This page contains an ongoing collection of town signs. The purpose is to help the EDC decide on an appealing design for the signs at the entrances to town. A decision also needs to be made about a new slogan for the sign.

Above is one of the current signs, showing signs of aging. This one is located on Rte. 28S near the Pembroke town line.

The sign measures 24 in. x 40 in. and is installed about 6 ft. off the ground. The sign is surrounded by 2-3 ft. tall weeds; distracting snowmobile signs are tacked onto a post.

The Prototype

This design contains nearly all the attributes that the EDC deemed essential to a new sign: scalloped corners, a town seal graphic, a distinctive border, and good contrast between lettering and background. This design and a list of additional features were sent to three NH vendors with a request for quotes for the sign, the posts, and the installation. The design may evolve slightly based on sample designs received from the vendors. A quote has received from a local woodcarver for the carved bears.

NOTE: The woodcarver estimated that each bear cub would weigh about 100+ lb.

Sample drawing from Advantage Signs

Estimated cost: "I think a realistic budget would be $5-6,000." (12-12-18 mail)

Sign materials: not stated; posts: not stated

This sample was based on the preceding prototype. The sign is about 4 ft. wide by 3 ft. high. The welcome banner seems to be too bright and too wide, the banner background should match the slogan background to avoid having too many colors, the town name and border need to be gold and the web address needs to be in a sans serif font. 

[Advantage Signs 1]

The original image was modified. The overly bright background for the welcome banner was made the same red-brown color as the background for the slogan. The banner needs to be narrower. 

[Advantage Signs 2]

The original image was modified again. The overly bright background for the welcome banner and slogan was changed to maroon. The town name and the inner border were also changed to gold as in our prototype. 

[Advantage Signs 3]

The image was modified to remove the background from the slogan. Compare this to the previous one. In which sample does the slogan look more prominent? 

[Advantage Signs 4]

Sample Drawing from ProSource Signs

Estimated cost single sided HDU sign: "$2514 will be good for 3 ft. x 4 ft. signs with white posts." (12-26-18 mail)
Sign materials: 1 1/2 in. HDU (high density urethane); Lettering is machined into sign face.
Posts: pressure treated posts with white vinyl sleeves
Lifetime: 10+ years; can be touched up over time

Estimated cost for double-sided HDU sign: "Estimated cost for a 2 sided machined and painted sign would be $3450." (1-23-19 mail)
Sign materials: 2 in. HDU (high density urethane); Lettering is machined into sign face.
Posts: pressure treated posts with white vinyl sleeves
Lifetime: 10+ years; can be touched up over time

Estimated cost for double-sided laminated vinyl sign: "For a laminated vinyl type of sign I would propose an HDU type of substrate covered on both sides with the vinyl. Cost for a 2 sided sign like this would be $2250." (2-5-19 mail)
Sign materials: 2 in. HDU (high density urethane); Lettering is a vinyl sheet glued onto the HDU board.
Posts: pressure treated posts with white vinyl sleeves
Lifetime: 7 years max; cannot be touched up over time; must be completely replaced

The following sign is a revision (12-26-2018) with the town name in gold along with the other changes. The town name now seems to stand out better in white.

The slogan would be better in a bold, italic, sans serif font, as in the other vendor's design. The web address could be bold to make it more visible. How about if the town name was in white and the slogan in gold?

[Prosource Signs 2: 12-26-18 version ]

The following designs incorporate the final changes of the EDC. They show the sign front and two slightly different versions of the sign back.

Sample Drawing from Barlo Signs

Estimated cost for single-sided vinyl sign:
$1362.16 (1 sign & posts) + $994.36 (install) = $2356.52 each
1-21-19 quote
Sign materials: aluminum sheet with applied vinyl
Posts: 3" x 3 1/4" square tubes
Lifetime: 5-7 years; cannot be touched up over time; must be completely replaced

Estimated cost for double-sided vinyl sign:
$1450.56 (1 sign & posts) + $994.36 (install) = $2444.92 each
1-21-19 quote
Sign materials: aluminum sheet with applied vinyl
Posts: 3" x 3 1/4" square tubes
Lifetime: 5-7 years; cannot be touched up over time; must be completely replaced

Estimated cost for single-sided HDU sign:
$2811.13 (1 sign & posts) + $994.36 (install) = $ 3805.49 each
3-1-19 quote
Sign materials: carved and painted HDU board
Posts: 4x4" painted wood
Lifetime: not specified

This first sample looked good but had a few flaws. The vendor was told that the two most prominent features must be the town name and the slogan. The slogan was incorrect and should have stated "Home of Bear Brook State Park," it needed to be a little larger point size, and changed to a sans serif bold font. The web address also needed to be changed to a sans serif font. Compared to the Prosource sign, does the the town seal look too large?

This second sample shows the revised slogan and web address.

Signs for Reference

Londonderry, NH
This sign features scalloped corners, a top graphic, a distinctive, inset border, and good contrast between lettering and a pleasant blue background.

Pittsburg, NH
This sign features scalloped corners, a top graphic, a Welcome banner, a distinctive, multi-colored inset border, and good contrast between lettering and a green wood grain background.

Merrimack County Savings Bank, Concord

Note the ornate curved crown which is a separate piece from the sign board. Granite posts are attractive but expensive.

Pembroke sign near Rte. 3 & 106
The graphic takes up too much space and you cannot tell what it shows. The slogan is small hard to read.