Copyright © 2006 by Davis Multimedia, Int'l. All Rights Reserved.
As Printed in May 2006, Volume 31, No. 11 of The Engravers Journal
 
 
  Accent Signage Systems, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, created this sign using digital imaging for the abstract graphic of flowing water.  


    What makes high-end architectural signage really stand out, really shine, really draw attention? Is it the function it serves—perhaps a safe exit in a dark building or a tactile sign with Braille? Is it the beauty of the sign—perhaps a colorful, true-to-life digital image or a plastic that so closely resembles granite, not even an expert can tell the difference? Or is it really a combination of both?
    Signs and ancillary products like badges and nameplates certainly serve a purpose, namely identification. But what can really sell some of these products is how they look. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the industry on both fronts—appearance vs. function—and also how the two are, more and more, overlapping.
It Glows!
    In 2004, the Building Code of the City of New York was modified to require all office buildings 75 feet high or higher to install photoluminescent (glow-in-the-dark) signs on doors leading to exits and in exit stairways. Rumor has it that a similar code may soon be mandated in other major cities, like Chicago. This has ignited a demand for glow-in-the-dark sign materials that may soon spread.
    There are currently two different glow-in-the-dark sign materials on the market: coated aluminum and pvc plastic. In both cases, the material contains special glow-in-the-dark pigments that absorb and store energy from normal light and then release the energy as a “glow” when a room is darkened. Both materials have the same engraving characteristics as their nonglowing counterparts. The coated aluminum can be laser or rotary engraved just like any coated aluminum. Being a vinyl material, the glow-in-the-dark plastic cannot be laser engraved but it can be rotary engraved without any special tools or techniques.
    Innovative Plastics, Inc., Algonquin, IL, currently carries a line of glow-in-the dark plastic engraving stock called Nightlites. The company’s reverse engravable stock has a background that glows and the letters engrave clear, which can then be paint filled to add contrast and color. On the surface engravable version, the engraved letters glow; this material is available in several different surface colors.
 
A variety of GravoTac materials have been used to create this ADA-compliant sign from Gravograph–New Hermes, Inc., Duluth, GA, with clear acrylic Rasters and a black injection molded frame.    

These signs were all created using Rowmark’s (Findlay, OH) new four-layer Mulitgraph product with its liquid polymer cap that’s UV stable.


    Gravograph-New Hermes, Inc., Duluth, GA, currently has glow-in-the-dark materials under development. According to materials product manager Alan Burgess, they’re looking for a better solution to some initial concerns before introducing a product, such as how readily it will absorb and readmit the light as the glow and how it fits into the ADA scheme of things. (For more information on ADA signage refer to EJ’s March 2005 article “ADA Signage: Get it Right, Make it Right.”) “When you think of the standard ADA raised letter signage, do you want this glow material on the substrate or do you want it on the raised lettering? If you want it on the raised lettering, what kind of contrast are you going to get with the materials chosen for the back? Are you going to run into problems with being able to seeing that contrast if it’s glowing? Are you going to be able to see the contrast when it’s not glowing? These are all questions that we’re trying to understand and answer before we introduce a product,” Burgess says. “What we’re looking for is a laser friendly material to add to our ADA GravoTec line.”
    Beyond the somewhat restricted opportunities in NYC, is there really much of a market for signage and other products that glow in the dark? It’s highly likely that there will be some customers wanting to add this type of signage to their buildings purely for safety reasons, using it for firefighting equipment labels, directional signage, egress markers and other emergency identification during an unexpected power outage. Other applications include name badges, creative graphic uses such as logos, graphics on signage in places like museums and novelty items such as toys.
    Gravograph’s Burgess does caution that these materials are more expensive than most standard signage substrates and that’s something that you need to be up front about. “These signs are not going to be inexpensive because the glow-in-the-dark pigments that do this are relatively expensive,” he says. “The sign builder just needs to be aware of the cost of the materials when he’s quoting a job. Just don’t assume that they’re going to be in the same price ranges as the materials you’re used to using. Just make sure you cost it out before you quote it because otherwise you could be in for a surprise. Beyond that, this just represents another product offering and what you can do.”

Using a frame in this sign from Accent Signage provides an easy way to update the sign when personnel or room assignments change.

As you can see from this assortment of signs from Gravograph-New Hermes, ADA signage and its design options have come along way.

