CorPro Visual

Service 03 · Exterior & Storefront

Exterior & Storefront Signage

Exterior signage that survives twenty Illinois winters, reads cleanly from the street, and looks like it belongs to the building. We handle the engineering, the permits, and the install.

UI Health Mile Square Health Center monument sign — teal cabinet with white UIC logo and 'L.P. Johnson Rockford' lettering, photographed at three-quarter angle with winter sun flaring behind bare trees.
UI Health Mile Square Health Center · Monument Signage

Overview

Your storefront sign is your most important marketing asset. People decide whether to slow down for your business in less than a second — the sign has to be legible, on brand, and built to look right under sun, rain, snow, and freeze-thaw cycles.

We've been engineering, fabricating, and installing exterior signage for businesses across the Stateline and beyond for 35+ years. Channel letters mounted to brick. Stone-veneer monuments at church and school entrances. Full pylon signs with full-color LED message centers. Our own lift-equipped crew handles the install — no subcontracted handoff, no schedule slip.

What we make

Every variation of exterior & storefront signage our team produces.

Storefront & building

  • Illuminated and non-illuminated channel letters
  • Building identification (architectural scale)
  • Façade signs in dimensional metal, painted wood, brushed aluminum
  • Branded canopies and awning lettering
  • Tenant signage for multi-tenant buildings

Monument & ground-mounted

  • Brick and stone-veneer monument signs
  • Fabricated cabinet monuments
  • Pylon signs with LED message centers (Watchfire, Optec)
  • Post-and-panel directional and identification
  • Custom landscape coordination on entrance signs

Window & glass

  • Cut-vinyl storefront lettering
  • Full-coverage window graphics
  • Frosted privacy and branding films
  • Perforated one-way vision graphics
  • Promotional and seasonal window installs

Our process

From first measurement to final walkthrough.

  1. 01

    Site survey & engineering

    We measure the site, check setback and zoning, photograph context, and identify utilities. For monuments and pylons, we engineer the footing and structural drawings.

  2. 02

    Permitting

    We pull the sign permit through your municipality. We've worked with most of the building departments across Winnebago, Boone, and Stephenson counties and know what each one looks for.

  3. 03

    Fabrication

    Most exterior signage is fabricated in our Loves Park shop. Pylon cabinets, monument bases, and dimensional letters all run through the same crew.

  4. 04

    Install

    Our lift-equipped install team handles concrete footings, electrical, anchoring, and leveling. Standard channel-letter installs finish in a day. Pylons and monuments take 2–4 days depending on footing requirements.

  5. 05

    Service & content

    For LED message centers, we set up scheduling software and walk you through content management. We also offer service contracts for ongoing LED content updates if you'd rather hand that off.

Recent installs

Exterior & Storefront Signage we've actually built.

Real CorPro projects across the Stateline and beyond — schools, parks districts, civic buildings, offices, storefronts, and fleet identity.

UI Health Mile Square Health Center monument sign — teal cabinet with white UIC logo and 'L.P. Johnson Rockford' lettering, photographed at three-quarter angle with winter sun flaring behind bare trees.

Monument Signage

UI Health Mile Square Health Center

Lyceum Church entrance — brushed-metal dimensional 'LYCEUM' lettering and a cross emblem mounted on the brick gable above the glass entry, with 'ANNO DOMINI MMXXIV' inscription below.

Exterior Signage

Lyceum Church

Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 Young Adult Center — clean exterior dimensional letters 'YOUNG ADULT CENTER · 95' with 'LAKE ZURICH COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT' subline, paired with a colorful circular logo of figures joining hands, mounted on the gray clapboard facade above the glass entry.

Building Identification

Lake Zurich CUSD 95 — Young Adult Center

Arlington Ridge Center exterior — clean dimensional metal letters across a tan-brick recreation facility under blue sky.

Building Identification

Arlington Heights Park District

Salt Creek Park District building identification — black dimensional letters mounted to a stone-veneer exterior wall under a contemporary curved metal roofline.

Building Identification

Salt Creek Park District

Antioch Village Hall exterior — dimensional white lettering and a green circular 'A' logo mounted on a red brick facade above a glass entry.

Building Identification

Antioch Village Hall

City of Aurora Public Works facility — clean large white dimensional letters reading 'CITY OF AURORA PUBLIC WORKS' mounted on the tan-stucco institutional building facade above a freshly-paved drive.

Building Identification

City of Aurora Public Works

Algonquin Area Public Library District — 'LIBRARY' dimensional letters and the full district wordmark mounted on a brick exterior wall above a large picture window reflecting trees and snow.

Building Identification

Eastgate Branch — Algonquin Area Public Library District

North Boone Fire District 3 station — dimensional 'NB3' fire-rescue shield emblem (axes, fire hydrant, ladder) mounted on a stacked-stone exterior wall beneath a hanging bell.

