More recylcing tips...

More things we do to be as environmentally responsible as we can be as a company!

~Amy Donahue

signage consultant 

Recycling Vinyl:

All types of vinyl products can be recycled and reprocessed into second-generation products. According to a 1999 study by Principia Partners, more than one billion pounds of vinyl were recovered and recycled into useful products in North America in 1997. About 18 million pounds of that was post-consumer vinyl diverted from landfills and recycled into second-generation products. Overall, more than 99 percent of all manufactured vinyl compound ends up in a finished product, due to widespread post-industrial recycling.

Also, every time we have excess vinyl left over from a project, we try to salvage as much as we can for utilizing in future products thus eliminating as much waste as possible.

Symbols relating to various materials:

PETE	Polyethylene Terephalate Ethylene PETE goes into soft drink, juice, water, detergent, and cleaner bottles. Also used for cooking and peanut butter jars.
HDPE	High Density Polyethylene High Density Polyethylene HDPE goes into milk and water jugs, bleach bottles, detergent and shampoo. Plastic bags and grocery sacks, motor oil bottles, household cleaners and butter tubs.
PVC	Polyvinyl Cloride PVC goes into window cleaner, cooking oils, and detergent bottles. Also used for peanut butter jars and water jugs.
LDPE	Low Density Polyethylene LDPE goes into plastic bags and grocery sacks, dry cleaning bags and flexible film packaging. Also some bottles.
PP	Polypropylene PP goes into caps, disks, syrup bottles, yogurt tubs, straws and film packaging.
PS	Polystyrene PS goes into meat trays, egg cartons, plates, cutlery, carry-out containers and clear trays.
OTHER	Other Includes resins not mentioned above or combinations of plastics.

Gap to Scrap New Logo, Return to Old Design

Use caution when trying to change your brand identity! Sometimes too much change is not for the best!

~Amy Donahue 
signage consultant

Plans to Announce Change on Company Facebook Page

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Just four days after confirming its surprise new logo was, in fact, legit, Gap is returning to its old design, Ad Age has learned. The announcement is expected to be made at 4:30 Pacific Time today on the brand's Facebook page.

Marka Hansen, Gap North America president, informed the company's marketing department this afternoon of the change, acknowledging that the switch was a mistake and that the company would be tabling any changes for the foreseeable future. The logo, created by New York agency Laird & Partners, was intended to be a long-term commitment for the brand with a nod to the future. Ms. Hansen's about-face about the Gap's new logo was foreshadowed by a blog post she wrote for the Huffington Post last Thursday. "We chose this design as it's more contemporary and current. It honors our heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward," she said. "Now, given the passionate outpouring from customers that followed, we've decided to engage in the dialogue, take their feedback on board and work together as we move ahead and evolve to the next phase of Gap."
Calls to Laird & Partners were not immediately returned.
Gap representative Louise Callagy also told Ad Age that the logo debacle does not mean that it has ended its relationship with Laird & Partners. "We are still engaged," she said. 
The scrapping of the design -- which re-created the retailer's name in a bold Helvetica font with a blue gradiated box perched atop the comes after Gap was put through the ringer last week for its new look. The company became the whipping boy of designers, who besides merely disliking the new logo were enraged at the suggestion that design professionals should help fix the mistake by offering up ideas for free.
Gap had posted a message on its Facebook account last week indicating that it would be pursuing a "crowdsourcing project" in the near term. But people familiar with the Gap's plans said that would not be related to the logo.
Many consumers on Facebook and blogs picked apart the new logo too, though according to a poll of 1,000 consumers Ad Age commissioned from Ipsos Observer, some 80% said they had no idea the logo had changed.
Gap's official Facebook account has more than 720,000 fans and has been the main channel through which the company has posted updates and responses to the criticism regarding the new logo. Its @gap Twitter page also has more than 35,000 followers, but has thus far remained silent on a number of fake Twitter accounts -- @gaplogo, @oldgaplogo and @newgaplogo, among them -- that have gained traction in the days following the announcement, with humorous nods to Peter Arnell, the designer and adman responsible for the Tropicana-packaging fiasco.
~ ~ ~
UPDATE: Statement from Marka Hansen, president of Gap Brand, North America:
"Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our Website, we've seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo. 

"Last week, we moved quickly to address the feedback and began exploring how we could tap into all of the passion. Ultimately, we've learned just how much energy there is around our brand. All roads were leading us back to the blue box, so we've made the decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further. 

"At Gap brand, our customers have always come first. We've been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So we've made the decision to do just that – we will bring it back across all channels. 

"In the meantime, the website will go back to our iconic blue box logo and, for Holiday, we'll turn our blue box red for our seasonal campaign. 

"We've learned a lot in this process. And we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way. We recognize that we missed the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn't the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing. 

"There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we'll handle it in a different way." 

