Lit business signs
Illuminated Signs for Los Angeles Businesses
8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley · Open daily 7 AM–10 PM
Send a photo. We place the sign on it at the proposed size, and show it after dark if you add a night photo. The first mockup and one round of changes are free for business-sign requests, per location. Extra rounds are billed.
What counts as an illuminated sign?
An illuminated sign has its light built in. In channel letter signs the LEDs sit inside each letter. In a light box sign they sit inside one cabinet behind a printed face. In halo lit channel letters they shine back at the wall. In LED neon business signs, a flexible LED tube gives the look of glass neon. A plain panel lit by a spotlight from outside is externally lit: a different job, and not what this page covers.
Lighted signs for business pay off when customers look for you after dark: restaurants and bars, salons and gyms open late, urgent care, and any shop on a street that's busier at night than at noon. On boulevards like Lankershim, Ventura and Sunset, traffic keeps moving long after dark, and a lit sign keeps your name in front of every car that passes.
Kinds of illuminated signs
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Channel letters Individual 3D letters, lit from inside or behind.
After dark: each face glows in your brand color. See channel letters
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Halo-lit letters Solid letters that throw a soft glow on the wall behind them.
After dark: a soft ring of light on the wall behind each letter. See halo-lit letters
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Lightbox signs An LED-lit cabinet with a printed face you can change later.
After dark: the whole printed face glows, logo and background. See lightbox signs
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LED neon signs The look of glass neon in flexible LED on a cut acrylic backer.
After dark: a bright colored line that looks like glass neon. See LED neon signs
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Blade signs Two-sided signs that stick out from the wall for foot traffic.
After dark: lit on both sides for people walking past. See blade signs
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Monument signs Low signs at your entrance or lot.
After dark: a lit cabinet or lit letters at the entrance. See monument signs
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Pylon signs Tall signs drivers see from the road. Tenant panels and refaces too.
After dark: lit tenant panels drivers can read from the road. See pylon signs
- Not sure which lit sign fits? Send a photo of the wall and tell us your hours. We'll suggest a lighting style that suits the street, the wall and the local sign rules. Help Me Choose
Sign-type photos are illustrations, not our projects.
Front-lit, halo-lit, lightbox or LED neon?
| Feature | Front-lit letters | Halo-lit letters | Lightbox | LED neon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it lights | LEDs inside each letter shine through a translucent face. | LEDs inside solid letters face the wall. | LEDs inside one cabinet light a translucent face. | A flexible LED tube on a cut acrylic backer. |
| After dark | The face glows in your color. Reads from across the street. | Letters show as silhouettes with a glow behind. | Logo, text and background all glow. | A colored line of light, like glass neon. |
| By day | Colored acrylic faces with trim cap. | Painted, brushed or mirror metal faces. | Reads as a printed panel on the wall. | A thin tube. Easiest to read up close or behind glass. |
| Changing it later | New name, new letters. | New name, new letters. | Swap the face and keep the cabinet. | A new piece. |
| Suits | Restaurants, retail and anyone open late on a busy street | Salons, offices, lobbies and upscale storefronts | Detailed logos, tighter budgets and tenant panels | Windows, cafes, bars and feature walls inside |
On an outside wall in the City of LA, any of these needs a sign permit when it's new, and lit-sign permits are issued only to C-10 or C-45 licensed contractors. General information, not an approval.
Name the style on the form, or say you're not sure. The round of changes that comes with your first mockup can show a second style.
Help me chooseDay and night mockup
See it lit up before anything is cut
Start with a straight-on daytime photo of your storefront, plus one after dark if you can. We place your illuminated sign on it at a proposed size and color, then show how it reads at night, when only the lit parts carry your name.
That's where most surprises with lit signs live: a thin font that blurs at night, a dark logo color that barely glows, a halo that turns dim on dark paint. The first mockup and one round of changes are free for business-sign requests, per location. Extra rounds are billed.
A phone photo is enough. A night photo helps. No payment details.
Your photo
You send
- A daytime photo, straight on, with the whole wall in frame
- The same view after dark, if you can take it
- The street address
- Your logo file, if there is one
Your lit sign on it
You get back
- The lit sign drawn on your photo at a proposed size
- A night view, when you sent a night photo
- A suggested lighting style and face colors
- A price for the sign as drawn
Backlit signs
A backlit sign can mean two things
Ask for a backlit sign and you could mean halo-lit letters: solid metal letters set off the wall on spacers, with the LEDs pointing back so each letter is outlined in light. Or you could mean a backlit panel: light behind a translucent face, as in a lightbox or a backlit acrylic logo, so the graphic itself glows.
Halo lighting is quieter and suits salons, offices and lobbies. Backlit panels put more light on the message and carry a full-color logo. Seen a backlit business sign you like? Send us a photo of it with your own.
