my shop using pre-cut and hemmed rolled one-sided banner stock material, a white 13 oz. material that has a glossy sheen. I design the banner layouts on my computer design software and use a vinyl-cutting machine to cut the graphics that I later apply to the blank, white banner. The banners come with pre-spaced grommets that allow for hanging on poles with hooks or attaching to walls and other flat surfaces with screws and fender washers. For more detailed banners or ones with more than one or two colors, I send them off for digital printing. In my small shop, banners may take longer 
to complete than some of the other shops in my area. If people are in a big hurry, I usually suggest they contact “All Phase Graphics” in Staunton, or “Viking Forge Design” in Waynesboro. Both these shops have in-house digital printers and may produce banners faster than what I can do. If you plan ahead, it takes about 1-2 weeks to get a banner order out during normal production levels at my shop.
viewing distance and speed limit. Most letters are in the 3″-8″ range for the church marquees I have made, and the letters are typically black on a white background. A church situated on a high-traffic highway may be more inclined to invest in an electronic marquee which has many advantages over the manual marquee signs that I can produce in my shop. I recommend churches interested in electronic signs contact “Holiday Signs” in Chester, VA.
The church raised enough money to purchase a new sign and they had a friend lay the brick at its base. Money raised this way could also be used for a comprehensive marketing campaign for a church event or events.
It takes some planning to make and install a large free-standing sign in the ground and install it where everything is relatively level and plumb. 
tables, disassemble them, then assemble them again in the field when I know that everything will fit together nice and square. Most of the time the land in which the sign will be erected is not flat, so I have to take into consideration that either one hole will be deeper or one post will be longer to compensate for the difference. Once the holes are dug and the poles are hoisted in place, I attach my own clamping system, one of Augusta Sign Company’s ingenious intellectual properties, that keeps signposts plumb in both directions (forward-to-backward; and side-to-side).