To keep it in perspective, this world is three feet in diameter.

This world is a topographically correct Earth model slated for display at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California, a regional museum with exhibits and collections in cultural and natural history.

Bronzed World

When you get the chance to observe the beautiful globe, notice its exquisite detail. We were taken with the depth of the undersea trenches, especially off the African Continent. This is in such marked contrast to the depth of the Great Lakes which are barely noticeable due to their relative depth.

Globe Detail

The globe is just fascinating to look at and it is a wonder that we were able to complete it in a timely manner. The world is constructed of fiberglass, and the job of Metal Facades was to coat it in LuminOre® real bronze. Once completed, it looks like it weighs tons and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Neither is true. It is another museum piece proudly transformed by the artisans at Metal Facades.

Metal Facades specializes in coating museum displays, and architectural elements made from inexpensive material,  into masterpieces of bronze, brass, nickel silver, iron, and copper. Look to Metal Facades for the look of foundry cast without the weight, wait, or expense.

Atlas Signs and Plaques has created and produced the smallest sign the world has ever seen.

An exaggeration? an aberration? a fabrication? a misrepresentation? or just fun with words and signage? Let’s just say that Atlas loves doing the unusual, and when a client desired itsy-bitsy door number plaques, our designers jumped at the opportunity to do something new and different. While we didn’t contact Guinness for full certification, our entire staff voted, and we are certain beyond any reasonable doubt, that this is indeed the “Real McCoy”.

Atlas Signs and Plaques’ CNC Router can make routed signs from aluminum, wood, plastic, composites, and our favorite, HDU Signfoam. Atlas can make your signage project unique, precise, and cost effective. But there is more to signage than signs as as demonstrated by the fireplace mantle example above.

CNC Routers are expensive to purchase. Sign Shops that don’t require one for daily use can have Atlas Signs and Plaques do the routing for them. Here is the opportunity to give clients the dimensional signs and plaques they desire without any investment on your part.

We love to share! Pictured above is a beautifully finished and installed fireplace mantle. It reads “Head, Heart, Hand” and is made from cedar. The Rennie Mackintosh Font is used and is a great fit to the stone fireplace.

Verona Condos, Wildwood Crest, NJ

Art Deco Address Numbers

A sign of the times? or of times past? We usually expect to see examples of Art Deco Design dating from the height of the design movement in the 1920s and 1930s. What a pleasant surprise when Atlas Signs and Plaques had a request for  Custom Art Deco Style Address Plaques for a new condo building in New Jersey. The Verona Condos in Wildwood Crest NJ would fit right in with the some of the finest examples of Art Deco Architecture on Miami’s Ocean Drive.

Empire State Express

Art Deco was a design movement dating predominantly from between World War I and World War II. It followed and was influenced by the more flowery and flowing Art Nouveau Style. However, Art Deco was much more than an evolutionary outgrowth of earlier modern styles, it is more of a celebration of  the machine age, but also has elements of classical design. And while it may seem extravagant and even outrageous at times, much of the world was more than ready to accept and embrace the movement following the human and economic horrors of WWI and its aftermath.  Designers and architects accommodated the demand for all things modern, and worked wonders with projects as diverse buildings, automobiles, trains, public projects (take a good look at Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge) and fashion.

Neither Atlas Signs and Plaques nor Metal Facades are no strangers to Art Deco. In addition to home and business signage, we designed and transformed elevator doors to the Art Deco Style for corporate office building renovation in the small town of Fort Atkinson Wisconsin, proving that the Art Deco influence reached way beyond the accepted hot-spots of New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Art Deco Bakelite Radio

Art Deco most often shows geometric and faceted designs elements, but it is not unusual to observe curvaceous and streamlined features that are usually considered  “Streamline Modern Design”. All and all, we find designs from this era to be a little confusing and difficult to define precisely. But it is hard to find a more interesting and elegant style to enjoy. We are most happy to see a new project that makes us smile as Art Deco was intended.