By Andrew Hampp and Rupal Parekh   Published: October 11, 2010

Recycling Tips

Tis the season for... political signs! Here are some great GREEN tips to keep in mind with political signs! ~Amy Donahue 
signage consultant

Recycle Your Signs:
Consumers have several ways of ridding themselves of their now-unwanted plastic signs: (1) disposal that results in it being placed in a landfill, (2) recycling, and (3) incorrect disposal, otherwise known as littering.

Yard signs are made of corrugated polypropylene plastic commonly known by their brand names Coroplast and Corex. Large signs, such as 4x8 political signs, are highly valued for reuse.

Looking for a place that will take a lot of your signs? Contact your municipal garbage dump first to see if they accept plastic yard signs. Move on up to for-profit companies if they don’t. PlastiCycle for instance is a for-profit company that picks ups all types of plastic recyclables within 24 hours. Call Toll-free 877-997-6882. They will even pay you for your plastic.

The U.S. and Canada Recycled Plastic Markets Database on the PlasticsResource.com http://www.plasticsresource.com/s_plasticsresource/index.asp.

Last but not least--be nice! Collect your signs when you are finished with them and take the time to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way. Doing otherwise only gives sign folks a bad reputation! website is an easy-to-use resource for locating disposal facilities for all types of plastic.

Technical Bulletin written by Coroplast - CSS-014-93

Reducing environmental waste means looking for ways to reduce material used in our products, reusing products whenever possible, and recycling when the product's useful life is over.

Coroplast products contribute to the reduction of environmental waste on all three aspects.
* Reduce
Coroplast twin-wall fluted structure produces strength and rigidity at a lower weight, thereby reducing the amount of material required.
* Reuse
The durability of Coroplast in outdoor use and in packaging applications means it can be used longer and reused over and over enabling a longer useful life.
* Recycle
Coroplast uses polypropylene copolymers which makes for easy recycling at the end of their useful life. Polypropylene, being a polyolefin, recycles in processing streams such as plastic milk cartons and detergent bottles. Contact you local plastics recycling center for local information on polypropylene recycling.

Coroplast continues to create new products and uses based on the need to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic. Look to Coroplast as one of the solutions.

For additional Technical information contact Coroplast.

Corrugated plastic is recyclable and therefore considered environmentally friendly.

Coroplast also known as, Corriflute or Twinplast, refers to a wide range of extruded twin-wall plastic sheet products. It is a light weight tough material which can easily be cut with a craft knife. Coroplast signs are commonly used for political campaigns as well as any kind of company advertisement.

The Business of Being Green

At Insignia we are in the business of being green! That's why this month I've collected several articles on green practices, particularly in the signage industry. Solar powered signage and specialty recycled paper are just two of the great ideas for working toward sustaining our environment!
~Amy Donahue 
signage consultant


Adopting Eco-Friendly Strategies “Sustains” Reprographers, Benefits Environment

Despite the various challenges facing reprographers today, developing sound eco-friendly business practices and assisting their architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) customers to meet their own sustainability goals continues to be an ongoing focus for many. The catalyst behind this can be attributed to recent industry outlook studies that define green building as one of the most influential trends impacting the AEC community.  Factors such as a renewal of environmental consciousness in the US, the federal government’s prioritization of green jobs and volatile energy costs, which have made sustainable design and energy efficiency even more attractive from an economic perspective, are driving this trend as was reported in the March 11, 2009 Zweigwhite’s 2009 AEC Industry Outlook: Strategy and Insight for Design & Construction Firms. Those organizations actively redefining what it means to print green—and those willing to “walk the green walk”—are in a unique position to maintain customer loyalty and capture market share in an increasingly competitive economic environment.

Converting to Recycled and FSC-certified Paper

 Paper lies at the heart of reprographers’ operations. As times change striving to adopt procedures that conserve natural resources, reuse existing resources and embrace technology that make possible a more paperless, yet still viable, way of business is essential. Consider this: global production in the pulp, paper and publishing sector is expected to increase by 77 percent from 1995 to 2020 according to the OECD Environmental Outlook, Paris: OECD, 2001. Reprographers are in a unique position to help reduce this statistic by embracing green practices—such as technology that enables digital operations and minimizes inaccurate printing—that can minimize paper usage and paper waste.
Research by the Alliance for Environmental Innovation has shown that each ton of recycled fiber that displaces a ton of virgin fiber used in coated ground wood paper can:

• Reduce total energy consumption by 27 percent
• Lower net greenhouse gas emission by 47 percent and reduce particulate emissions by 28 percent
• Decrease wastewater by 33%, reduce solid waste by 54%, and reduce wood use by 100 percent according to the Environmental Paper Network, “Paper Related Statistics,” www.environmentalpaper.org/paper-statistics.html

