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Vintage Marquee Lights built four custom layered marquee signs shaped like pizza peels — one for each Jimano's Pizzeria location — bringing the beloved Chicago-style chain's iconic logo to life in steel and light.

When ESPN transformed a Nashville honky-tonk into an immersive fan experience for the 2019 NFL Draft, they needed signage that could hold its own in Music City — a place where every wall tells a story and every sign has to earn its place. That's where we came in.

The ESPN House took over Tin Roof, a local honky-tonk just blocks from the NFL Draft main stage on Broadway, for three days in April 2019. The space became a celebration of the football player journey — from college to the pros — with interactive fan experiences that let visitors sit at the College GameDay desk, step up to the NFL Draft podium, and even tape a Monday Night Football player intro. It was ESPN's brand brought to life in the heart of Nashville, and it needed signage that matched the energy of both the network and the city.

We built three identical custom layered marquee signs for the activation, each one displaying "ESPN HOUSE Nashville" in bold, dimensional letters. The design featured ESPN's iconic red logo at the top, the word "HOUSE" in large blue letters outlined with warm marquee globe bulbs, and "Nashville" scripted in orange below. The black background and rust-colored frame gave each sign a vintage edge that felt right at home on the reclaimed wood walls of a Broadway honky-tonk. These weren't printed banners or vinyl decals — they were hand-fabricated metal signs with real depth, real bulbs, and real presence.

Each sign was built with layered metal construction, precision-cut and hand-assembled to create the dimensional effect that makes marquee signage so visually striking. The globe bulbs weren't just for show — they lit up the space and gave the signs that unmistakable marquee glow. Displayed side by side, the three signs created a bold branded moment that anchored the entire ESPN House experience.

As Emeka Ofodile, ESPN's Vice President of Sports Marketing, put it: "The ESPN House serves as a reflection of that journey and gives fans a taste of that experience, coupled with a look and feel that is uniquely and authentically Nashville." The signs we built were part of that authenticity — handcrafted, dimensional, and designed to feel like they belonged in Nashville's storied entertainment district.

Whether it's a one-time event activation or a permanent installation for your restaurant, bar, or corporate space, custom layered marquee signs create brand moments that people remember. Explore our custom logo signs and see what your brand looks like lit up. Visit Vintage Marquee Lights to start your custom quote.

When the team behind Hardware Apartments needed a sign that could hold its own against the building's century-old brick facade, they came to us. What we built was one of the most striking blade signs we've ever produced: a massive double-sided illuminated marquee blade sign spelling out HARDWARE in bold vertical letters, ringed with warm LED bulbs, and mounted to the side of the historic Salt Lake Hardware Building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Below the main sign body, a smaller panel reads Apartments and Leasing.

A Historic Building Reborn

The Salt Lake Hardware Building has been a fixture of downtown Salt Lake City since 1909. Its aged brick facade, towering wood-beamed ceilings, and original water tower have been carefully restored to anchor the Hardware Apartments community - a luxury residential development featuring penthouses, lofts, studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and stunning two-story brownstone row houses. Managed by Greystar, Hardware Apartments has earned recognition as a top-1% property by online reputation nationwide and took home the 2019 Utah Apartment Association Best Leasing Lobby/Clubhouse Award and the CCIM 2019 Development of the Year.

The building deserved a sign that matched that legacy. A standard flat panel or backlit cabinet simply would not do.

The Sign: A Blade Built for the Street

A blade sign projects perpendicular from a building's face, designed to be read from down the street rather than head-on. For Hardware Apartments, we built a large-scale vertical blade sign with the word HARDWARE stacked letter by letter down the face of the sign body, each letter illuminated from within and ringed with warm LED bulbs that cast that unmistakable warm amber glow.

The shop photo tells the story before installation. The installed photo - shot at golden hour against the Wasatch Mountains - shows exactly why this kind of sign is worth every bit of the investment. It does not just identify the building. It becomes the building.

If you are developing a mixed-use property, apartment community, hotel, or commercial building and want signage that commands attention from the street, explore our custom blade and exterior marquee signs at https://inventory.vintagemarqueelights.com or visit https://vintagemarqueelights.com to start your custom quote.