Building Identification

North Boone Fire District 3

Vertical exterior building sign for Cicero Lofts — tall black panel with stacked white lettering mounted on a brick facade corner.

Channel Letters

Cicero Lofts

Calvary Community Church entrance monument — large arched cabinet with star-cross logo over a stone-clad base, surrounded by a landscaped berm with shrubs and boulders.

Monument Signage

Calvary Community Church

Village of South Elgin entrance monument — curved brick wall with dimensional metal letters reading 'VILLAGE OF SOUTH ELGIN' and a 'Footprints in Time' tagline, with a sculptural figure visible above the wall.

Monument Signage

Village of South Elgin

Completed Maurer Real Estate Group pylon sign — multi-tenant cabinet with LED message screen and CorPro bucket truck parked alongside, mid-final-inspection.

Pylon Signage

Maurer Real Estate Group

Harlem-Roscoe Fire Protection District stone-clad monument with a large amber LED message center reading "March 22 5-8 pm", set in winter light.

Monument + LED Message Center

Harlem-Roscoe Fire Protection District

City of Loves Park Fire Station 2 — red and gray facade with dimensional 'CITY OF LOVES PARK FIRE STATION 2' lettering and the LP heart-flame logo over the apparatus bays.

Building Identification

City of Loves Park — Fire Station 2

City of Loves Park Fire Station 1 building ID — red and black dimensional letters with heart-and-flame logo mounted on a cream paneled facade.

Building Identification

City of Loves Park — Fire Station 1

Village of South Elgin entrance monument — curved brick wall with dimensional metal letters reading 'VILLAGE OF SOUTH ELGIN' and a 'Footprints in Time' tagline, with a sculptural figure visible above the wall.

Monument Signage

Village of South Elgin

Greater Family Health storefront — blue branded fascia panel reading 'Greater Family Health' above clinic windows in a strip retail center.

Storefront Signage

Greater Family Health

Bryden Motors dealership storefront — printed window graphics celebrating 75 years with American flag emblem applied to glass.

Window Graphics

Bryden Motors

Two-tenant roadside pylon — illuminated Dunkin' Drive Thru cabinet above a black Vape-N-Juice panel with green-and-blue lettering, on a brick base in a flowering landscape bed.

Pylon Signage

Vape-N-Juice — Shared Pylon

Vape-N-Juice storefront — oversized green-and-blue dimensional "VAPE-N-JUICE" letters with a water-drop accent and "Electronic Cigarettes & E-Liquid" subline on gray horizontal siding.

Channel Letters

Vape-N-Juice Storefront

Viking Chemical building corner — brushed-metal and dark dimensional "VIKING" letters with blue diamond logos wrapping both faces of a corrugated-metal facade against a clear blue sky.

Building Identification

Viking Chemical

Restored West Chicago train station — "WEST CHICAGO" dimensional letters on an oval panel beneath the Victorian gable trim, above the brick entry stairs.

Dimensional Letters

West Chicago Train Station

IMI Industrial Automation address panel — white aluminum face with purple header, "10914 N. Second St." and the IMI ring logo, mounted to a brick monument wall.

Monument Signage

IMI Industrial Automation

Tall aluminum multi-tenant pylon with a vertical blue "CHASE" blade and tenant panels for Rasmussen University, Chiro One, Heartland Dental, PG Design + Build and IUOE Local 150, in a landscaped island under blue sky.

Pylon Signage

IUOE Local 150 / Chase Multi-Tenant Pylon

Gregory Elementary School monument — white cabinet with the school mascot and name above a full-color LED message board, on a black base.

Monument + LED Message Center

Gregory Elementary School

Huntley High School Harmony Road Campus — red dimensional letters across the upper facade with a separate "PERFORMING ARTS CENTER" ID on the gray block wall.

Building Identification

Huntley High School — Harmony Road Campus

Maud E. Johnson Elementary School monument — navy cabinet with gold school name over an LED message board reading "WELCOME", in a planted bed.

Monument + LED Message Center

Maud E. Johnson Elementary School

May Whitney Elementary School — brushed-aluminum dimensional letters on a dark brick facade above a row of classroom windows.

Building Identification

May Whitney Elementary School

Niles Police Department — large black dimensional letters with stand-off shadow lines across a tan brick facade beneath a glass curtain wall.

Building Identification

Niles Police Department

North Towne Mall pylon at dusk — illuminated "North Towne" header and glowing blue vertical "Mall" letters over a red LED message center, CorPro bucket truck in the foreground.

Pylon Signage

North Towne Mall (Rockford)

Rolling Green Elementary School monument — black cabinet with white lettering and an LED message board on a tapered pedestal base.

