Our Work | Architectural Signs and Fabrication

42 Years of Before & After: Sign Renovation Case Studies

Jon Fatigate — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:00:19 +0000

Architectural Signs and Fabrication

42 Years of Before & After: Sign Renovation Case Studies

The ARTfx Observer | March 2025

After 42 years of architectural signage and fabrication work, the projects we’re proudest of usually aren’t the ones built from scratch. They’re the renovations. The buildings, signs, and storefronts that already had something worth saving, and that became something better because someone was willing to look closely at what was already there.

Whether you’re planning a single storefront refresh or a full-property sign system redesign, our design team and affiliated design network bring decades of value-engineering experience to the table. Our Major Contractor’s license means we own the entire arc, from concept and design through completed construction.

Here are six recent before-and-after projects that show how that approach plays out in the real world.

Six Recent Renovations

The Frame Shop

What started as a storefront refresh turned into a full architectural ensemble. ARTfx designed the new logo and fabricated the lighting, the awning, and a custom parapet frieze that transformed the building’s identity from the street up. The result reads as a single, intentional brand expression rather than signage layered onto an existing building.

Saratoga Casino & Hotel

When Architect Brian Davis and the leadership at Saratoga Casino & Hotel needed a unified sign program inside and out, ARTfx was brought in to redesign the entire system. The main roof sign drove the conversion, setting the visual tone for the wayfinding, monument signs, and interior signage that followed. A casino-scale sign program demands consistency at every touchpoint, and that consistency starts with the anchor element.

Capital Spirits

Capital Spirits had a leaky asphalt roof and a forgettable storefront. ARTfx solved both problems with one move: a new standing seam metal roof that also serves as a high-contrast background for roof-mounted channel letters. The freestanding pylon sign was shaped to mirror the store’s logo, pulling the parking lot, the building, and the brand into a single coordinated identity. Two budget items, one solution.

Iron Horse Sports Pub

Converting a carport into year-round dining isn’t a glamorous brief, but it’s exactly where value-engineering earns its keep. ARTfx designed and fabricated a four-season enclosure for the Iron Horse Sports Pub, complete with removable windows and louvres that keep air flowing in warmer months. Custom letter mounting on the new exterior tied the addition into the rest of the brand. The pub now has dining capacity it didn’t have before, built into space it already owned.

Groton Shoppers Mart

Some signs deserve to outlive their install date. The 1961 pylon at Groton Shoppers Mart carried decades of local nostalgia, and rather than tear it down and start over, ARTfx renovated the existing structure. The restored pylon anchors the property with the same character it had in the sixties, ready for another 65 years of service. Renovation isn’t always the cheapest path, but it’s often the right one.

Bloomfield Village Pizza

At Bloomfield Village Pizza, the renovation tackled identity and outdoor capacity in the same move. ARTfx designed a wash-lit dimensional sign panel that gives the storefront real presence after dark, paired with three 20-foot retractable awnings that protect the new outdoor dining patio. Customers get shade and weather coverage, the building gets a clear new identity, and the patio investment is now usable across more of the year.

How We Approach Renovation

After more than four decades, a pattern shows up in almost every successful renovation: it’s rarely about replacing what’s there. It’s about understanding what already works, what doesn’t, and what can be value-engineered into a better outcome without starting from scratch.

Our Major Contractor’s license lets us own the entire arc, from initial design through finished construction. That’s how a leaky roof becomes a brand backdrop, a converted carport becomes year-round seating, and a 1961 pylon outlives the businesses that surrounded it. The right partner doesn’t just build new signs. They look at the building first and ask what’s worth keeping.

Whether you’re refreshing a single facade or redesigning a multi-property sign program, ARTfx brings the design team, the contractor’s license, and four decades of practical experience to take a renovation from concept to completed install.

Start your Project

The post 42 Years of Before & After: Sign Renovation Case Studies first appeared on Architectural Signs and Fabrication and is written by Jon Fatigate

An A+ For ARTfx

Ben Sullivan — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 16:21:24 +0000

Architectural Signs and Fabrication

An A+ For ARTfx

At ARTfx, we take pride in the dozens of unique signs and architectural components we’ve fabricated and installed at many well-known academic institutions. Most recently, we constructed a celebratory plaque arrangement honoring faculty and staff who have served over 25 years at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Founded in 1810, the school is one of the oldest and most highly regarded preparatory schools in the United States.

Working With Experts

The newly installed dedication wall features inlaid brass, etched bronze, cut aluminum, and stained white ash. ARTfx has installed several other outstanding architectural tributes and wayfinding sign systems on The Lawrenceville School campus. Design for the project originated in the Redding, Connecticut studios of renowned graphic designer, educator, and frequent ARTfx collaborator, Alexander Isley. His work regularly features uniquely juxtaposed, dissimilar materials, often testing the boundaries of our technical abilities. However, we enjoy the challenges.

The post An A+ For ARTfx first appeared on Architectural Signs and Fabrication and is written by Ben Sullivan

A Touch of Color

Ben Sullivan — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:07:01 +0000

Architectural Signs and Fabrication

A Touch of Color

When possible, we often introduce a second color as an accent to a set of halo letters. I believe that the accent adds interest and flare to this style of illumination. Pure white halos are tasteful in their simplicity, but they’ve become commonplace over the years I’ve spent in the sign business. With that said, I am going to share the following guidelines when lighting halo letters.

