How We Make Your Bronze Plaque
to Finished Plaque
If you have never ordered a custom bronze plaque before, it can feel like a lot to figure out. It is not. Our designers handle everything. Your job is to tell us what you need. Here is exactly what happens after you pick up the phone.
Five Steps from Idea to Installed
Call Us. A Designer Answers.
Not a salesperson. Not an automated system. One of our in-house designers — Carl, Mark, or Mary — picks up the phone and begins asking about your project. They want to understand what you are trying to accomplish, who or what the plaque is for, where it will be installed, and what you have in mind for the design.
You do not need to have everything figured out. Most people who call us have a general idea and a lot of questions. That is exactly what our designers are there for.
If you have a ceremony or event date, mention it on this call. Your designer can plan the entire production schedule around your deadline.
Receive Your Free Design Proof and Quote
Your designer creates a scaled design proof based on everything you discussed. It shows exactly what your plaque will look like — the layout, the typeface, the proportions, any portrait or imagery, and the inscription. It is accompanied by a detailed written quote.
This is completely free. There is no charge for the design proof and no obligation to place an order. You simply review it and tell your designer what you think.
If your plaque will include a portrait, submit the best available photo with your initial project details. High-resolution images with good lighting and sharp focus produce the most detailed 3D Photo Relief results.
Revise Until It Is Exactly Right
Review the design proof carefully. Read the inscription top to bottom, then backwards word by word — this is the most effective way to catch errors before production. Check every name, date, and number twice.
Request any changes and your designer will revise the proof. There are no limits on the number of revisions and no additional charges for them. We revise until you are completely satisfied. You do not approve a design until it is exactly what you want.
If your plaque contains names of people who can be reached easily, consider sending each person a copy of the proof and asking them to verify the spelling of their own name. It is the most thorough way to catch name errors before production.
Approve and Order
When the design is exactly right, you approve it and place your order. Your designer will walk you through the ordering checklist to make sure every detail is confirmed. If you have a must-receive date, your designer ensures your order is placed with enough time to meet it.
After placing your order, follow up with a quick confirmation call or email. Ask your designer to verify that your order was received and is in production. It takes one minute and eliminates any uncertainty.
Your credit card is not charged until the day your order ships. Checks must arrive by the day your order ships.
Production, Quality Inspection, and Delivery
Your plaque goes into production. Standard production times are approximately 4 weeks for cast and engraved plaques, 3 weeks for etched plaques. Rush production is available in as little as 5 working days.
When production is complete, your plaque goes through a quality inspection before it ships. Mounting hardware for common surfaces — brick, masonry, wood, drywall — is included. Your plaque ships directly to you, anywhere in the U.S. or worldwide.
If you have a dedication ceremony or presentation date, we recommend not setting that date until your plaque has arrived. Shipping delays are rare but possible. Once it is in your hands, set the date and celebrate.
We Stand Behind
Every Plaque We Make
Almost every plaque company stands behind their product. Innovative Signs is the only one that stands firmly behind you. If your plaque arrives and something is not right — for any reason — return it in its original condition for a full refund or full credit toward another product.
Your choice. No conditions. No fine print. This is the industry’s only true 100% Money Back Guarantee.
Read the Full Guarantee →100% Money Back Guarantee
Return your plaque in its original condition for a full refund or full credit. No conditions. The industry’s only true guarantee of its kind.
- Full refund or full credit — your choice
- No questions asked
- No restocking fees
- No fine print
You Work Directly With
the Person Making Your Plaque
Most plaque companies separate sales from design from production. You talk to a salesperson, who hands off to a designer, who sends specs to a production team. By the time your plaque is made, nobody who touched it ever spoke to you. We have never operated that way.
Not a salesperson. Not an automated system. Not a call directory. Carl, Mark, or Mary picks up the phone. That same designer will handle your project from the first conversation to the finished plaque.
We do not use templates. We do not drop your text into a pre-existing layout and call it designed. Your plaque is drawn fresh — proportions, spacing, typeface, and layout considered for your specific content, your specific size, and your specific installation.
When we send you a design proof, it is the actual design — not a rough sketch, not a generic representation. What you approve is what gets made. If it is not right, we revise until it is. No charge for revisions.
We have operated with this model since 1984. It is why our clients keep coming back for decades. The Belleair Community Foundation has ordered over 100 pieces from us across 15 years. Bill Atkins has placed municipal orders with us for 20 years. That does not happen with a template company.
The person who takes your order is not the person making your plaque. They collect your information and pass it along. Your project becomes a ticket in a queue.
Most plaque companies use template systems that drop your text and image into a pre-existing layout. The result is often visually off — text spacing that looks crowded, images that look pasted in, proportions that were never actually considered for your content.
Once you notice the kerning is wrong or the photo looks awkward, the plaque is already made. Many companies charge for revisions or replacements. Some offer no recourse at all.
When the person who sold it to you is not the person who made it, accountability gets diffuse. Complaints get routed. Problems get minimized. There is nobody who personally cares whether your plaque is right.
“When we walk past a plaque and something looks off — the letter spacing feels tight, or the portrait looks like it was dropped into the background rather than designed with it — we can usually tell it was made from a template. Our designers would never let that leave the studio. They built the whole thing and their name is on it.”
— The Design Team, Innovative SignsWe Can Tell Our Plaques
From Everyone Else’s
Our team walks past bronze plaques regularly — on buildings, in lobbies, at memorials, in parks. We can tell at a glance whether a plaque is ours. Not because we are being arrogant about it. Because the differences are real and visible once you know what to look for.
The most common issues we see with other companies’ plaques:
- Manufacturing artifacts — surface irregularities, voids, or inclusions from poor foundry control or rushed production. These are signs of a process where nobody checked the final product before it shipped.
- Inconsistent finish — patina that looks uneven or applied, oxidization that does not read as intentional. The difference between a plaque that looks aged and one that looks neglected is quality control at the finishing stage.
- Design errors that made it through — text that is not level, borders that are not even, letter spacing that varies. These are things a designer who built the piece themselves would never miss, but a production line checking against a template might.
Our Quality Standards
We do not use overseas foundries. We maintain complete control over our manufacturing process. Every cast bronze plaque is produced domestically with materials and processes we have direct oversight of.
The designer who built your proof is involved in the quality review. They know what the finished piece is supposed to look like because they designed it. Generic QA checklists do not catch design-level problems. Designers do.
Our 100% Money Back Guarantee is not just a policy — it is the backstop that makes our quality control accountable. If we are willing to refund any plaque that is not right, we are highly motivated to make sure every plaque is right before it leaves.
Your First Call Costs Nothing.
Neither Does the Design.
Call us and a designer will pick up. Tell us about your project. We will handle everything from there.
The industry’s only true 100% Money Back Guarantee