Lightbox Signs: One-Sided or Two-Sided, Rectangle or Shaped?

Short answer: a lightbox flat on a wall only needs one side. A lightbox that sticks out from the building, or hangs in a window seen from both ways, needs two. Choose a rectangle for the best value and the most room for text, and a shaped box when the outline itself is the brand.

Lightboxes, sometimes called sign cabinets, are a lit box with a printed face. They are a good value way to light a logo with lots of detail, because the whole face is printed rather than built from separate letters.

One-sided

The face is on the front only, and the back is closed.

• Fits: fascia signs above a shop front, signs flat on an inside wall, menu boards.
• Why: nobody sees the back, so a second face would be money spent on nothing.

Two-sided

A face on the front and the back, lit from inside.

• Fits: projecting signs that stick out from the wall at a right angle, so people walking either way along the street can read them. Also hanging signs and window signs seen from inside and out.
• Why: on a busy street, a projecting sign often gets noticed sooner than a flat one, because it faces people as they walk.
• Ask about: whether both sides show the same thing. Usually they do, but a mirrored logo can look wrong, so check the design for each side.

Rectangle

• Good: the most efficient to build, the most room for text, and the easiest to update by changing the face.
• Fits: most businesses, and anything with a long name or several lines.

Shaped

The box follows a shape, such as a circle, an oval or the outline of a logo.

• Good: stands out, and makes a simple logo instantly recognizable.
• Watch out: it costs more to build than a rectangle of the same size, and there is less room for extra text.
• Fits: strong, simple logos: a coffee cup, a round badge, a pill-shaped diner sign.

Questions to ask the customer

1. Will the sign be flat on the wall or stick out from it?
2. Who needs to see it: people across the road, or people walking past?
3. Is the logo a simple shape that works as an outline?
4. Indoors or outdoors?

Let them try both

In Sign Designer customers can pick a rectangular or a shaped lightbox, one-sided or two-sided, set the size in real inches, and see it lit at night. They see the price change as they switch, so the trade-off between a shaped box and a plain one is clear before you talk.