Outdoor Business Signs in Los Angeles

Outdoor signs on the building

Building signs put your name on the wall itself: the fascia over the door, the side facing the parking lot, or the corner of a busy sidewalk. Most custom outdoor signs for business start here.

Illustration Lit letters Channel letter signs Individual 3D letters lit from inside or behind. The usual pick for a business open after dark, and a frequent requirement in shopping-center sign criteria. See channel letter signs
Illustration Non-lit letters Dimensional letters Solid 3D letters in aluminum, acrylic or PVC, pinned to the wall on studs. No power at the wall, and crisp in daylight. See dimensional letters
Illustration Lit cabinet Lightbox signs One LED-lit cabinet with a printed face. It lights a full logo, and a new face can go into the same box later. See lightbox signs
Illustration Projecting Blade signs Two faces on a bracket, at a right angle to the wall, so people walking toward you spot it before they reach the door. See blade signs

Compare storefront signs by type of shop

Outdoor signs at the street and in the lot

Freestanding signs earn their place when the building sits back from the road, shares a lot with other tenants, or has a parking lot people need to find their way through.

Sign-type photos are illustrations, not our projects. Managing a center or an office building? See signs for property managers.

Which outdoor sign fits your building?

Start with who has to read the sign, and from how far. Then check your lot: in the City of Los Angeles, the zone and the street frontage rule out some sign types before design even starts.

Question	Wall sign	Blade sign	Monument sign	Pylon sign
Who reads it	Drivers and shoppers across the street or the parking lot	People on the sidewalk, walking toward the door	Drivers slowing down to turn in, and visitors looking for the entrance	Drivers on a fast road, before they reach the driveway
What the lot needs	A wall facing the street or the lot. A tenant's wall signs can total 3 sq ft per foot of their own storefront.	At least 50 ft of street frontage. One blade or pole sign per 200 ft of it.	A spot 7.5 ft or more from interior lot lines and 15 ft from any other monument, pole or projecting sign.	At least 50 ft of street frontage. A spot 10 ft from interior lot lines (5 ft on a corner or flag lot).
Size in the City of LA	Sticks out 24 in. at most and stays below the top of the wall.	Bottom edge 8 ft or more above the sidewalk; top below the top of the wall.	8 ft tall at most, and no taller than it is wide. Faces seen by one direction of traffic: 75 sq ft in all.	25, 35 or 42 ft tall, by street frontage. 400 sq ft per sign at most.
Zones	Commercial zones, including C1, C1.5 and CR. In CR it sticks out 12 in. at most.	Not in CR. 2 ft out at most in C1 and C1.5. Mini-malls and auto uses need a conditional use permit.	Not in C1, C1.5 or CR. At a mini-mall or an auto use, only in a planted area.	Not in C1, C1.5 or CR. Mini-malls and auto uses need a conditional use permit.
Lit or not	Either. Channel letters and lightboxes light up; dimensional letters and flat panels don't.	Either. A lit blade helps on streets that stay busy at night.	Either: a lit cabinet, push-through letters or ground lights.	Usually lit, so drivers can read it at night.

City of Los Angeles rules for commercial zones, from the LADBS Sign Manual, P/BC 2023-078. Every sign on the lot also counts toward one combined cap (see the permit notes below). Freestanding signs need stamped structural plans with foundation details. Specific plans, sign districts and your lease can add limits. Information, not an approval.

Help me choose

Mockup first

See the sign from the curb before it's built

An outdoor sign is judged from across the street, so that's where the photo should come from. Send a straight-on shot of the wall, or of the spot by the driveway for a monument or pylon. We draw your sign on it at a proposed size, so you can see how it reads from the curb before anything is cut.

The first mockup and one round of changes are free for business-sign requests, per location. Extra rounds are billed.

Start With a Photo

A phone photo is enough. No payment details.

Your photo

You send

A photo from across the street or the lot
The address
Your logo, if you have one

Your sign on it

Sign width Letter height AaDayAaNight

You get back

Your sign on your building, at a proposed size
Suggested materials, colors and lighting
A quote for the sign as shown

DiagramA drawn example, not a customer project. Yours is drawn on a photo of your own building or lot.

