Britannia Design & Print cuts, builds and installs 3D letter signage for Birmingham businesses from our workshop in Bordesley Green. Shop fronts, office receptions, showrooms, clinics and gyms.
3D letter signage is individual letters cut from acrylic or metal and fixed straight onto a wall or fascia, instead of being printed flat onto a panel. They’re also called built-up letters, raised letter signs or fabricated lettering.
Because each letter stands off the surface, it catches light and throws a shadow. That’s why a 3D sign looks more expensive than a printed one, even from across the road.
On a shop front or building, built-up letters do something a flat panel can’t: they look like the business paid for them. For restaurants, salons, clinics and estate agents, that impression starts before the customer reaches the door.
Your logo in raised letters behind the reception desk. Reception lettering is the background of every photo taken in your building, every visitor’s first impression, and these days every video call backdrop. Usually acrylic or brushed stainless, often with a halo glow behind.
Meeting room names, wall-mounted values, department markers, a logo in the stairwell. Interior letter signs cost less than exterior because they don’t need weatherproofing or the same fixings.
Large-format business letter signage on a warehouse or trade counter wall, readable from the car park. Usually painted aluminium, sized for distance rather than detail.
This decision sets most of your budget. Here’s the honest version.
| Material | How long it lasts outdoors | Cost | Can it be lit? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3D acrylic letters | 8 to 10 years | Lowest | Yes — any method | Most jobs. The default answer |
| Painted aluminium | 10+ years | Middle | Yes | Large exterior letters, exact brand colours |
| Brushed stainless steel letters | 15+ years | Highest | Halo only | Premium shop fronts, receptions, clinics |
| Mirror-polish stainless | 15+ years | Highest | Halo only | When you want it to shine |
If you’re not sure, you’re probably buying acrylic. 3D acrylic letters cut cleanly, take any colour, come in gloss or matt, and can be lit from behind or through the face.
Choose stainless steel letters when the sign is a premium statement, when it’s somewhere exposed, or when you want the specific look of brushed steel that acrylic can’t fake.
Neither is better outright. They’re for different jobs, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you what they have in stock.
Acrylic letter signs win on cost, colour range and the ability to be illuminated any way you like. If your logo has several colours or fine detail, acrylic handles it better.
Stainless steel letters win on durability, weather performance and the impression of permanence. A brushed steel reception sign says something about a business that a printed acrylic one doesn’t.
Plenty of jobs use both — a brushed steel plate with acrylic detail is a common combination.
There are two ways to make the letter itself.
Built-up letters have a separate face and a return (the side wall of the letter), which is how you get 30mm, 50mm or more of depth. This is the construction you need for any illuminated letter.
Flat-cut letters are cut from a single sheet, usually 5mm to 20mm thick. Cheaper, thinner, can’t be lit from inside, but perfectly good for interior letter signs and smaller exterior jobs.
How you light 3D letters changes the whole look.
| Lighting | Where the light goes | The effect | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halo lit letters (back-lit) | Behind the letter, onto the wall | Dark letters inside a glow | Restaurants, clinics, receptions |
| Face lit | Through a glowing acrylic front | Bright, letters light up | Shops needing distance visibility |
| Face and halo lit | Both | Premium and highly visible | Flagship shop fronts |
| Side lit (side-glow) | Through a clear return | Glowing edges | A striking, less common look |
| Unlit | No lighting | Clean and simple | Interiors, or where trough lighting exists |
Halo lit letters are the most requested, and they’re the ones that photograph well.
One planning point to raise early: an illuminated sign needs advertisement consent from Birmingham City Council at any size, whereas an unlit sign generally only needs it above 0.3 square metres. That affects your timeline, so mention it when we quote rather than the week before you open.
The usual rule of thumb in the trade: roughly 25mm of letter height for every 3 metres of viewing distance.
So letters read comfortably from about 30 metres at 250mm high, and from 100 metres at around 800mm.
In practice three things decide it:
Send us the wall width and we’ll show you the letters at scale on a photo of your own building before you commit to anything.
Brick is one of the most common surfaces we fix to. There are two standard methods.
Flush mounting. The letter sits tight against the wall on studs drilled into brick or mortar. Clean, permanent, and the usual choice for exterior letter signs.
Standoff (locator) mounting. The letter sits 20mm to 50mm off the wall on spacers. This creates a shadow gap, which looks sharper — and it’s also how you get the gap needed for halo lighting.
Brick, render, timber, glass and plasterboard all need different fixings, and an illuminated letter needs a cable route back to a power supply. Tell us what the wall is made of when you send your photo, or send a close-up and we’ll work it out.
Stainless steel letters will outlast most businesses in the unit. Fifteen years and up, with nothing more than an occasional wipe.
Powder-coated aluminium holds colour well and typically lasts 10 years or more.
3D acrylic letters usually give 8 to 10 years outdoors, though strong colours — reds especially — fade first in direct sun.
LED components in illuminated letters normally run for years, and they’re replaceable without taking the whole sign down.
We’ll tell you which material suits how long you plan to be in the building. There’s no sense selling you fifteen years of steel for a three-year lease.
3D letters are arguably better suited to offices than to shops. Interior letter signs don’t need weatherproofing or advertisement consent, so you get a premium finish for less money and without a planning application.
The common office lettering jobs are a reception logo wall, meeting room names, and lettering in lift lobbies or stairwells. Acrylic and brushed stainless are the usual materials, often with a subtle halo glow behind the main logo.
3D letters are usually priced per letter, so a short trading name costs considerably less than a long one at the same size.
Beyond letter count, four things move the price: the height and depth of the letters, the material, whether they’re illuminated, and what you’re fixing them to.
Send us your logo, the wall or fascia width, and a photo of the surface. We’ll come back with a fixed price covering manufacture, fixings and installation, with nothing added later.
Send us a photo of the wall or fascia and your logo, and we’ll come back with a visual and a ballpark.
Individual letters cut and built from acrylic or metal and fixed directly to a wall or fascia, standing proud of the surface rather than printed flat. Also known as built-up letters or raised letter signs.
Acrylic for most jobs, because it costs less, comes in any colour and can be illuminated. Stainless steel when you want a premium finish that needs no maintenance. Painted aluminium for large exterior letters where weight matters.
Neither is better outright. Acrylic costs less, comes in more colours and is easier to illuminate. Metal looks more expensive and lasts longer outdoors.
Letters are usually priced per letter, so the length of your name matters as much as the size. Height, depth, material, illumination and the wall you’re fixing to are the other factors. Send us your logo and wall width for a fixed price.
Yes — halo lighting behind the letter, face lighting through an acrylic front, both together, or side-glow through the letter’s edge.
Yes, and they’re often better suited to offices than shops. Interior lettering needs no weatherproofing and no advertisement consent, so you get a premium finish for less.
Stainless steel 15 years and up, powder-coated aluminium around 10 years, acrylic 8 to 10 years before colours start to fade.
A common trade rule of thumb is about 25mm of letter height for every 3 metres of viewing distance. Your wall width and whether customers are walking or driving decide the rest.
Yes — either flush-mounted on studs drilled into the brick, or on standoff locators that hold the letter off the wall to create a shadow gap.
Yes. We make and install across Birmingham and the West Midlands, from our workshop in Bordesley Green.
