Rock Island Sign Company

The stone monument at the entrance to Augustana College is ours, and so is the interior wayfinding that runs through the campus behind it. The programmable message center outside the Rock Island County Animal Shelter is ours, built in partnership with QC PAWS. So are the indoor and exterior signs at J Wild Marketing and the exterior sign at Hill and Valley Bakery. Rock Island is just across the river from our Davenport shop, and our own crews do the installing. We’ve been doing sign work for Quad Cities businesses since 2012.

Signage That Meets Rock Island Code

Sign rules are set city by city, and Rock Island’s are not Davenport’s. Size, height, placement, illumination, and how much total signage a building is allowed all come down to your parcel’s zoning, which is why two businesses on the same street can be permitted very different signs. The expensive version of this mistake is finding out after the sign is fabricated.

We start from what your location actually allows, then design to it, so the sign you approve is the sign that goes up.

Common uses: a first permanent sign at a new location, replacing signage that predates the current code, a building where the landlord and the city both have to approve.

Rock Island Work You Can Go Look At

• Augustana College. The stone monument sign with dimensional letters at the campus entrance, plus interior wayfinding.
• Rock Island County Animal Shelter. Post and panel sign with a programmable electronic message center, in partnership with QC PAWS.
• J Wild Marketing. Indoor wall signage and exterior. “The signage looks amazing indoors and out.”
• Hill and Valley Bakery. Exterior business sign. “It brings the whole place together on the outside.”
• The downtown welcome sign. A regional project rather than a Rock Island one, built by a local team that included the Rock Island Arsenal, artist Johnnie Cluney, the Downtown Davenport Partnership and the Quad Cities Chamber. Riverbend was part of that team.

Illuminated, LED and Electronic Message Signs

An illuminated sign is the difference between being found at seven in the evening and being invisible.

Channel letters with lit faces, or halo-lit backs that throw the glow onto the wall behind them. Cabinet signs with a single bright face, still the most cost-effective lit sign for a long business name. Monument signs at the entrance, internally lit or ground-lit, which is often what a setback property actually needs. And electronic message centers, the programmable panels you update from a screen, the way the Rock Island County Animal Shelter updates theirs.

LED changed the economics of all of it. Against the neon and fluorescent it replaced, it draws a fraction of the power, lasts years longer, and fails gradually rather than all at once on a Friday night. For a sign that runs every evening, the difference shows up on the utility bill.

Illumination is also one of the first things a sign ordinance restricts, so we check what your parcel allows before the design, not after.

Common uses: restaurants and bars, retail with evening hours, banks, clinics, schools and colleges, churches on busy roads, county and civic facilities, any building set back from the street.

Campus, Civic and Commercial Property Signage

A campus or commercial property is rarely one sign. Done properly it is a system:

• A monument or entrance sign that identifies the property from the road.
• Building identification on each structure, consistent in material and mounting.
• A tenant or department directory at the main entrance.
• Exterior wayfinding through parking lots and drives, readable from a moving car.
• Interior wayfinding in the corridors, readable standing still.
• ADA room signage and restroom signs throughout, tactile and Braille compliant.
• Regulatory and life-safety signage, the part everyone forgets until inspection.

Augustana is the version of this we know best: the Augustana entrance monument plus interior wayfinding that has to stay consistent building to building across a campus people cross on foot every day.

Running all of it through one company is how it ends up looking like one system instead of five vendors’ work stacked on the same property. It also means that in three years, when a building changes name, the replacement matches.

Common uses: colleges and schools, county and municipal facilities, multi-tenant and office buildings, retail centers, industrial parks, property managers standardizing across several sites.

Across the Bridge From Our Shop

Common Questions From Rock Island Businesses

What companies in Rock Island make LED and illuminated business signs?

Riverbend Signworks designs, produces and installs them, working from our Davenport shop across the river. Channel letters with lit faces or halo-lit backs, illuminated cabinet signs, lit monument signs, and programmable electronic message centers like the one at the Rock Island County Animal Shelter.

Who can produce and install signage for a commercial property in Rock Island?

We handle whole properties, not single signs: entrance monument, building identification, tenant directory, exterior and interior wayfinding, and ADA room signage, all through one company so it matches. At Augustana College we built the entrance monument and the campus interior wayfinding.

How do I make sure my sign complies with Rock Island regulations?

Start from the zoning of your specific parcel, because that sets size, placement, height and whether the sign can be illuminated. Rock Island’s rules are not Davenport’s. We design to what your location allows rather than designing first and discovering the limits after fabrication.

Do you work in Illinois as well as Iowa?

Yes. Rock Island, Moline and East Moline are part of our regular service area, and our own crews do the installations rather than a subcontractor. Our shop is at 1320 W. Kimberly Rd in Davenport.

Have you done work in Rock Island before?

Yes. The Augustana College entrance monument and campus wayfinding, the electronic message center at the Rock Island County Animal Shelter, indoor and exterior signage for J Wild Marketing, and the exterior sign at Hill and Valley Bakery.

We also work in Davenport · Bettendorf · Moline

Explore Our Sign and Graphics Services

• Exterior Business Signs
• Interior and Indoor Signs
• ADA and Room Signs
• Vehicle Wraps and Graphics
• Wall and Window Graphics

Ready to start? Request a quote and we will help you choose the right sign for your building, your budget, and your brand.