Willamette Print & Blueprint, based in Portland, OR, can attest firsthand to benefits of utilizing their 30 percent post consumer waste paper milled at Sustainable Forestry Initiative locations. Given the approximately 144 tons of paper used in their production facilities each year, they are able to contribute to a savings of 576,000 KHW of energy, 1,108,000 gallons of water and 2,448 trees by making the switch to recycled media . “This practice helps preserve the delicate natural resources so vital to environmental sustainability and renewal,” said David Guzman, vice president & general manager, Willamette Print & Blueprint.
While the cost of using recycled paper may be slightly higher for clients than using “virgin stock”, many reprographers are finding their customers are less concerned about the associated costs than they are the environmental payback. And, because the look and feel of today’s recycled paper has dramatically improved so that it’s virtually indistinguishable from virgin bond, reprographers can also ensure they are supplying clients with high quality construction documents. In turn, AEC clients can then use those documents can be used to request Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) points in the Innovation in Design category for demonstrating quantifiable environmental benefits not specifically noted in the LEED Rating System.
Patricia Clark, planroom administrator of Reprographics Northwest in Seattle, WA, has found that using recycled paper has helped cement customer loyalty. “Our customers especially appreciate that we stock locally produced 100 percent small format paper,” said Clark. “And since listing Océ 4511-R 30 percent recycled wide-format bond as a house stock, we’ve seen a steady increase in its popularity.”
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified paper, where FSC or SFI “chain of custody” certification guarantees that responsible forest management and environmental standards are met during logging, manufacturing and printing, is another option reprographers can offer to clients. Angela Giraldo, director of marketing and green services for Reliable Graphics in California, the only reprographer to be FSC and SFI-certified and proud member of the U.S. Green Building Council, has found these designations invaluable to her operation and is thrilled to be able to say, “As an extension of our dedication to sustainable efforts, we proudly offer recycled cardboard binders, CD sleeves, edge tabs, Eco Board, and Eco Banner, which biodegrades in as few as nine months.”

Other reprographers have also gone a step further in using eco-friendly mounting materials.  For example, the majority of Santa Monica, CA-based Blair Graphics' mounting substrates are made from recycled material, including Eco-Board and honeycomb-board.

Replacing Paper with Online Project Management

Recognizing that minimizing the use of paper in the AEC project cycle is a surefire way to support sustainability goals; many reprographers are now offering digital alternatives to traditional paper-based methods.  California-based BarkerBlue Digital Imaging encourages the use of online document management applications that allow customers to create electronic “take-offs,” save files locally as PDFs and link and e-mail files, to minimize the need for customers to print in large volumes. Extending the digital options push, Willamette Print and Blueprint has implemented a paperless invoice and month-end statement system. “It allows our customers to review PDF documents of their invoices and receive their month-end statement electronically,” stated Guzman.  
            Reliable Graphics’ customers can utilize online project management software to order plans and ITBs online. “Most of our projects are managed online,” Giraldo said. “And we offer local file archiving and encourage digital file transfer via FTP or Océ  Repro Desk^® software to further reduce paper usage.”
            Electronic project management also slashes the fuel – and associated carbon emissions—required for job pick-up and delivery.  For instance, Blair Graphics promotes online digital services, including PlanWell EWO (Electronic Work Order System) and MetaPrint, which send files electronically versus using a driver to pick-up and deliver content.
In addition, reprographers increasingly transmit jobs digitally across the country and the globe for remote printing, thus eliminating the need for overnight shipping—costly to the environment and the customer.

Environmentally Agreeable Equipment

Leasing or using Energy Star-rated printers and equipment is another way reprographers can gain “green ground” in the quest for improved sustainability and a reduced carbon footprint. This rating denotes equipment which performs at peak levels of energy-efficient product performance—wide-format printers with this designation, for example, consume less power overall and use more efficiently what power they do require.
BarkerBlue Digital Imaging, Inc. extends energy efficiency to its clients by offering them the Océ TDS line of large format printers, with energy-saving features like no warm-up time, one-touch green button printing and the capacity to instantly return to sleep mode after printing. And Blair Graphics has found green advantages in the ability to market the Océ ColorWave 600 color printer to clients looking for LEED certification opportunities or for those who simply wish to switch to sustainable products.

For many reprographers, upgrading to Energy Star-rated printers marks just the beginning. Reliable Graphics’ Giraldo explained that to minimize energy use in other areas, they have purchased Energy Star-rated computers, installed Energy Star-rated thermostats that are programmable, and begun to transition to Energy Star-rated refrigerators and microwaves.
         

Leading through Sustainable Example

A multifaceted approach to green initiatives in all nuances of operability benefits reprographers on many fronts—the most important being their ability to secure customer loyalty through leading by example. This includes striving to reduce paper waste, recycle and reuse at every opportunity. “We have a recycling program in place to send content cores, caps and boxes back to the manufacturer. We also are an authorized reseller of AEC products including recycled bond media,” explained Guzman. Other reprographers recycle plug ends and toner cartridges as well as used plan tubes, CDs and pallets.
Eco-conscious reprographers have also found ways to apply green practices to a broad spectrum of their daily operations, including:

• Replacing conventional light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescents
• Installing motion-activated light sensors to turn lights on and off
• Utilizing low VOC paint in offices
• Replacing carpeting with recycled rubber flooring
• Installing ceiling fans to better circulate hot and cold air
• Improving the seals around all warehouse doors to reduce heat loss
• Using recycled-content bathroom supplies and eco-friendly cleaning alternatives
• Installing low-flow toilets and low-flow aerators on sinks
• Holding videoconferences via webcam in lieu of putting additional cars on the road
• Using solar-powered outdoor signage
• Offering “green services” seminars to inform and educate clients
• Catering office gatherings with locally grown food.