Weatherproof outdoor sign materials

In Los Angeles, sun and heat are harder on a sign than rain. Here's what each common material does well outdoors. One City of LA rule shapes the choice: a wall sign over 40 sq ft must be built of metal or another approved noncombustible material, with approved plastic allowed for the letters and the display face.

Aluminum

Doesn't rust, so it's the default for parking, property and post-mounted signs. Printed, painted or finished with cut vinyl.
Aluminum signs
Aluminum composite (ACM)

Two thin aluminum sheets bonded to a core. It stays flat and rigid at large sizes, so it suits wall panels and fascia signs.
Acrylic

Weather-resistant and made to pass light, so it's used for the faces of lit letters and lightboxes, and for push-through letters.
Acrylic signs
PVC

Light and easy to cut into letters and shapes. Fine on a shaded wall; dark PVC in direct afternoon sun can bow from the heat, so aluminum or acrylic is the safer choice there.
Vinyl and UV ink

Exterior cast vinyl and UV-cured ink carry the colors. A clear laminate adds a layer against sun and scratches on printed panels.
Foam board and coroplast

For short-term and event signs only. For a permanent outdoor sign, ask for aluminum, ACM or acrylic instead.

Compare material samples at the shop

What outdoor signs usually cost

There's no single price for outdoor signs: the type sets the scale. HomeAdvisor's national ranges are $4,000 to $20,000 for channel letters, $5,000 to $20,000 for monument signs and $20,000 to $100,000 for pylon and pole signs (HomeAdvisor, updated June 2026). Those are national references, not our prices.

Non-illuminated exterior signs, such as a flat aluminum panel or dimensional letters, usually cost less than a lit sign of the same size: there's no LED, power supply or electrical work. A freestanding sign adds a footing and stamped structural plans, which a City of LA wall sign under 100 sq ft usually doesn't need.

Get My Itemized Quote

Send a photo for a real number. Any range shown is a national reference, not our price.

What a complete quote includes

LA permit notes

Outdoor signs and Los Angeles permits

In the City of Los Angeles, outdoor signs are permitted by LADBS, and the zone of your lot decides which sign types are allowed at all. Three rules catch owners most often:

One shared cap. Wall, projecting, monument, pole, roof and window signs on a lot can add up to no more than 4 sq ft per foot of street frontage. Signs already up count too.
A site check first. LADBS does a sign pre-inspection for each new sign before plan check. Non-digital wall signs more than 2,000 ft from a freeway, and small ones closer to it, skip that step.
Freeways. A sign visible from and within 500 ft of a freeway needs Department of Transportation approval before the permit. Within 2,000 ft, a sign viewed mainly from the freeway isn't allowed, apart from limited wall signs with no moving parts or lights that name the business or the building.

Lit-sign permits are issued only to a C-10 or C-45 licensed contractor. The permit is filed by our licensed sign-contractor partner; we prepare the drawings and coordinate. Your quote lists the installer's CSLB license number.

Check My Address

In the City of LA, new, changed, removed and lit signs usually need a permit. A face change alone usually doesn't.

Read the Los Angeles sign permit guide

City of Los Angeles: when a sign needs a permit

Usually needs a permit

A new sign
Changes to a sign For example bigger, taller, moved, turned or rebuilt.
Lit (illuminated) signs Issued only to a C-10 or C-45 licensed contractor.
Taking a sign down
Temporary signs and banners

Usually doesn't

New copy or a new face in the existing cabinet If the cabinet comes out, it's treated as a new sign under current code.
Unlit ground signs up to 20 sq ft and 6' 6" tall, with no moving parts, spaced at least 15 ft apart

From the LADBS Sign Manual, P/BC 2023-078 (effective Jan. 1, 2023). Find your zone on ZIMAS, or send us the address. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena run their own sign codes. Information, not an approval.

What we need for a quote

A photo is enough to start. The rest gets the quote closer to the real sign.