Four things to get right in a lit sign
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LED spacing
LED modules are spaced for the depth of the letter or cabinet, so the face lights evenly, without hot spots or dark corners. We plan the LED layout in our shop. -
Power supplies you can reach
LED power supplies sit inside the sign, in a raceway or behind the wall. Where they go decides how easy service is later, so their location is on the drawings. -
Color, lit and unlit
Translucent acrylic and vinyl look different by day and at night. Day/night vinyl reads dark by day and lights up white. You approve the face colors before production. -
Timers and photocells
California's energy code requires outdoor sign lighting to switch on and off automatically, and signs lit by day as well as night need a dimmer. Plan the controls with the wiring (see the rules).
What illuminated signs usually cost
Light is one of the biggest line items in a sign. HomeAdvisor's sign guide says lighting adds cost, because lit signs take more to make and more labor to put up. Its national references: outdoor lighted signs at $500 to $5,000; channel letter signs, installation included, at $4,000 to $20,000, with halo-lit (reverse) letters at up to 30% above standard ones. Wiring is a separate line, at $560 to $2,300 (HomeAdvisor, updated June 20, 2026).
None of these is our price. For a lit sign, the biggest swings come from the lighting style and from how far the sign sits from power.
Send a photo for a real number. Any range shown is a national reference, not our price.
What a complete quote includesLA permit notes
Lit signs and Los Angeles permits
In the City of Los Angeles, LADBS issues permits for illuminated signs only to a contractor with a C-10 (electrical) or C-45 (electrical sign) license. Our licensed sign-contractor partner files the permit and installs the sign, and we prepare the drawings. Your quote lists the installer's CSLB license number.
Two lighting rules worth knowing early. A wall sign facing the rear lot line within 30 ft of an R3 or stricter zone can't be illuminated. And California's energy code (Title 24, Part 6, §130.3) requires outdoor sign lighting to run on a photocontrol plus a time switch, or on an astronomical time switch. A sign lit at night and for more than an hour of daylight also needs a dimmer that can cut its power by at least 65% at night.
Information, not an approval. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena run their own reviews. More in the Los Angeles sign permits guide.
In the City of LA, new, changed, removed and lit signs usually need a permit. A face change alone usually doesn't.
City of Los Angeles: lit signs and permits
Usually needs a permit
- A new lit sign Filed by a C-10 or C-45 licensed contractor.
- Alterations to an existing sign
- Removing an old sign
- A lit blade (projecting) sign At least 8 ft above the sidewalk, on a lot with at least 50 ft of street frontage.
Usually doesn't
- A new face or new copy on an existing cabinet As long as the cabinet stays up. Remove it, and the replacement must meet current code.
- A small ground sign with no power No more than 20 sq ft and no higher than 6 ft 6 in. Light it, and the exemption no longer applies.
From the LADBS Sign Manual, P/BC 2023-078 and California Energy Code §130.3 (the same text in the 2025 edition). General information, not an approval.
What helps us quote a lit sign
Free: 1 mockup + 1 round of changes per location for business-sign requests. Extra rounds are billed. No payment details. No obligation to order.
- A straight-on photo of the wall, from across the street
- A night photo of the building, if you can take one
- The address, so we know which city reviews the sign
- Approximate storefront width and how tall the sign area is
- Where the nearest power is: an old sign's wiring, a junction box or nothing yet
- Your logo file (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG if you have one)
- Your landlord's sign criteria, including any lighting or hours rules
Replacing an old lit sign? Add a close-up of it and of how it's mounted.
Send photos any time
Email hello@angelssigns.com with your business name in the subject.
Made in Sun Valley
Faces, vinyl and LED layouts made on Lankershim
Searched for “electric signs near me” from the Valley, Burbank or Glendale? Our lit-sign parts are made at Angels Print, 8511 Lankershim Blvd in Sun Valley. We cut acrylic faces on our CNC router and laser, UV-print lightbox faces and graphics, apply translucent and day/night vinyl, plan the LED layout and cut the acrylic backers for LED neon.
Installation and permit filing are done by our licensed sign-contractor partner. Come see letter and material samples before you choose. We're open daily, 7 AM to 10 PM.
Illuminated sign questions
Still deciding? Call (818) 806-9006 or text a photo and ask.
What's the difference between lighted, backlit, LED and illuminated signs?
Do illuminated signs need a permit in Los Angeles?
Does a lit sign need power at the wall?
Can my sign stay lit all night?
Which lit sign is easiest to read from a passing car?
Who installs an illuminated sign?
See your sign lit up on your building
Free: 1 mockup + 1 round of changes per location for business-sign requests. Extra rounds are billed. Or bring your logo to the shop, open daily 7 AM–10 PM.
Photos that help with a lit sign
- Straight on, from across the street, with the whole wall in frame.
- A second photo after dark, from the same spot.
- A close-up of the old sign or the power box, if there is one.
One photo is enough to start.
8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352Open daily 7 AM to 10 PMGet directions