Sign Company in Franklin, WI: Custom Signs and Graphics
Milwaukee Signs is a full-service sign company serving Franklin, WI. We are able to work with companies on South 27th Street as well as in Franklin Corporate Park, Loomis Business Park and Ballpark Commons. Sign design, fabrication, manufacturing, installation, repair, and maintenance all happen under one roof. Franklin has a mix of retail, office parks, and light industrial space. Every sign project looks different because of that mix. We build according to your property, not based on a pre-made template.
What Franklin Businesses Should Know Before Installing Signs
Franklin’s sign rules are in Article 6 of the City’s Unified Development Ordinance. The City last updated this article in October 2025. Franklin does not use a flat wall-space percentage. Instead, your sign allowance is based on your lot’s frontage. You get 2 square feet of sign area per linear foot of frontage. Corner lots get 1 more square foot per foot of secondary frontage. Wall signs have their own limit: 10% of the wall face, plus a 5% bonus if you use individually affixed letters. Box and cabinet wall signs are not allowed.
Monument signs need a masonry or stone base and a landscaped bed at the base. Each monument sign must sit at least 500 feet from the next one. Every sign must withstand 30 pounds of wind pressure per square foot.
The City’s Planning Department reviews every sign application before issuing a permit. You can reach them at 9229 W. Loomis Road, (414) 425-4024, or generalplanning@franklinwi.gov. If you start work before your permit is approved, your fee triples on the first offense and quadruples after that. Illuminated signs also need a licensed electrician. Milwaukee Signs handles the frontage math and the permit paperwork for you. For larger developments like Ballpark Commons, we also handle the Master Sign Program application, so you won’t need to read the ordinance yourself.
Complete Commercial Sign Solutions for Franklin Businesses
Exterior Signs
South 27th Street carries most of Franklin’s retail and restaurant traffic. This stretch, between College Avenue and Rawson Avenue, follows its own corridor design guidelines on top of the citywide sign code. A storefront sign here needs to read clearly from a moving vehicle and meet those design standards. We calculate every exterior sign against your lot’s exact frontage formula, so you use your full allowance.
Monument Signs
Channel Letter and Illuminated Signs for Day-and-Night Visibility
Channel letters carry your brand at noon on 27th Street just as well as they do at 9 p.m. outside a Ballpark Commons restaurant. We build front-lit, halo-lit, and open-face sets matched to your logo and brand colors. Illuminated signs need a separate electrical permit, and our licensed electricians handle that permit as part of your project. You keep one contact point from start to finish.
Storefront Signs Designed for Franklin's Retail Mix
Franklin’s retail base runs from national tenants on 27th Street to independent restaurants inside Ballpark Commons. Each setting calls for a different sign format. We build dimensional letters, cabinet signs, awning graphics, and projecting blade signs. We choose the format based on your building face, setback, and traffic speed, not whatever’s fastest to make. We also match every sign to your brand colors.
Interior Signs, Lobby Signs, and Office Signs
Office tenants in Franklin Corporate Park need interior signage that feels intentional. So do medical and professional offices. We produce lobby signs, suite identification, and directory systems matched to your brand and floor plan. We also fabricate ADA signage to raised-character, Grade 2 Braille, and mounting-height standards. We review your floor plan first, so every required sign location gets covered.
Window Graphics, Vinyl Graphics, and Wall Murals
Your storefront window is valuable, highly visible space. We design window graphics that carry your promotions or brand. Franklin’s code caps permanent window signs at 25% coverage, and we design within that limit. We also produce wall murals for lobbies, breakrooms, and retail interiors that want more than a blank wall.
Vehicle Wraps and Fleet Graphics
Franklin’s industrial base runs service trucks and delivery vehicles through Milwaukee County every day. This is the kind of tenant Loomis Business Park was built for. We can produce fleet graphics and vehicle wraps that are matched to the vehicles, routes, and brand of your fleet. We handle design, materials, and installation as one project, start to finish.
ADA Signs, Wayfinding, and Directional Signage
Multi-tenant office and retail buildings across Franklin need wayfinding that helps visitors, patients, and employees find where they’re going. We produce ADA signs, directional signs, and on-site traffic directional signage. Franklin caps these at 4 square feet and 4 feet tall, and they don’t count against your property’s overall sign area allowance. We review your site layout before fabrication starts, so nothing gets flagged at inspection.
Why Franklin Businesses Choose Milwaukee Signs
Milwaukee Signs has run a Milwaukee-area production facility since 2003. We’re part of the Signarama network. That gives Franklin businesses local production and installation, backed by the design resources and buying power of a national sign company. We handle design, fabrication, manufacturing, and installation in-house. We never subcontract production. We also treat Franklin’s frontage-based sign formula and Master Sign Program option as tools that work in your favor, not as obstacles.
Ready When You Are — Milwaukee Signs in Franklin, WI
Send your Franklin address to milwaukee-signs.com. We’ll run the numbers your lot allows under Article 6. We’ll also tell you if your project needs a Master Sign Program instead of a standard permit. You’ll get a written scope and quote before we build any artwork.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much sign area is a Franklin, WI business allowed?
You get 2 square feet of sign area per linear foot of lot frontage. Corner lots get 1 more square foot per foot of secondary frontage. Wall signs have a separate cap of 10% of the wall face, with a 5% bonus for individually affixed letters.
Are box signs allowed in Franklin?
No. Franklin’s code prohibits box and cabinet wall signs. Sign copy must use individually affixed letters instead. This also qualifies your sign for extra allowable area.
How far apart do monument signs have to be in Franklin?
At least 500 feet from the next monument sign on the same corridor. There’s an exception if that spacing would leave a business without one. We check this distance during design.
What happens if I install a sign in Franklin without a permit?
Your permit fee triples on the first offense. It quadruples after that. Illuminated signs also need a separate electrical permit from a licensed contractor.
Do temporary signs need a permit in Franklin?
Yes. Franklin allows up to two temporary signs per single-tenant building. Each display period lasts a maximum of 30 days. You get up to three display periods a year, with at least 30 days between them.
