Benjamin Moore
Dealer Storefront
Updating an independent paint dealer's corner store to Benjamin Moore's current exterior signage standards, rule by rule.
Proposed signage across both frontages.
A lot of my work starts from a blank wall. This one started from a rulebook. The store is an independent dealer, Weiss Paint & Roofing Supplies, selling Benjamin Moore, and the signs had to follow Benjamin Moore's Exterior Signage Brand Standards to the letter.
That's not a formality. Under the guide, signs that don't meet spec don't get reimbursed and can be ordered removed. So the job was less about inventing a look and more about reading the standard closely, applying it correctly to a real building, and documenting it so nobody down the line could get it wrong.
| What the guide requires | How I applied it |
|---|---|
| Every sign follows one of the approved layouts: box, channel or awning. | Box sign built on the 6x:x retailer layout. Awnings use the center-aligned awning layout. Nothing freeform. |
| Benjamin Moore name to retailer name at a 2:1 visual proportion. | On the 15'-11 3/4" by 2'-6" box, the red Benjamin Moore panel takes two thirds, the navy Weiss panel one third. On the awnings the retailer line sits under the wordmark at half the weight. |
| Colors: Benjamin Moore Red PMS 199C, Blue PMS 289C, White. | Red matched to PMS 199C, retailer panel printed PMS 289C. Awning fabric picked from Sunbrella's range to match: Logo Red #4666 with a Navy #4626 valance. |
| Fonts: Myriad Pro Bold for Benjamin Moore, Moderat Bold for the retailer. | Both specified on the drawing for every sign type, so the fabricator can't substitute. |
| Reversed white logo on red and dark backgrounds. | White reversed logo on all red surfaces: box, awnings and blades. |
| Clear space of x on all sides of the logo. | Logo centered on each awning and box with at least x on every side. |
| All existing Benjamin Moore signs must be replaced with the current logo. | Every old mark on the building swapped out: box face, five awnings and both blades. |
| Local vendors need pre-approval with a color rendering and material specs. | The drawing set is built as that submission: photo rendering, elevations, and a full material and color spec on one sheet. |
Both elevations, the box sign, awnings A and B, blade E, and the spec block with PMS, Sunbrella and font callouts.
The guide covers box signs, channel letters, awnings and hanging window signs. This store also had two projecting blade signs and a run of windows. For those, I didn't make up new rules. I built them only from parts the guide already approves: PMS 199C red, the reversed white logo, Myriad Pro Bold. The blades are a face change on the existing brackets and poles, so they cost little and still read as the same brand from down the block.
The window graphics use Benjamin Moore's own product photography (Fresh Start, Aura, Regal Select, Advance, ben) on black, with the red logo panel in the center window. They stay in the lower part of each window so the store stays visible from the street.
Window graphics on 16th Ave and 46th St.
Working inside someone else's system is its own skill. The standard decides the color, font, proportion and spacing. My job is to fit those rules to an uneven brick corner and hand the fabricator a drawing with no room for guessing.