Our Story
Don Armitage, the founder of the Sicon Group, apprenticed as a sign painter in the late 1940’s.
In 1950, he established Rae Signs, which by 1956 was the largest sign-painting firm in British Columbia with 20 employees. During the 50’s Rae Signs was primarily a sign painting company and its usual projects included painting signs, billboards, truck panels and the exterior surfaces of buildings.
During this time, backlit signs were illegal in Vancouver . The law changed in 1958 and Rae Signs became involved in the manufacture and sale of illuminated plastic faced signs under the trade name of Sign-O-Lite. Sicon is still primarily known as Sign-O-Lite, although it conducts business under several other trade names as well, including Wallace Neon, Sign-X-Signs and Macey Neon.
In the early part of the 1960’s, Sign-O-Lite was primarily active in the Vancouver area, but eventually it extended its market reach throughout B.C., Alberta and Washington State . In 1976, Sicon bought Wallace Neon Limited, a sign manufacturing/leasing company with a presence in the Vancouver and Toronto markets. The Wallace transaction also brought with it, Walburn Neon and Macey Neon, which operated in Ontario . Macey Neon is one of Canada’s oldest sign companies and was established in 1885.
CURRENT PROFILE
No two companies have exactly the same advertising needs, that is why Sicon Signs offers full consultation and custom design services to ensure you get the illuminated display that is exactly right for your business.
We begin by considering factors such as your location, the market you are trying to reach, local traffic patterns and your budget. Based on these criteria, we make specific recommendations on the type of display that would best fill your needs, where it should be located and what scale is most appropriate. Our design team combines strong creative skills in advertising with an intimate understanding of the design problem unique to illuminated signage, such as the legibility and behaviour of various letter styles and colours when illuminated; then we custom design a display that will get your name and message to your customer with maximum impact.