Randy, a couple of quick reactions: The sign is very legible, which is worth a lot. But it does seem stark and in-inviting. And the wood grain in and of itself won't fix those issues. I would work on the design, and then in simulation carefully turn on and off the wood grain to see if it is improving the over-all feeling of the sign or not.
But with the large size, unless you are FAR away from the road, you should have a lot of opportunity to reduce font size to reduce the crowding and get a little more artistic.
Congratulations on taking on a big sign! Chuck
Chuck Keysor (circa 1956)
PRT Alpha 60" x 144" (circa 2004)
Columbo 5HP spindle
Aspire 9.0, Rhino 5