Monument + LED Message Center

Rolling Green Elementary School

Summerdale Early Childhood Center sign — colorful lit cabinet over a full-color LED board reading "Welcome to Summerdale," with painted handprints on the base.

Monument + LED Message Center

Summerdale Early Childhood Center

University of Illinois Rockford entrance monument — aluminum frame with an LED time-and-date display above a "UIC Health Sciences Campus" base in a landscaped bed.

Monument + LED Message Center

University of Illinois Rockford

Van Matre HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital monument — full-color LED message center above an illuminated tenant cabinet with the Van Matre and HealthSouth logos.

Monument + LED Message Center

Van Matre HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital

Jefferson Early Childhood Center — brushed-aluminum dimensional letters across a red-brick facade above the entry canopy under a bright cloudy sky.

Building Identification

Jefferson Early Childhood Center

Rockford Billiard Cafe wall sign — white cabinet with "ROCKFORD BILLIARD CAFE" flanked by 4 and 5 pool-ball graphics on a painted brick building.

Cabinet Signage

Rockford Billiard Cafe

Siffron roadside sign — white double-post panel with blue "siffron" logo and green diamond, set in a shrub bed along the drive.

Post-and-Panel Signage

Siffron — Des Plaines

AFTER: Summit Restoration post-and-panel sign — refinished blue frame with new white "4304 MARAY DR." address and Summit Restoration roofing-siding-gutters panels.

Post-and-Panel Signage

Summit Restoration — After

Multi-tenant shopping-center pylon — US Cellular, Skechers, Crumbl Cookies, Pearle Vision and Portillo's tenant panels in a curved architectural frame.

Pylon Signage

Multi-Tenant Pylon — Portillo's / US Cellular / Skechers

High PSI Ltd. post-and-panel sign — white frame with a splash-style "HIGH PSI" logo panel listing pressure washers, parts washers and cleaning detergents.

Post-and-Panel Signage

High PSI Ltd.

High PSI Ltd. storefront — full-height printed window graphic of a pressure-washer operator with red product-category tabs, plus logo and hours vinyl on the entry door.

Window Graphics

High PSI Ltd.

Business-park tenant directory — dark post-and-panel sign with address numbers and replaceable tenant strips (MazTek Calibration, AWT/Clifford, Atrona Test Labs, High PSI, Massie Heating & Air and more).

Post-and-Panel Signage

Business Park Tenant Directory

Two-story window graphic — bold "HERE" lettering with smiling kids and "Great Futures Start Here" across a gridded window above a school-building entry.

Window Graphics

Boys & Girls Club — "Great Futures Start Here"

William C. Goudy School entry — full-door "COUGARS" mascot wrap with door number and school name, set into a historic carved-stone doorway.

Wall Graphics

William C. Goudy School — Cougars

Sugar Jones storefront — row of bright clerestory window panels with donut, drink, cookie, lollipop, cupcake, ice-cream and pie icons above the black awning.

Window Graphics

Sugar Jones

OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony College of Nursing — brushed-metal dimensional letters and crest mounted on the multi-story panel facade.

Building Identification

OSF HealthCare — Saint Anthony College of Nursing

Doc's roadside pylon — green illuminated circular logo cabinet over a full-color LED message center, with the CorPro bucket truck in the background.

Pylon Signage

Doc's Pylon

FAQ

Common questions about exterior & storefront signage.

If you don't see your question here, the fastest way to get an answer is the quote form — we usually respond within a business day.

Do you handle the sign permit?
Yes. We pull the permit, submit the engineered drawings, and coordinate inspection. The permit cost is itemized separately on the quote — we don't mark it up.
How long do exterior installs take?
Channel letters on existing buildings: typically 4–6 weeks from approved artwork (permitting is most of the lead time). Monument signs with footings: 6–10 weeks. Pylon signs with LED message centers: 8–12 weeks. Weather affects exterior install scheduling November–March.
What's the difference between illuminated and halo-lit letters?
Front-lit channel letters glow through the face. Halo-lit (reverse-lit) letters are solid on the face and glow behind the letter onto the wall — a more architectural look, but you need a wall surface that can reflect light. We'll mock up both for your building.
Do you do LED message center content management?
Yes. We can do a one-time training so your team manages content, or we run it on a service contract — typically monthly scheduling for seasonal, promotional, or community-message content.
Can you service a sign you didn't make?
Almost always. We repair, reface, and relamp signs across the region — including illuminated cabinets, channel letters, and monument signs from other vendors. Send us a photo and we'll quote the repair.

Exterior & Storefront Signage, made local.

Exterior signage is the highest-stakes work we do — it's permitted, engineered, and visible to the public for a decade or more. If you're planning a new build, a rebrand, or a rebuild of an existing sign, we'd love to quote it.