Channel letters
Individual LED-lit letters on the fascia. The standard for storefronts and shopping centers, and the sharpest way to put an exact logo and typeface in lights.
Explore channel lettersIlluminated exterior signs · Dallas Fort Worth
Exterior Lighted Signs That Own the Night
For many of your customers, the first look at your building comes after dark: a winter evening, a late shift, the drive home. An outdoor lighted sign makes sure they still read your name. We design, permit, fabricate and install LED-lit signs for businesses across Dallas Fort Worth.
What is an exterior lighted sign?
An exterior lighted sign is an outdoor business sign with its own light source built in, which on new signs almost always means LED. Light either shines out through a translucent face, as in front-lit channel letters and lightbox cabinets, or washes the wall behind a solid letter for a halo effect. Channel letters, cabinets, monument signs and pole signs can all be illuminated.
- Sign typesChannel letters, cabinets, monuments, pole signs
- Light sourceEnergy-efficient LED
- AftercareRepair, maintenance and panel replacement
- LicensedTexas Electrical Sign Contractor #18921
Why illumination matters
A dark sign stops working at sunset.
Through the North Texas winter, the sun is down before many people leave work, and a good share of your customers pass by in the dark. An unlit sign fades into the facade. A lit one becomes the clearest thing on the street.
Light also sends a message no typeface can: someone is here and the doors are open. For restaurants, clinics, retail and anyone who trades into the evening, that message matters as much as the name.
- Readable from the road after dark
- Signals open for business at a glance
- Brand colors carried into the night
- Works on the fascia, the monument and the pole
Lights off, lights on
Flip the switch on the same storefront.
Turn the sign off and the facade goes flat: at dusk the name sinks into the wall and the storefront could belong to anyone. Turn it on and your name is the first thing people read. Use the switch to compare the same building with its sign dark and lit.
Interactive illustration
What can be lit
Four outdoor lighted signs, four different jobs.
Most exterior sign types can carry their own light. The right one depends on where people first see you: from the sidewalk, across the parking field or from the highway.
Cabinets and lightboxes
An aluminum box with LEDs inside and a translucent face that carries your graphics. Cabinets handle detailed and shaped logos well, and when the brand changes, the face can usually be replaced without replacing the box.
Monument signs
A lit cabinet or lit letters set low at the property entrance, right where drivers need to decide to turn in. Lighting the faces keeps the entrance easy to find after dark.
Explore monument signsPole and pylon signs
Lit cabinets raised on a pole or pylon so the sign clears cars, trees and neighboring buildings. Built for highway and arterial traffic, often with a panel for each tenant.
Explore pole and pylon signs
Lighting style
Front-lit letters, lit cabinet or halo-lit?
Three ways to put an illuminated exterior sign on a building. Each looks different after dark, handles a rebrand differently and suits a different kind of business.
| Compare | Front-lit channel letters | Lit cabinet | Halo-lit letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the light reads | Each letter glows through its colored face | The whole face glows, with your graphics on it | Solid letters in silhouette against a ring of light on the wall |
| Night legibility | Highest, letter by letter | High, if the artwork has strong contrast | Softer, and clearest at shorter distances |
| Logo detail | Bold shapes and exact typefaces | Fine detail and full-color artwork | Clean shapes that work in silhouette |
| When the brand changes | New faces or new letters | Usually a new face in the same cabinet | New letters |
| Best fit | Retail, restaurants and shopping centers | Pole and monument faces, detailed logos, multi-tenant signs | Offices, clinics, hospitality and premium facades |
Many properties use more than one: lit letters on the building and a lit cabinet on the monument or pole out front. Landlord criteria often decide which style is allowed on the fascia.
LED, electrical and energy
LED inside, licensed wiring behind it.
Neon and fluorescent tubes have given way to LED in new signs, and for good reason. LED modules use far less energy than neon, have no glass tubes to break and spread light evenly behind a face. Power supplies feed them from inside the sign, the raceway or a nearby enclosure.
Every illuminated sign is also an electrical installation. In Texas, that work must be performed by a licensed electrical sign contractor, and Signs Express holds Texas Electrical Sign Contractor license #18921. We plan where power reaches the sign, how it is switched and whether a timer or photocell should turn it on at dusk without anyone thinking about it.
- LED layouts planned for even light across each face
- Power supplies placed where a technician can reach them
- Timers or photocells for dusk-to-close operation
- Electrical work under TX license #18921
Your hours do not end at sunset. Neither should your sign.
Lit letters over a glass storefront at dusk, the hour when an illuminated sign does its most important work.
Weather and maintenance
What Texas weather does to a lit sign, and how we plan for it.
An outdoor lighted sign lives through long summers, hard sun, high winds and heavy storms. How it is built and looked after decides how well it handles them.
01
Heat
Heat is hard on electronics, so power supplies go where they are protected and easy to reach, not buried where a single failure means taking the sign apart.
02
Sun and UV
Direct sun fades colors over time on acrylic faces, vinyl graphics and painted returns alike. UV-resistant materials and finishes slow it down, and faded faces can be re-skinned or replaced.
03
Wind and storms
Spring storms bring wind, hail and driving rain. Mounting is engineered for the load, and letters and cabinets are sealed and drained so water does not collect around electrical parts.
04
Dim letters and dark sections
When part of a sign goes dark, the cause is usually one power supply or LED module, not the whole sign. Both can be replaced without rebuilding the letters or cabinet.