 


Designer Graphics—Lasers Are Key
    We all know that laser engraving machines are a major force in this industry. Part of the reason is that, more and more, lasers are being used to engrave designer graphics—the real high-end, intricately detailed “Wow! That looks great!” type of work that is becoming more prevalent in this industry.
    When it comes to creating attractive graphics, lasers have several advantages. Today’s consumers are asking for more complicated graphics than ever before and as that demand has grown, laser equipment has become much more precise.
    “Because a laser beam is so focused and allows for an unprecedented amount of control, it’s easy to engrave highly detailed graphics and images with a laser. It’s easier to do extremely fine lines and that opens up the ability to use a wider variety of fonts and graphics in an engravable project,” explains Jen Perry, Rowmark, Inc., Findlay, OH. “In addition, the only way to get a true ‘photo reproduction’ on an engravable substrate is with a laser, since the laser allows the user to create halftone images.”
    In addition to precision, today’s laser engraving machines are extremely user-friendly and fast, which means engravers can get work in and out of the door much sooner. With a laser engraving machine, a sign maker doesn’t need to go through the same setup as is required for rotary engraving, such as selecting the proper tool and setting the engraving depth. Plus, there’s the issue of overall speed comparisons. “A good engraving machine and a good engraver can do detailed engraving with either a rotary machine or a laser. But I think the laser is faster when you look at the overall production of the sign and that seems to be the driving force,” Burgess says.
    Lasers represent an area of the industry that is definitely not standing still. New products, technology and materials are making it easier to produce complex designer graphics with the highest quality results. For example, CerMark Metal Marking Solution was introduced a few years ago, which allows a CO2 laser to make a mark on uncoated metals, something that previously was not possible. “There is a trend toward contrast marking,” says Mike Rauch, Laser Product Manager for Gravograph-New Hermes. “Bare metal parts can be marked with CerMark material to create very complex images or even photos. The output of using CerMark is still better than any of the direct metal marking lenses that are presently available.”
    Gravograph-New Hermes is now carrying a newer “tape” version of CerMark that can be applied to uncoated metal, lasered and then peeled off to reveal a black mark. “It’s much easier to use than the spray or the paste. It’s cleaner, easier,” says Burgess.
    According to Jen Perry, Rowmark is introducing a new material that’s something the market has not seen before. The new product, called Multigraph, is a laser engravable plastic engraving stock made with a liquid polymer cap that is UV stable, outdoor weatherable and scratch resistant. According to Perry, because the cap layer is manufactured from a highly-durable liquid, it’s very thin and very laser friendly. “Our customers who laser engrave have been asking for a product like this for some time and the technology has finally caught up with the demands of the marketplace,” she says.
    Perry says that Rowmark has also had a lot of success recently with their Granites Deluxe product line for architectural signage. The plastic engraving stock looks like actual granite stone, but is an engravable plastic that’s UV stable and much lighter than the real thing.
    All of these developments have been put to good use as laser engraving has become a leading marking method for intricate, high-end graphics on a variety of identification products. The industry is experiencing a demand for, and the subsequent supply for, heavier use of high-end graphics on signs, badges and similar items.
    For example, Burgess notes a trend among businesses in giving away incentives and gifts with more complex graphics and logos. Car manufacturers, for example, are handing out items such as key chains, mileage logs, pens and tire pressure gauges marked with the image of the car and/or the logo or in some cases, even the purchaser’s name.
    “It’s now possible to do engraving on smaller name badges and other such items. The laser has opened up a whole new realm for graphic use in projects,” says Rowmark’s Perry.


 
The Window Name Badges from Identification Plates, Inc., Mesquite, TX, were created using a variety of materials (silver and white aluminum, stainless steel and satin and gold brass) and processes including screen printing and etching.   The Sauna sign from Rowmark was created using their Granites Deluxe line often used in architectural signage because it’s UV stable.

