Some signs simply mark a location. Others tell you something about the building before you ever walk through the door. The monument sign at the Ketterhagen Center for Independence (CFI) was designed to do the latter. And it pushed our fabrication team to bring more craftsmanship to the piece than a typical monument sign calls for. It also underscores our emphasis on getting signage right from the beginning to end.
The Brief: More Than a Standard Monument
Every monument sign starts with the same basic question: how do we make this structure represent the building well, on a budget and timeline that make sense?
For CFI, the design called for a monument sign that felt as considered and welcoming as the center itself, with a look sharper and more refined than the boxy, squared-off monuments most passersby are used to seeing.
Reading Between the Lines of the Design Intent
Our CNC technician took the lead on interpreting what that end goal actually meant in fabrication terms. It was his way of demonstrating how we strive to take the uncertainty out of your sign project.
Radius corners replaced the standard square edges, softening the whole structure. Custom reveals, the recessed lines and channels that create shadow and depth on a sign face, were built in to give the monument dimension rather than a flat, printed look.
Those reveals turned out to do double duty. Beyond the visual detail they add in daylight, they created the channels needed for LED wash lighting to spread evenly across the face at night, giving the sign a glow that looks intentional and high end rather than a floodlight bolted on as an afterthought.
Why This One Stands Out
The CFI monument sign took more risk than most, with custom geometry and integrated lighting that had to be planned into the structure itself rather than added after the fact. It’s the kind of project where the fabricator’s read on design intent matters as much as the fabrication itself. Get that interpretation right, and the finished piece looks effortless.
When a monument sign calls for custom shaping or integrated lighting, the fabrication shop needs to be reading the design intent as well as the spec sheet. Radius corners, custom reveals, and wash lighting all have to work together structurally, not just visually.
The Ketterhagen CFI monument is a good example of what’s possible when a shop is willing to bring more craftsmanship to a project than the baseline calls for.
Have a monument sign project on the horizon? Let’s talk through how we take the uncertainty out of signage.