Hey @hardwareapartments - your sign looks incredible. Tag us when you share it!

When Proclamation Ale Company came to us, they had a clear vision: a sign that felt as bold and authentic as the beers they brew. What we delivered was a large-scale wall-hanging marquee sign in their signature script font — the word "proclamation" glowing in warm white light, mounted directly onto a reclaimed wood plank wall inside their Warwick, Rhode Island brewery. Below it, the words "ale company" are rendered in flat metal cut-out letters with a teal underline accent, unlit and intentionally understated — letting the illuminated script above do the heavy lifting.

A Rhode Island Brewery Built on Authenticity

Proclamation Ale Company, known locally as PROC, has been one of Rhode Island's most beloved craft breweries since it was founded in 2014 by Dave Witham in West Kingston, RI. Starting on a nano system with one purpose — to bring genuinely exciting, creative beer to a local market that was hungry for it — PROC quickly outgrew its original space and relocated to a 15,000 square foot facility in Warwick in 2017, just a few blocks from TF Green Airport.

Dave passed away in December 2020, but his vision lives on through his wife Lori and the entire PROC family. Today the brewery is woman-owned and community-driven, operating one of the largest oak aging and mixed fermentation programs in the state, with multiple 30-barrel oak foeders for aging and blending. Their taproom features a large bar, pinball, shuffleboard, a video arcade, and an outdoor patio with a firepit. Visit them at proclamationaleco.com.

The Sign: Wall-Hanging Script with Flat Metal Accents

The "proclamation" wordmark is a wall-hanging illuminated sign built in their exact brand script, with standard incandescent filament bulbs providing the warm glow that makes the letters pop against the dark wood backdrop. The "ale company" text below is fabricated as flat metal cut-outs with a teal painted accent line — matching the brand's color palette precisely. This combination sign style — illuminated script paired with flat metal accents — is one of our most requested styles for breweries and restaurants. Explore our wall-hanging sign collection at vintagemarqueelights.com.

Hey @proclamationaleco — your sign looks incredible. Tag us when you share it!

When Pizza My Heart came to us, they didn't just want a sign — they wanted their iconic logo brought to life in three dimensions, ringed with warm light, and built to last on a real restaurant wall. What started as a digital mockup became one of our favorite finished pieces: a bold oval layered marquee sign that captures everything this legendary California pizza chain stands for.

A California Institution Since 1981

Pizza My Heart has been a staple of the California coast since it first opened on Capitola Beach in 1981. Founded by Fred Poulos and Keith Holtaway as a tiny take-out window barely bigger than a bedroom, the brand grew into a beloved family-owned chain with nearly 30 locations across the Bay Area and Central Valley — all without ever franchising or selling out. Their philosophy is simple: fresh, hand-tossed pizza, the best local ingredients they can find, and a surf-culture spirit that has never wavered in over four decades.

That authenticity is exactly what we wanted to honor when we built their sign. The Pizza My Heart logo — a bold red oval with their name and a surfboard cutting through the center — is instantly recognizable to anyone who has grown up in Northern California. Our job was to take that 2D identity and give it real-world presence.

From Digital Design to Dimensional Reality

The image above tells the whole story. The top half shows our digital mockup: a clean 3D render of the oval layered sign, complete with the surfboard graphic, stacked lettering, and a ring of standard incandescent filament bulbs tracing the perimeter. The bottom half is the finished piece, mounted on a warm wood-plank wall — and the match is almost exact.

This is the process we follow for every custom layered logo sign we build. We start with a precise digital mockup so the client can see exactly what they're getting before a single piece of metal is cut. Once approved, our team builds the sign by hand: layering metal, hand-painting the signature weathered distressed finish, wiring each bulb socket, and testing every light before it ships. The result is a sign that looks like it has always belonged on that wall — because it was designed specifically for it.

Why Marquee Signage Works for Restaurants

Restaurant signage does more than identify a location. It sets the mood before a customer even walks through the door. For a brand like Pizza My Heart — rooted in surf culture, California sunshine, and decades of community loyalty — a glowing marquee sign communicates warmth, character, and history in a way that a printed banner or backlit box simply cannot.