05
Faces and panels
Dust and grime on a face cut the light that gets through, so periodic cleaning keeps a sign bright. Cracked or faded faces can be replaced, including panel replacement on cabinet, pole and monument signs.
Installation
Mounted, wired and switched on by one team.
Installation day brings the lift or bucket truck, the mounting hardware and the electrical connection together. Letters and cabinets arrive from our Carrollton facility ready to hang, so time on site goes to mounting, alignment and a clean connection to power.
Pole and monument signs add foundation work, which is engineered and planned before anything is set. Before we leave, the sign is powered up and reviewed with you.
Project gallery
After dark, and in daylight.
Illuminated channel letters, lit cabinets and halo-lit letters from the Signs Express portfolio, photographed after dark.
How we deliver
One team, from survey to switch-on.
Every illuminated exterior signs project follows the same six steps. Here is what each one means for this sign type.
- 01
Discover
We survey the building or site, study how the sign will be seen after dark and find where power can reach it.
- 02
Design
Artwork is checked lit and unlit, because a brand color on an acrylic face reads differently with LEDs behind it.
- 03
Engineer
We lay out the LEDs, size the power supplies and engineer the mounting, cabinet structure or foundation.
- 04
Permit
Landlord approval comes first where there is sign criteria, then the city sign permit and any electrical approvals it requires.
- 05
Fabricate
Letters, cabinets and faces are fabricated at our Carrollton facility, with LEDs and power supplies installed before delivery.
- 06
Install
We mount the sign, complete the electrical connection under our Texas license and switch it on with you.
Related projects
Proof, not promises.
Dallas Fort Worth
Lighted signs for a Metroplex that drives at night.
Dallas Fort Worth is a region of highways, frontage roads and wide parking fields, so most people see a business sign from a moving car, and often after dark. That rewards bright, simple, well-lit signs. It also means answering to more than one set of rules: each city in the Metroplex writes its own sign code, some limit brightness or the hours a sign may stay lit near homes, and all illuminated sign wiring must be done by a licensed electrical sign contractor. We fabricate in Carrollton and install lit signs from Dallas and Richardson to Frisco, McKinney, Arlington and Fort Worth.
- Dallas
- Carrollton · HQ
- Richardson
- Plano
- Frisco
- Allen
- McKinney
- Arlington
- Fort Worth
Free project review
Keep your name on after dark.
Send a daytime photo of your building, and a night photo if you have one. We will recommend the right lit sign, the lighting style and what your landlord and city will need to see.
- A photo of the building or site, even from a phone
- Your logo or brand files, if you have them
- The city where the sign will be installed
- Landlord sign criteria, if the space is leased
Straight answers
Illuminated Exterior Signs: your questions, answered.
Something else on your mind? Call (469) 901-3108 or send the details through the quote form.
What exterior signs can be illuminated?
Most of them. Channel letters, cabinet and lightbox signs, monument signs and pole or pylon signs can all be built with internal LED lighting, and fabricated letters can be halo-lit when they stand off the wall. The right choice depends on where people see you from and what your landlord and city allow.
Is LED better than neon for an outdoor lighted sign?
For most businesses, yes. LEDs use far less energy than neon, have no glass tubes to break and spread light evenly behind a face. Neon has a distinctive look some brands still want, but LED is the standard for new channel letters and cabinet signs.
How does a lighted sign change nighttime visibility?
After dark, an unlit sign depends on street and parking lot lights, which rarely land where you need them. A lit sign carries its own contrast, so your name reads faster and from farther away. Colors can shift too, since a face that looks one shade by day may look different when lit, which is why we check artwork both ways.
Will my lighted sign be too bright for the city or my neighbors?
Not if it is planned properly. Some DFW cities regulate brightness or the hours a sign may stay lit, especially next to homes, and landlords may have their own rules. We check the requirements for your address, and a timer or photocell can keep the sign within them.
What maintenance does an illuminated sign need?
Very little day to day. Keep the faces reasonably clean and watch for letters or sections that dim. When that happens, the cause is usually an LED module or power supply, and both can be replaced without rebuilding the sign. We provide repair, maintenance and panel replacement after installation.
How do outdoor lighted signs hold up to Texas weather?
Well, when they are built for it. Aluminum cabinets and returns resist rust, faces and graphics are chosen with UV in mind, and letters are sealed and drained so water stays away from the electrical parts. Sun will still fade colors over time and heat is hard on power supplies, so plan for occasional face and component replacement over the life of the sign.
Who can install the wiring for an illuminated sign in Texas?
Electrical work on illuminated signs in Texas must be performed by a licensed electrical sign contractor. Signs Express holds Texas Electrical Sign Contractor license #18921, so fabrication, mounting and the electrical connection stay with one accountable team.
Do you install outdoor lighted signs near me?
If your business is in Dallas Fort Worth, yes. We fabricate lit signs at our head office and manufacturing facility in Carrollton and install across the Metroplex, including Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Arlington and Fort Worth.
Keep exploring
Related sign types
Channel Letters
Individually built, LED-lit letters that turn a fascia into a nighttime landmark.
Monument Signs
Low, freestanding signs that mark the entrance and match the architecture behind them.
Pole & Pylon Signs
Freestanding signs raised on poles or pylons, so drivers see your name in time to turn.
Building Signs
Wall-mounted letters, logos and cabinets, scaled to identify a building from the road and engineered for the wall they hang on.
Start with the space. End with a landmark.
Your next landmark starts here.
Tell us what you are building and where. We will help you choose the right sign system and handle the approvals, fabrication and installation.