Blade Signs & Projecting Signs in Central Ohio

Blade sign types we build

• Painted or powder-coated aluminum panels with dimensional or routed copy — the workhorse for retail and restaurant storefronts.
• Double-sided illuminated cabinets with push-through or routed and backed acrylic copy, lit internally with LED for even faces.
• Halo-lit and edge-lit blades that throw light onto the building rather than out at the street, common where a district limits internal illumination.
• Carved and painted wood or HDU panels with gold leaf accents, used in historic districts where a plastic-faced cabinet will not be approved.
• Shaped and cut-out blades where the sign outline follows the logo instead of sitting in a rectangle.
• Decorative scroll and bracket assemblies, fabricated to match the building's era rather than pulled from a catalog.

Ohio blade sign codes: projection, clearance, and sign area

Almost every Ohio jurisdiction regulates blade signs on three numbers: how far the sign may project from the wall, how much clearance there must be above the sidewalk, and how many square feet the sign face may be. The specifics differ by city, by zoning district, and often by whether the sign hangs over a public right-of-way.

The City of Columbus reviews projecting signs under its graphics code and issues a Graphics Permit; a sign that overhangs a public sidewalk generally also needs the right-of-way encroachment addressed. Worthington and Upper Arlington add architectural review, where materials, bracket style, and illumination method all get looked at, not just dimensions. Dublin reviews signage in Historic Dublin against its own district standards. Grandview Heights, Delaware, Canal Winchester, and Pickerington each run their own storefront review.

We confirm the governing limits for your address before we draw anything, because designing a blade sign to a number that does not apply to your parcel is how projects lose a month.

Mounting a blade sign without damaging the building

The bracket is the part that fails. On the older brick common in Ohio downtowns, anchors have to land in solid masonry rather than in mortar joints or in soft, deteriorated face brick, and the load has to be spread across enough fasteners that the sign does not work itself loose in a winter of freeze-thaw cycles and wind.

Storefronts with canopies, transom glazing, cast-iron columns, or EIFS need a different approach — through-bolting, structural backing, or a mounting point moved to a member that can actually carry the sign. Our installers survey the wall first and detail the attachment on the shop drawings, and where the building is a designated historic structure we keep penetrations to the minimum a reviewer will accept.

Sizing and lighting for a sidewalk, not a highway

A blade sign is read from twenty to eighty feet away, usually at an angle, often by someone walking. That argues for fewer words, heavier letterforms, and strong contrast — a name and maybe a category, not a service list. We mock the sign up against a photo of your storefront at the real projection so you can see what it looks like from up the block.

For illumination, an internally lit cabinet reads best at night on a busy corridor, while halo-lit copy or a gooseneck-lit painted panel suits a historic street and is frequently what review boards prefer. Both use LED modules and UL-listed power supplies.

Blade signs as part of a storefront package

Most of the blade signs we build go up alongside other signage: a set of channel letters or dimensional lettering on the fascia, window graphics with hours and services, a door decal, and interior signage. Producing them together keeps the finishes, letterforms, and paint colors matched — and it means one permit submittal and one install day rather than three.