Channel Letters – Front-Lit or Halo-Lit Illuminated Letters

Planning channel letters: four decisions

Before we build your channel letters, we settle four questions: how big they need to be, how they should light up, how they go on the wall and where the power comes from. Colors, typeface and depth usually follow from those.

What letter height do I need?

The rule of thumb: about 1 inch of letter height for every 8 feet of reading distance (1 cm per meter). What counts is the distance from which customers should read your sign, not the distance from which they can just about make it out.

For lower-case lettering, measure the height of the “x”, not the ascenders. And the narrower the typeface, the more sense it makes to go one size up.

Front-lit, halo-lit or both?

This is mainly a question of effect.

• Front-lit: the face glows and the lettering stays clear from a long way off. The first choice on busy roads and in retail centers.
• Halo-lit (reverse channel letters): the light falls onto the wall while the letter itself stays dark. It looks refined but needs a light, smooth wall. Ideal for law firms, medical offices, hotels and showrooms. More on our backlit logo signs page.
• Front- and halo-lit: face and halo glow together, with colors chosen separately. The most eye-catching option if your brand really needs to stand out at night.

From experience: on dark brick or wood siding a halo loses much of its effect. There, front-lit letters are usually the better choice.

Mounting: flush to the wall or on a raceway?

Direct mount: each letter is fixed individually to the wall on stand-offs. It looks the lightest because only the letters are visible, but every letter needs its own holes and its own wire penetration.

Raceway: all letters sit on a slim rail that also carries the wiring. That means fewer holes, faster installation and easy removal if you ever relocate. The raceway is color-matched to the facade. On EIFS, or if you lease your space, it's often the better option.

Your letters arrive with mounting hardware and installation instructions. Illuminated signs are hardwired by a licensed electrician. If you don't have an installer, we can help you find one near you.

Power and drivers

The LEDs inside the letters run on low voltage. A power supply converts line voltage and sits behind the wall, inside the raceway or in a small enclosure nearby. Work out early where the electrical feed will come from. A timer or a photocell makes sure the sign is only on when you want it to be.

What drives the cost

We quote a price for your specific logo. These are the factors that affect it most:

1. Height and number of characters: every letter is built individually, so every character counts.
2. Type of illumination: front- and halo-lit combined takes more work than either one alone.
3. Typeface and logo: fine serifs, script fonts and small details need more handwork.
4. Mounting: raceway or direct mount.

If the budget is tight, the specification can be adjusted: for example, the logo as channel letters and the tagline as unlit flat cut acrylic letters.