Get My Free Mockup & Quote

Free: 1 mockup + 1 round of changes per location for business-sign requests. Extra rounds are billed. No payment details.

A straight-on photo of the wall, or of the spot by the street, taken from across the street
The street address, so we can look up the city, the zone and any specific plan
Rough size of the wall area, or of the spot for a freestanding sign
Your lot's street frontage, if you know it
Photos of any signs already on the building or the lot: they count toward the same cap
Your logo, ideally as an AI, EPS, PDF or SVG file
Landlord or property sign criteria, if there are any
Whether it should light up, and where the nearest power is

For a monument or pylon, add a second photo from the driveway, the way drivers will see it.

Send photos any time

Text them to (818) 806-9006

Email hello@angelssigns.com with your business name in the subject.

Cutting head of the flatbed cutter in our Sun Valley shop, over a printed panel with a rug pattern — Our shopPrinted panels are cut to shape on this flatbed cutter, in our shop on Lankershim.

Made in Sun Valley

Made on Lankershim: panels, faces and letters

At Angels Print, 8511 Lankershim Blvd in Sun Valley, we make the parts of an outdoor sign that carry your name: aluminum and ACM panels, acrylic faces and letters, PVC letters, cut and printed vinyl, and the LED layout behind lit faces. They're cut on our CNC router, laser and flatbed cutter.

Letter cans, poles and footings vary by job, so your quote says who makes and installs each part. Looking for an exterior sign company in Los Angeles you can walk into? Come see panels and letter samples in person. We're open daily, 7 AM to 10 PM.

Get Directions How our sign fabrication works

Outdoor sign questions

Still deciding? Call (818) 806-9006 or text a photo and ask.

What are the most common outdoor business signs?

On the building: channel letters, non-lit dimensional letters, lightboxes and blade signs. Near the street: monument and pylon signs. Around the lot: aluminum parking and property signs. Most exterior signage starts with one sign on the building and adds a street sign only when drivers can't see the front.

What's the most weatherproof material for an outdoor sign?

Aluminum and aluminum composite (ACM) don't rust and stay flat, so they're the usual choice for panels and post signs. Acrylic holds up outdoors and passes light, so it's used for lit faces. PVC is light and fine in shade, but dark colors in direct sun can bow. Exterior vinyl and UV-cured ink carry the colors.

Do outdoor signs need a permit in Los Angeles?

Almost always. In the City of LA, putting up, altering or removing a sign takes an LADBS permit, and for a lit sign only a C-10 or C-45 licensed contractor can get one. Swapping the face in an existing cabinet usually doesn't need a permit. Our licensed sign-contractor partner files it, and we prepare the drawings. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena run their own sign codes.

How much sign area can my business have?

In the City of LA, all the signs on a lot together can total up to 4 sq ft per foot of street frontage, and each sign type has its own limit inside that. For wall signs, a tenant can use a simpler rule: 3 sq ft per foot of the tenant's own frontage. Specific plans, sign districts and your landlord can allow less.

Can I keep my existing sign cabinet or pylon?

Often, yes. In the City of LA a new face or new copy in an existing cabinet usually needs no sign permit, as long as the cabinet stays. If the cabinet comes out, the sign needs a permit and has to meet current code. We make new faces and pylon tenant panels in our shop.

Can I see the sign on my building before I order?

Yes. Send a photo from across the street, and we place the sign on it at a proposed size. The first mockup and one round of changes are free for business-sign requests, per location. Extra rounds are billed.

Who installs outdoor signs?

A licensed sign-contractor partner installs them and files the permits. Your quote lists the installer's CSLB license number and says who makes and sets each part, from letters and panels to footings and the power connection. More on sign installation.

Keep reading

See your outdoor sign on your building

Send one photo of the building, or of the spot by the street. You get it back with the sign drawn in, plus a quote for it.

Get My Free Mockup & Quote Call (818) 806-9006 Text a storefront photo

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.

What to send

A straight-on photo of the wall, from across the street.
For a monument or pylon, a photo from the driveway.
The address and your logo file, if you have one.

One photo is enough to start.

8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352Open daily 7 AM to 10 PMGet directions