BarkerBlue Digital Imaging has gone so far as to install a $1.5 million, 170 KW, photo voltaic system (solar panels), which allows it to generate 75 percent of its own power while feeding power back to the local utility on the weekends when its facility is idle (enough to power 25 homes).  A live web monitor of the system can be found at www.barkergreen.com/swf/index.html.
Encouraging employees to support sustainability is a vital part of reprographers’ green goals.  Many believe that involving employees in helping to shape corporate green behavior inspires and reinforces environmentally sound personal choices. Reprographics Northwest places educational and inspirational posters around their shop to encourage recycling and has been recognized for three straight years as a Best Workplace for Recycling by the King County Department of Natural Resources.  Blair Graphics employs an employee suggestion program encouraging ideas to eliminate waste or spoilage and reduce their environmental impact.  Others make a conscious effort to locate facilities on public transportation routes, offer incentives for carpooling, provide bike-friendly storage options and reward employees’ green efforts with special recognition.

Sustainable Practices Cultivate Positive Results

The green movement has never been stronger and, in response, the AEC community continually strives to better connect the line between supplier eco-responsibility and their own internal initiatives. As such, reprographers that take proactive steps to help reduce the impact on the environment with green business practices and eco-friendly, sustainable equipment are finding they can achieve an overall competitive advantage and maintain customer loyalty.

Maree Joyce is product marketing specialist for Océ North America. For more information, please visit directory.myprintresource.com/10006967.

A World of Panes

Window graphics, window graphics, window graphics! I know I am repeating myself but I don't know if you realize what an amazing advertising medium this really is! This article has some fabulous 3 dimensional looks!
~Amy Donahue 
signage consultant


A World of Panes

Window graphics have emerged as a key advertising medium, particularly for retail firms. Print providers focusing on the niche know how valuable their output is for clients aiming to put promotions right in front of patrons’ eyes. “It’s a major component of the retail campaign at street level,” said Steve Kinney, vice-president of sales and marketing with Portland Color, a 30-year-wide large-format printing company in Portland, ME. “If it’s done well and done right, and I’m speaking of the creative execution, not just the materials used, you’re bringing people off the street and into the store with the message you convey.”

“It’s always a changing landscape,” he said. “We refer to it as temporary graphics. People dress their windows for a season, or for a promotion. So from a shop standpoint, it represents repeat business from the same retail base.” Kinney agrees window graphics are something many print providers’ clients must acquire on a consistent basis. “Window graphics are a key element in any brand position or new campaign,” he said. “A very large part of the campaign’s presence is having that window to attract the customer.”

Vehicle graphics, '60s style.

I LOVE classic cars... almost as much as I LOVE classic vehicle graphics :) 
~Amy Donahue 
signage consultant


Funny? You calling me funny? Do I amuse you?”
“No, but your car does. It has no doors.”
For those of you over 50 years old, you already know what a “funny car” is. For the rest of us, (ha) it’s actually a fiberglass reproduction of a real car that is raced in the quarter-mile drag strips all over the world.
The bodies are hinged at the back of a special chassis to allow the driver to get in and out, usually have enormous engines, and travel the quarter-mile strip in fewer than five seconds.
This car happens to be an “Opel Cadet”, of German decent. The real cars were imported here in the late ’60s and were very popular.
Here’s the “owner-driver” Mike backing the car into the shop. Good thing it was on Saturday. Can you say loud?

The owner, “Mike”, owns an automotive shop in Staten Island, N.Y. He and his crew did all the work on the car, from bodywork, paint, engine and chassis.
When he called me about lettering the car, he wanted to make sure that I could letter the car like the late ’60s and ’70s racers. I assured him that I was old enough to remember how they were done.
His only request was that he wanted engine turned aluminum leaf for the name, “Wild Cherry”, on the sides. The rest was pretty much up to me. He also wanted some graphics to break up the sides.
Creating the lettering was a breeze using my Flexi program. The paint mask used was R Tape; it’s the best! I used Oracal premium vinyl for the lettering that was not hand painted. The lettering and graphics were done with 1 Shot’s lettering enamel.

Article Author: Julian "Mr. J" Braet Publication Name: Sign Business Publication Date: 8/01/2008.

'The Process'

Great article on 'the process' and the same way I prefer to approach projects like this! Beautiful sign!

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

##

When customers walk through the door of Classic Design Studio, one of us will get up, walk over and greet him or her. It’s kind of like stepping up to the plate for the team. Sometimes you know what kind of pitch you will be looking at, but most of the time you just have to see what is thrown at you. Recently, we had a customer walk in and give us his pitch. The customer filled us in on the details of a new restaurant he was opening downtown. The restaurant’s name is Chandlers Steakhouse.