The warm glow of standard incandescent filament bulbs creates an inviting ambiance that draws people in. The dimensional depth of a layered sign gives the logo a presence that photographs beautifully and stops foot traffic in its tracks. And because every sign we build at Vintage Marquee Lights is custom-made to match the brand's exact logo and color palette, it becomes a permanent part of the restaurant's identity — not just a decoration.

If you're a restaurant owner, bar manager, or hospitality brand looking to make a statement, explore our custom layered logo signs and see what your brand looks like lit up.

Hey @pizzamyheart — your sign looks incredible. Tag us when you share it!

A Sign as Unique as the Restaurant Itself

When Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill came to us, they didn't want just a sign — they wanted a statement. Fishlips has been a beloved Cape Canaveral institution since 2004, serving up fresh seafood, cold drinks, and waterfront vibes at their iconic spot in Port Canaveral, Florida. Their motto says it all: Eat. Drink. Laugh. Dance. Repeat. A place with that much personality deserved a sign that matched.

The brief was simple but brilliantly creative: make each letter look like it was found — as if someone had wandered through a collection of vintage salvage shops, pulled a different letter off the wall from each one, and assembled them together to spell FISHLIPS. Different fonts. Different colors. Different finishes. One unforgettable sign. We were all in.

How We Built the Found Letter Look

This is one of our favorite types of custom wall-hanging marquee sign projects because it demands real craftsmanship and a sharp eye for design. Each of the eight letters in FISHLIPS was individually designed with its own personality: F — bold blue with a chunky retro font, lit with standard incandescent filament bulbs. I — clean white, unlit, a quiet contrast in the lineup. S — dark charcoal with a flowing script-style form. H — bright orange with a wide marquee frame, fully lit. L — vivid green with a tall, narrow profile. I — burnt orange/red with a deep marquee box. P — warm copper patina finish, lit with standard incandescent filament bulbs. S — raw brushed silver, a cool understated finish to close it out. The result is a wall-hanging sign that looks like it has lived a hundred lives — and that is exactly the point. When it is mounted on the wall at Fishlips, it does not just announce the name of the restaurant; it tells a story about character, history, and a place that has been part of the community for over two decades.

Why Custom Marquee Signage Works for Restaurants

Restaurants live and die by atmosphere. Guests do not just eat food — they eat the whole experience. A sign like this one for Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill becomes part of that experience the moment someone walks through the door. It is instantly Instagrammable, deeply memorable, and completely on-brand.

At Vintage Marquee Lights, we specialize in custom wall-hanging marquee signs that turn a blank wall into a focal point that guests photograph, share, and remember long after the meal is over. Whether you want a single cohesive look or a found letter collection like Fishlips, every sign we build is 100% custom, handcrafted in steel, and built to last. If your restaurant, bar, or business is ready for a sign that earns its place on the wall, get a custom quote here.

@fishlipswaterfront — your sign looks incredible. Tag us when you share it!

Some restaurants are defined by what is on the plate. Others are defined by the entire experience. Sur Burger in Monterey, California, is firmly in the second category.

Established in 2019 on historic Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey, Sur Burger has built a reputation for bold, uniquely crafted burgers. With a sister restaurant Sur Carmel, the Sur brand is a beloved fixture of California Central Coast dining.

The Sur Burger Layered Marquee Logo Sign

The Sur Burger sign is a standout example of our custom layered marquee signs. Each element of the logo is crafted separately and assembled into a cohesive, eye-catching three-dimensional display with our signature handpainted weathered vintage distressed finish and the warm glow of standard incandescent filament bulbs.

Why Custom Signage Matters for Restaurants

Before a guest tastes a single bite, they have already formed an opinion based on the atmosphere and the details. A custom marquee sign sets that tone instantly. At Vintage Marquee Lights, every sign is made to order, handcrafted in the USA.

Put Your Brand in Lights

Visit Vintage Marquee Lights to explore our custom sign styles. Hey @surburgermonterey — your sign looks incredible. Tag us when you share it!

Discover how Vintage Marquee Lights crafted a custom wall-hanging marquee sign for Down the Rabbit Hole, an Alice in Wonderland-themed bar in Durango, CO. Explore our custom wall-hanging letters for your business.