ARCHIVE: Category Archive for: Customers

Grainmaker is Bowled Over with Our Signs

“I passed a new place and it looks pretty cool. We should try it.” How many times has a friend said this? You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can gather a really favorable first impression from the outside of an eatery. Is it fun or fancy? Healthy or heart attack? Exterior design can be the first draw, even before the menu is posted. That was the case with a recent Metro Sign & Awning project. Prior to Grainmaker opening a second location at 248 Elm Street in Somerville (the first one was at 91 Summer Street in Boston), owner Chris Freeman contacted us. Things were taking off for the young entrepreneur and he wanted to maintain

The Briar Group, one of our long-term customers, was looking to open a new restaurant and bar featuring live music at Patriot’s Place in Foxborough, Massachusetts. We were thrilled to be called on for this challenging new venture, Six String Grill & Stage. They requested production, design and installation services from us based on conceptual layouts. One wrinkle was that the original as-built building drawings were no longer available. However, we were able to collaborate with several of the original stakeholders to fully grasp the desired look and design specs. With a few engineering challenges and a short lead time, this ended up being an exciting project we won’t soon forget. Creating the “Wow” Factor The Briar Group’s design firm,

In 1989, the Quincy public school system made the “honor roll”. That’s when the broad, horseshoe-shaped brick home of South-West Junior High joined the National Register of Historic Places. The classical revival trio of two-story pavilions at 444 Granite Street, designed by Shephard & Stearns architects in 1927, has since been a source of preservation pride for this southeastern Boston suburb. Today, the venerated building has a new name and a new look. And Metro Sign & Awning was able to contribute to the Reay E. Sterling Middle School’s modern revival. Metro Sign & Awning gets an A+ for bringing in the job. Their attention and participation in the bidding process was crucial and they worked to value engineer the

Wayfinding redesign projects benefit from designated leaders, established standards, and experience-based user feedback on proposed solutions. A building’s redesign can be a cornerstone of wayfinding. Design elements that facilitate wayfinding can include lighting, color, functional pathways, and even acoustics. By considering the building and its users together, a wayfinding redesign can be intuitive and effective.

How Signage Can Transform Schools and Education

When it comes to education, signage has the power to transform not only a school building, but a student’s educational experience. Like most signage trends, signage in academic settings has seen a shift in terms of materials used, manufacturing techniques, and ideas of how school signage should function. At Metro Sign and Awning, we use the latest technology and educational trends to create functional and beautiful signs that improve the educational experience for both students and faculty. Electronic Messaging Systems (EMCs) The majority of schools today have at least one electronic messaging system in or outside their building. These are one of the most prevalent types of signage seen in the educational field today because of their incorporation of the latest technology

Working on and around Boston’s infrastructure and services is always exciting, and participating in the South Boston Waterfront Transportation Center has been very rewarding. Recently, we completed the fabrication and installation of about 600+ wayfinding and ADA signs there. South Boston Waterfront Wayfinding and ADA Signage Project Completed Designing, fabricating and installing 600+ wayfinding and ADA signs on a tight schedule is much easier when your partners are as professional as those at Skanska Group. We salute Metro Project Manager John Durant, who did an outstanding job overseeing the work, and we can honestly say that everyone on our team went above and beyond. In the end, we were delighted to hear from Skanska Project Manager Mike Pugh that his team also

We’ve enjoyed working with Fitchburg State University (FSU) for several years, and we sincerely appreciate the ongoing relationship we have with university officials and staff. From a clean, easy-to-read design to ensuring the perfect color match for that famous Fitchburg green to producing signs and finishes that are as durable as can be for the many outdoor wayfinding signs, virtually every member of our team has played a part in improving campus signage. Multi-tasking Wayfinding Signage Like all signage projects, wayfinding is advertising – but more than that, it must satisfy many different criteria. In addition to being visually appealing and brand-enhancing, wayfinding signage in particular must be functional – for someone unfamiliar with the area, clear directional signage can

Last summer, the owners of Haverhill Valley Forum expressed interest in working with Metro to dedicate their arena in the memory of Paul Gilmartin. We were excited and honored for the opportunity to work on the project. The challenge was that the perfect location on the face of the building was all glass windows and the sign they wanted to have would feature illuminated channel letters. Our sales, design project management and engineering team worked in collaboration with the Forum’s electrician to create the solution to make it happen. Sign Designed to Stand Out (by blending in) The letters were mounted to a raceway that was painted to blend into the tinted windows. We then conducted a technical survey that

The definition of opportunity lost: your restaurant caters or rents party space, but your sign doesn’t make that clear. New signage may sound expensive until you consider lost revenue. If you’re ready to invest in a more profitable 2018, get in touch with a Metro representative.

Finding Your Way at Garage at Post Office Square

Working on some of Boston’s signature spots always gives us a special feeling of pride. So when the Friends of Post Office Square selected Metro Sign & Awning to design, fabricate, and install new wayfinding signage inside, we knew it would be a great project. In the heart of the financial district, directly underneath Norman B. Leventhal Park, the full-service parking facility has been called “Boston’s nicest garage in terms of service and quality.” The award-winning facility, open 24 hours a day, is all about going green – so from the outset, the plan called for replacing the existing neon signs with LEDs that use far less energy. Green, Modern, Universal, and Useful New Signage Replacing the existing neon signs with