The owner explained his vision of an upscale restaurant and lounge with not only great food but also an amazing atmosphere that he wants to be one of the best dining experiences you can have in Boise, Idaho. The owner let us know that he had seen our work and wanted Classic Design Studio to play a big part in the way his restaurant came together visually. Our team loves projects like this one. It wasn’t just the signage we were going to get to swing at, but interior architectural elements as well. With a project like this, everyone on the team gets a chance to dive in and get their uniform dirty.
The Lineup

The great thing about Classic is the way a collection of individuals brings their best efforts and talents to the table to turn what could be an everyday sign project into something very special. All great teams need a great leader, and ours is something special. Noel Weber is the owner and founder of Classic Design Studio. Noel’s reputation in our industry is well-known; Google the words Letterheads and Noel Weber if you are curious. He is absolutely passionate about what he does and helps guide his team to deliver a well-polished product at the end of every project.

Even though each one of the crew specializes in certain areas, everybody is extremely versatile. The designers can paint, cut, engineer and install. The engineers can design as well as everything that goes into fabrication. Being a flexible team means that even though we are relatively small, (shop of eight) we still keep production under way when we are down a man or two. With a project like Chandlers, we needed each member’s talents, and, as usual, everyone put in 100 percent.

Initial Contact

After the initial meeting that consisted mostly of a show and tell for both parties, Classic gave Chandlers’ owner and his design team a more in-depth view into what our previous projects have looked like, a walk-through of our facilities and an understanding of our capabilities. Chandlers then gave us a look at their identity package, elevations and concept renderings. We both had a good idea at this point that this was going to be a great match up.

The First Inning

Now it’s time to hit the field. I received the digital files for the Chandlers identity package and started roughing out ideas for the monument sign. This part of the package is important because it will set a tone for the rest of the signage throughout the project. While I was working on a monument design, another member of our team was working on designs for interior architectural elements. This part of the project will be covered thoroughly by Noel Weber Jr. in a future article. After some initial concepts with the original identity artwork provided to me, we had a meeting with Chandlers.

The customer was happy with what we had come up with, but I did not feel that it was going to have the feel that was expressed to me when we first learned about the project. It wasn’t that I was not happy with the drawings we provided; it was more the box we were put in with the original identity artwork. At this point, I asked Chandlers if we could take some liberties with the identity artwork that was provided to us. At first, they were a little reluctant but soon warmed up to the idea.

The Changeup

We now had the freedom to design a sign that would truly fit the customer’s vision for a classy, clean, upscale, modern steakhouse. I spent a few hours a day playing with designs until I came up with something that looks very close to the finished product. Tall, vertical steel louvers make clean lines that draw the eye up to the sign. The sign face is slightly arched on the top and bottom and curves across the face and back as well. This frames in the lettering and logo, while radiant sculpted lines draw the eye into the copy.

The copy is pearlescent white with a slight fade and gilded bevels. This contrasted well with the dark shades of burgundy used to match the natural colors of rust that would come from leaving the steel on the base raw. Before we presented the artwork to the customer, the whole team had a chance to look over the design and add comments. After a few slight adjustments, we called Chandlers.

We were excited to present this to the customer, but also a little nervous. The new design unfortunately had nothing in common with the original identity artwork that was provided to us. This can, on occasion, be hard for the customer to embrace due to the time the original design has been etched in their mind’s eye of the way things will look.

The Nod

After a few quiet minutes with the owner and his team taking in the design, they consulted each other and decided they liked the new layout. The customer asked if they could take the design back to their office for further review. We received a phone call a few hours later with an excited restaurant owner who had decided to change his entire identity package in order to utilize the graphics we created for the signage. He mentioned that it took an hour or so for his mind to adjust to the new artwork, and he had been working with the original artwork for more than a year. With the approval, it was time to get busy.

Meeting on the Mound

Now it’s time to turn all this design work into something real, and this is where teamwork really comes into play. At this point, we all sit down together to go over the actual engineering, construction schedule and responsibilities for each unit of the signage, which consisted of one large monument sign, two entry signs, interior signage and graphics. We look over each element of the design: how the designer (I) envisioned it in the real world and how we could accomplish the monument’s fabrication as efficiently as possible. This sometimes means calling in a specialist for aspects of the job that we’re not very efficient at or tooled for.

The Grounder

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up. The base of the monument consisted of eight one-quarter inch by 10-inch by 10-foot vertical plates set at slightly different angles to create a louver effect that changes the gap separation across the width. I designed this on paper, then in Corel X3. I still was not sure that what I had in my mind would translate to reality, so I laid it out in the 3D design program Sketch Up so I could revolve around the louvers and watch them visually open and close. It worked just as I had imagined. There are two horizontal plates; one at the base made of one-half-inch steel and one two-thirds of the way up cut from one-quarter-inch steel that would support the sign and hold it in place. After adding up the weight of all the pieces, it came in at about 1,700 pounds. Our shop’s metal fabrication specialist, Kevin Weere, was definitely capable of the construction of this piece, but the size and weight helped us decide we would contract our local metal shop (Jack’s Metal Works) to fabricate this piece for us.