The Digital Age
    Digital printing has emerged as a popular option for interior, exterior and ADA signage applications and related products, most notably because the graphic design and color options are nearly limitless with this technology. Digital printing is a process that can reproduce electronic images directly onto flexible or rigid materials, such as paper, plastics, acrylics, ceramics, metals, etc., without going through intermediate processes such as printing plate technology using conventional films.
    The major requirement in the digital printing process is a good quality inkjet printer. There are a variety of printers available today ranging from those capable of printing a 12" x 17" sign to those that can handle a full-size billboard. According to industry experts, the printing capacity of these machines has gotten larger while, to some extent, the cost has dropped.
    What’s great about digital printing is the potential to create just about any full-color graphic imaginable, including text, graphics and photos, with greatly reduced lead times compared to many other marking methods. “Digital printing allows you to add more color, more artwork, just fancier more eye-catching graphics,” says Burgess.
    According to John Souter, who was recently appointed director of digital imaging and operations at Accent Signage Systems, Minneapolis, MN, digital imaging has tremendous advantages when it comes to high-end, designer graphics. “Digital imaging, especially for ADA-compliant signs, is being used more and more by architects and designers to create interior signage with a host of colorful and textured backgrounds that cannot be reproduced using conventional engraving technologies. Therefore, digital imaging technology offers customers visually exciting designs that can be more empathetic to the environment they are intended for.” Souter, who holds numerous patents associated with color science and digital color imaging, says that for badges and other identification products, the newer UV-cured multicolor inkjet technology is offering significant advantages over dye sublimation and screen printing in terms of higher resolution images that can be reproduced on multiple materials at competitive pricing.
    Digital printing has already made its mark in the signage market and the popularity of it continues to grow. “Due to the greater ability to create cutting-edge designs that are very colorful and can be reproduced on demand economically in small quantities, digitally reproduced signage has greatly increased its share of the overall signage market not only here in the United States but also in Europe and the Far East,” says Souter.
    The process, however, is not limited to interior architectural signage. Digital imaging is being used to create a host of products from interior ADA-compliant signage to large format outdoor billboards to ID badges and wayfinding products to high-quality art reproductions.
    Industry experts say that the applications for this colorful marking method will only continue to grow. “I think that as more companies start doing digital printing and the competition gets in place, they’ll get creative and find more applications. When you think about the traditional engraving applications, whether it’s a gift item, a sign, a nameplate or a badge, any time you add color you add value. So I would say the opportunity is there to branch out into many other personalization applications,” says Burgess.
    One of the newer trends in the industry is to combine digital printing with another marking method to create exquisite signs that best suit the application. Designers and architects are now incorporating both digital imaging technology with Raster Braille and raised letters to produce ADA-compliant signs for hospitals, hotels and new building projects.
    Digital printing combined with engraving is another attractive alternative and an economical one as well, particularly for jobs where the graphic remains constant but the text varies. For example, you can digitally print an entire sheet of badges with the same artwork and use your rotary or laser engraving machine to insert the names and cut the badges apart. The digital printing/engraving partnership is also being used for sign systems in entire buildings. Signs in a hotel, for instance, can be digitally printed with the same graphic and hotel name and then the variable text—names, room numbers, etc.—can be engraved.
    According to Souter, we can expect to see more advancements in digital printing in the near future. “Each year, digital color imaging technologies have improved by offering higher resolution output and greater flexibility to print on different materials at speeds that make digital printing/imaging more affordable for on-demand, short-run products. This, in turn, is creating new and exciting marketing opportunities,” he says.
 
Signs like this one from Accent Signage are especially creative and use Chemetal, a decorative specialized  

Graphically Appealing ADA Signage
    Remember the very first ADA-compliant signs that this industry turned out? They didn’t have much architectural appeal, to say the least. Changes in the ADAAG (ADA Accessibility Guidelines) coupled with new materials and technology have changed that. Today, signs can be compliant and graphically interesting.
    According to Reuven Rahamim, president and owner of Accent Signage Systems, the new guidelines, adopted in 2004, recognize tactile letters with either a rectangular cross section or a beveled edge, and spacing can be tighter between the beveled letters, allowing for more attractive layouts. “The new ADAAG also calls for domed Braille, making each dot easily distinguishable from the other. The Raster Method of Braille (Accent Signage Systems is the patent holder) creates perfectly domed Braille and is compatible with many rotary engraving machines. Not all methods of producing Braille on signs have been successful in consistently producing domed Braille,” says Rahamim.
    Since the passing of the 2004 ADAAG, several federal agencies have begun adopting the standards. The U.S. Postal Service implemented the standards October 1, 2005 and the GSA (General Services Administration) is implementing them on May 8, 2006. At that point, all new construction, alterations and new leases on federal property governed by the GSA will be required to comply with the 2004 ADAAG. Other government entities, such as HUD and the Department of Transportation, are expected to adopt the standards in the near future. (For more information, visit www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/standards-update.htm.)
    Digital printing is another major reason why ADA signage no longer has to be just functional—it can be attractive, too. Digitally imaged graphics are now being incorporated as a sign design element, along with raised text and Braille, to achieve visual continuity throughout a facility and expand the creative options. For example, one sign designer used digital imaging to create an abstract graphic of flowing water on the signs in a water park hotel project.
    A greater variety of materials are being used in ADA sign designs, continuing the trend of making signage regulations an insignificant barrier to attractive and creative signage. “By incorporating materials used in the architectural environment, ADA signs continue to evolve as attractive design elements while still performing their primary functions of wayfinding and making information accessible to all,” says Rahamim. For example, Accent Signage Systems, which specializes in wholesale ADA-compliant signage, has incorporated materials from 3Form, Belbien and Chemetal (all suppliers of decorative, specialized materials) among others, to expand their palette of design options.
    Sign framing systems are becoming more and more popular with facility managers because of the ease in maintenance they provide and their ability to “dress up” ADA signage. When it’s time to paint a building, signs with frames can be easily removed and replaced. Frames also provide an easy way to update signs when personnel changes happen or room assignments change.
    Graphically speaking, there’s a lot happening in the signage market today. Lasers continue to improve and their growing precision is providing sign makers with nearly unlimited graphic opportunities, whether it’s a detailed logo or the reproduction of a photograph. And if it’s true-to-life color you’re after, then digital printing is the answer. Even ADA signage is no longer a boring one-color sign with contrasting letters and Braille.
    The technology is here for you to create signage that serves a purpose but also has outstanding architectural appeal. Are you taking advantage of it?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EJ HOME PAGE