5 Considerations

1. Back halo letters with frosted clear polycarbonate of acrylic. The frost can be achieved by sanding the substrate (preferably on both sides) with 320 grit sandpaper. This simple step will facilitate an even diffusion of light.
2. Always aim your LED light sources into the letter, thereby creating the halo with reflected rather than direct light. This practice will also assist with light diffusion. By contrast, LEDs aimed outward often create hotspots or lighting polka dots.
3. Paint the insides of your halo-style letters a neutral white for added reflectivity. You can use white primer to save on costs. A finish coat isn’t required.
4. While much of the trade still uses 6500K white, we have moved over to 5000K for the simple reason that it falls in the mid-spectrum of available white. Therefore, the halo glows we attain appear as pure white untainted by blue overtones.
5. Use a high-quality LED. We’ve bought LEDs overseas for as little as 45 cents a foot. Trust me: the skimping will eventually bite you in the hind side. You’re going to pay the price one way or another… and you don’t want to pay with your pride, a pissed-off customer or perpetual service work.

CATERING TO THE CLIENTS NEEDS

For the Kaman project shown here, we sold the client on an orange light accent for the ‘K’ insignia. It made sense because their corporate style guide calls for an orange insignia when used in print, signage or online. One of the only disadvantages to halo-lit channel letters is that the colors of the letter “cans” can’t be discerned at night. They appear black or dark gray.

“TRICK OF THE TRADE”

I’ll let go of one “trick of the trade“ for readers to note: Because orange LEDs have limited potency — the same applies to most color LEDs besides red — we painted the inside of the three insignia cans bright orange and flooded 2700K white LEDs into them. 2700 is a warm white bordering on amber. The combination proved to be dynamic. Ultimately, the client was pleased with our decision to introduce orange into the glowing mix.

The post A Touch of Color first appeared on Architectural Signs and Fabrication and is written by Ben Sullivan

Transforming Tradition: The Yiddish Book Center’s Remarkable Renovation

Ben Sullivan — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:02:41 +0000

Architectural Signs and Fabrication

Transforming Tradition: The Yiddish Book Center’s Remarkable Renovation

For more than a decade, ARTfx has collaborated with designer, Alexander Isley, on a variety of projects at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Most recently, this sanctuary for Yiddish literature and art was tastefully converted into an engaging, interactive museum, including an updated theater and a recreation of the I.L. Peretz Salon.

For such a monumental undertaking, the center solicited a team of trusted experts including architect, Amy Reichert. ARTfx’s custom-fabricated displays, extensive murals, and hanging banners brought the vision to life. The work reflects more than five years of coordination between designers, architects, archivists, and preparators.

LINOTYPE DISPLAY

This 1918 Yiddish linotype press weighs 4,500 pounds and is displayed on the main floor of the center. ARTfx manufactured placards with images and copy describing the historic printing machine. (Click the image below and use the white arrows on either side to scroll.)

YIDDISH: A GLOBAL CULTURE

“Yiddish: A Global Culture” serves as the basis for the interactive exhibit distributed throughout the main floor of the renovated center. With direction from the design team, ARTfx fabricated multiple metal structures that display modern Yiddish literature, theater, music, press, and politics. Among this collection are rare books, artwork, photographs, sheet music, typewriters, and thematic memorabilia. Due to their massive size, situating the units within the space involved clever engineering. (Click the image below and use the white arrows on either side to scroll.)

The Yiddish Book Center’s exciting new updates gained immediate accolades from press outlets. The Hampshire Gazette notes, “Yiddish: A Global Culture is the most expansive exhibition the Amherst center has ever staged, a sweeping exploration of modern Yiddish literature, theater, music, politics and more that flourished from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, linking communities from Warsaw to Vilna to New York to Buenos Aires.”

BOOK COVER FLAGS

Hanging banners depicting classic, well-known book covers adorn the hallway of the main floor. The pennant-style banners hang below a skylight which necessitated a specialized printing technique known as “dye sublimation.” The process allows the ink to completely permeate the fabric, protecting bright colors from intense sunlight. (Click the image below and use the white arrows on either side to scroll.)

ISAAC LIEB PERETZ SALON

I.L. Peretz was a provincial lawyer turned Hebrew and Yiddish author. The exhibit faithfully replicates his Warsaw, Poland apartment- right down to the wall treatment. For authenticity, The Yiddish Book Center consulted a specialist to recreate the specific pattern of the salon wallpaper. ARTfx vectorized the pattern for exact replication. (Click the image below and use the white arrows on either side to scroll.)

THEATER

The theater at the book center received a facelift with a fresh coat of paint and sawtooth-patterned walls. New displays showcase historical Yiddish entertainment, including political puppets from 1926. ARTfx constructed custom casing decorated with prints designed by Alexander Isley to house the puppets and assorted artifacts. (Click the image below and use the white arrows on either side to scroll.)

The post Transforming Tradition: The Yiddish Book Center’s Remarkable Renovation first appeared on Architectural Signs and Fabrication and is written by Ben Sullivan