Unique Strategy

The sign itself would need some careful planning. Because of the design of the base, we could not just bolt the sign face to the structure; it would have to be engineered so that it could slip over the louvers. Remember, we sent the base out to be fabricated at our local metal shop, which always does a great job for us. However when something is out of your hands, especially something the size of this base, there is always a little uneasiness that when the two pieces come together for the first time, they will not mate seamlessly. We provided Jack’s Metal Works with a hard template made from half-inch MDF that was routed on our Gerber Saber. This should insure that the spacing and angles come out correctly.

Gerber Saber working its way through the center panel.

Now that we feel confident that our metal will hold its shape, the face structure can go into production. All the detail that was designed into the face will be carved in relief with the aid of a program we use here at Classic. ArtCam and a talented user (Noel Weber or John McMahon at our shop) can really add a lot of life to a sign face. Noel and I sat down with the artwork and decided what elements to keep raised, push back, add radiuses to, and bevel. There was a lot of additional work that Noel had to figure out for the internal structure that will be explained in part two of this article.

What’s the finish?

Our customer had seen a sign that he liked that had a rusted metal finish. He had mentioned this to me on a few occasions early in the design process, so I did my best to integrate something along that line when I was rendering the designs.

The metal base structure would be left raw so that it would rust naturally. This was nice with this project because it meant that we would not have to move the base to our paint booth or to the powder coaters. It would be straight from Jack’s to the pre-poured pad at the site. The sign face would have a base color of dark burgundy that would blend with the rusted metal. The radiating lines would be painted with a fade that went from a really dark brown burgundy into the background color.

Jason Keeble did the paint work for the sign and got the colors and fades to come out exactly as they were designed. The lettering was half-inch acrylic painted off-white with a fade to beige at the bottom. The Chandlers copy was beveled and gilded, a back plate for each letter painted black was applied to the letters; this created a nice outline for additional contrast. The sub copy had the same treatment as the main copy, minus the fade in color. The logo was completely gilded and beveled. All gilding on this project was done by the most experienced gilder on our roster, none other then Noel Weber Sr.

Let’s put it together

After all the paint was applied, we cleared the sign with a matte finish. It helps the sign face blend with the base structure better. Now it was time to put it all together. The letters and logo were applied with stud mounts and silicone. Everything was handled with protective gloves so the gilded finishes would not be blemished. The base structure was delivered to the site and craned into position on the pad.

We supplied the concrete company with a template for the pad, which was poured with studs that slipped through corresponding holes in the base plate of the steel structure. The base was actually in place about a week before the sign face was ready. This turned out to be very beneficial. It rained a few days after the base was installed and gave the raw metal a chance to rust.

When the rust came the next day, it was a bright orange, not exactly what we were envisioning. This is when we decided to call on more outside talent.

Chris Schofield, a local artist who specializes in metal sculpture, has a lot of experience with metal patinas and how to achieve specific colors and hold them. I met with Chris on site, showed him what we wanted, and we got to work. First we ground off the orange rust, and then Chris applied an acid-based chemical with a spray applicator. Before the acid had a chance to dry, Chris hit the metal with his torch. This turned the metal the color we were looking for. After we arrived at the color we wanted, Chris had us apply a wax seal coat to protect and maintain the patina.

Now that the base was in order, it was time to attach the face. We loaded the face onto the trailer for a short trip over to Chandlers. When we arrived, the crane company was waiting for us. Noel had set I-bolts at both sides of the sign face so that we could attach to the crane straps. The sign face was hoisted above the base and slowly lowered as we guided it onto the louvers. It fit perfectly!

Game Over

As the face slid down the louvers and into place, a few high fives were given, and we all felt the satisfaction of a job well done. This to me is the same feeling I would get when walking off the field with a win, and knowing everyone on team gave there very best effort to reach that point. So, in case you were wondering why all the sports analogies, well, I’m originally from the Boston area and just finished watching my Red Sox win their second World Series; and hopefully will get a chance to see my Pats have one of the greatest seasons in NFL history this year.

Article Author: John Yarnell. Publication Name: Sign Business. Publication Date: 01/01/2008.

Digital Signs

Ah city codes- you can always count on one thing--- they keep changing! It is important to note that "nits" are an important part of the digital sign puzzle to fit the perfect sign no matter where you are!

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The City Council has agreed to a compromise on animated signs in the city — the last piece of a complicated ordinance members have been tussling with for more than a year.

The new ordinance, approved on first reading Thursday, is “the first real major overhaul” of the city’s sign ordinance since the current rules were put in place in the late 1990s, Mel Leonard, city director of planning and building, said Friday.

The compromise will permit large moving images along the beach but not in other areas of the city, such as Back Beach Road, while allowing the city to manage the rush of modern technology that threatens to swamp the landscape in bright lights and moving digital images, Leonard said. The city has also had to wrestle with the many First Amendment concerns that limiting signs can cause, Leonard said. “That really complicated the matter,” he said.

The new ordinance, which must be given final approval at a later meeting, would allow animated signs in the city limits along Front Beach Road, South Thomas Drive and Thomas Drive. Officials had been concerned that animated digital signs, like large television screens, could pose a safety hazard as drivers swivel their heads to watch the show.

The compromise was reached because traffic is generally slower along the beach, “where there is more of a tolerance for the glitch and fun,” Leonard told council members. In addition, such signs along Front Beach Road can also help add to the experience of tourists, who are often looking for the “flashing lights and fun” of a special vacation, he said Friday.

The signs must be at least 9 feet tall, but no more than 50 feet tall, with a square footage not to exceed 2 square feet per each foot of property frontage along the roadway, not to exceed 300 square feet. A shopping center would be allowed only one sign for the entire complex, unless it fronts two roadways, in which case it would be allowed two such signs.

Animated signs already within the city limits, but not along the beach, must cease the animation within three years. Such signs would not have to be taken down, but the illumination would have to switch to “stop-and-go” images with pauses in between. “You just can’t have the motion,” Leonard said.

The new ordinance also set limits to the amount of illumination a sign brings to the landscape, measured in the amount of “nits” (units) of light emitted from every square meter of surface.
Signs cannot exceed 7,000 nits during the day or 500 nits at night, and the city will now purchase a $3,000 light gun for the measuring, Leonard said.

Two birds. One sign.

I love when I see signs functioning multiple ways! This particular sidewalk sign (which are great for retail locations in particular) is being used not only as an advertising piece to encourage customers to stop in, but it is giving an offer of free passes to those who sign up for the email list - another great way to market your business.

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

Remodeled True Value store woos the women

I've always liked True Value. When I was a kid my dad would take me to get various things to fix something around the house or get a key made. Of course I had to post this article when I saw it, not only because of my fond memories of True Value, but because articles like this give my clients other ideas on how to better market themselves. **Spoiler: The hint here is give women color-coded signs and apparently we'll have a happier shopping experience and want to return!

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

The new True Value hardware store, tucked into an Illinois strip mall surrounded by 1960s split-level homes, is one of a kind.

The outpost is the Chicago-based hardware cooperative's first corporate-owned store, a chance for company executives to understand what its thousands of independent store owners experience every day. The corporate site represents True Value's latest thinking about what constitutes a hardware store. It's more than a place for men to knock around on a Saturday. It has to appeal to women too, sometimes the key decision-makers when it comes to home improvement.

Wooing women to the hardware store is nothing new. Lowe's Cos. led the way a decade ago with stores that were cleaner and more organized than rival home-improvement stores. Home Depot Inc. followed suit with a homier Home Depot, focusing on home decorating, hosting do-it-yourself workshops for women and, this year, adding Martha Stewart Living paints, closet organization kits and cleaning supplies.

But the recession put a crimp in the $267-billion home-improvement industry's push to market to women, an effort that had been going gangbusters during the housing boom. As consumer spending rebounds and the pace of kitchen and bathroom remodels picks up, women are going to be driving the purchases, said Marti Barletta, president of TrendSight Group, a Winnetka, Ill.-based research group, and author of "Marketing to Women."


"Women are the majority of home-improvement shoppers and make the majority of home-improvement decisions," Barletta said. "Men tend to repair this and that. Women tend to take on the projects that involve 'let's redo the bathroom' or 'let's redo the cabinets.' " A walk through the True Value store this week found plenty of changes seeking to appeal to women. Instead of a hodgepodge of hammers and screws crammed onto shelves, color-coded signs made it easy to navigate the store: blue for plumbing, green for garden, red for hardware. The store touts wider aisles, brighter overhead lights, an expanded assortment of decorative door knobs and drawer pulls and a can't-miss paint store as soon as you walk in the door.

"This is a lab for us," said Lyle Heidemann, the Sears hardware and appliance chief who took over as True Value's chief executive in 2005. "It's about 'How can we help our retailers become more efficient?' " The 12,300-square-foot store is bigger than the typical 8,500-square-foot True Value store and roomy enough to better compete with giants Home Depot and Lowe's. True Value picked Mount Prospect because there is a Home Depot, a Lowe's and two Ace Hardware stores nearby, as well as scores of post-World War II houses in need of repair, Heidemann said as he toured the store. He was wearing a workman-like blue collared shirt embroidered with the red True Value logo and had a pen in his pocket as if he were ready to write down the dimensions of a pipe or drill bit.

The idea is for headquarters workers, whose job it is to sell wholesale merchandise to the stores, to get a feel for what it's like to be in the trenches, Heidemann said. Although the corporate employees don't work the store, they decide how it operates and are responsible for its sales and profits, a far cry from making decisions with a PowerPoint presentation in a conference room.

The initial tests have shown promise. Since the format was unveiled at the annual dealer show in Atlanta in October 2007, 105 of True Value's 3,500 stores have converted. True Value expects the number of new-format stores to grow to 175 by the end of this year. Since the stores are independently owned, it's difficult to forecast how long it will take to transform the chain nationwide, Heidemann said. And there are hundreds of stores that will probably never be remodeled.
The remodeled stores have posted an average 10% increase in revenue, Heidemann said.
It hasn't been easy running a hardware store these last few years. Home-improvement stores were the first retailers to feel the pain of the housing slump and among the last to find relief.
In May, hardware merchants around the nation let out a collective sigh of relief when big-box chains Home Depot and Lowe's each reported their first quarterly gain in comparable-store sales in four years.

The Home Improvement Research Institute forecasts 2010 industry sales will rise 1.7%, to $271.8 billion, after falling an estimated 8.3%, to $267.3 billion, in 2009. True Value posted a 1.9% earnings increase in 2009, to $65.4 million, on a 9.4% decrease in revenue, to $1.8 billion. Sales at stores open at least one year, a key retail metric, fell 5.4%. With the home-improvement industry in flux, True Value has a chance to gain market share by attracting more women to its stores, said Gary DiCamillo, a consultant at Kurt Salmon Associates. "It will help them grow and compete against the big boxes."

By Sandra M. Jones June 7, 2010 | 7:29 p.m. Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

Durable, Kid-Friendly Wall Murals

Wall murals are a great way to bring a space to life! Designing, making and installing these projects are SO fun!

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

The Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center in Honolulu is a warm and friendly museum with hands-on instructional exhibits for children of all ages.  So when designers of a new facility at the center wanted to enliven the walls with bright, kid-friendly murals, it’s only natural that they would want materials that not only deliver ultra-vibrant colors but also extra durability and easy cleaning.

 
That’s why Pro Digital LLC of Honolulu, Hawaii is using LexJet Simple Flo wrap vinyl with a luster laminating film to create the murals.  Simple Flo wrap provides the opacity needed to prevent unsightly seams with overlapping panels. The repositionable adhesive on Simple Flo supports easy installation. Air-egress channels in the adhesive help prevent air bubbles and wrinkles.

Although the 2.4-mil Simple Flo wrap vinyl doesn’t disguise underlying imperfections in the wall surface as well as a WallPro textured wallcovering material would have, Pro Digital’s Bradley Igawa reports that the client is very pleased with how the installed mural looks.

And if laminated Simple Flo wrap vinyl is durable enough for vehicle wraps (and exposure to car washes, road salt, and exhaust fumes), then certainly this wall mural can withstand the sticky handprints of hundreds of children who are encouraged to touch and actively explore nearly everything within the museum.

The final mural will consist of eighteen, 10-ft.-high panels printed on Pro Digital’s 64-in. Epson GS6000 low-solvent inkjet printer.


LexJet Blog » Décor 06/4 2010

The Steak-Scented Billboard: Advertising’s Stinking Future

I seriously was just thinking about telling my museum client's to try this! How much more would history come to life if you were walking through a museum exhibit that is talking about the local blacksmith and you actually can smell the iron and fire pit!? This is a bit much though...

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

A new Billboard on River Highway in North Carolina not only shows a gigantic piece of steak on an even more giant fork, but it actually pumps out the smell of steak for passing drivers to suffer through. Gross!

"The Bloom grocery store chain, part of Food Lion, erected the giant sign at 1220 River Highway, between a Shell gas station and a storage facility, to promote its new brand of beef. It’ll disperse the scent during rush hour, from 7 to 10 a.m. and from 4 to 7 p.m., every day until June 18, and is visible to drivers heading west, toward Catawba County. It pairs the smell with a big visual, showing a giant piece of steak and a French fry on a giant fork, and is one of the first of its kind in the country."

So basically, they’ve got some big vats of beef-scented chemicals and some fans, and they’re just indiscriminately blasting the whole area with meatstink? Are there laws against this? Think of the poor clerk in that petrol station, forced to work in the heavy fog of fake meat odour all day! Or, even worse, if you lived nearby? Good lord. If they tried this near me I’d burn the billboard down.

By Adam Frucci on June 3, 2010 at 9:20 AM

Relationships status...

Building a relationship with each of my clients' is my primary goal in business. Building that relationship and understanding what each company does enables me to understand what they need, want and like and allows me to 'get' what my clients' are looking for. I am in the business of continuing to help companies grow their businesses and growing a reputation of providing high quality signs at a fair price with the best service.

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

Show Me... New Welcome Signs

I love when I see companies (or states!) advertise and promote themselves through signage like this! This 3M material is the best out there! Perfect for the durable exterior signs we make.

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

This Memorial Day weekend, travelers driving into Missouri will be treated to upgraded welcome signs. The old signs, which were screenprinted and had begun to significantly fade after 20 years in service, will be replaced by 8 x 4-ft. or 12 x 6-ft. signage the employs 3M’s high-intensity, prismatic sheeting. Melissa Black, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) outreach coordinator, said the new signs, which have in the works for approximately 18 months, measure 2 ft. wider and taller, and feature reflective sheeting on structural panels as well as flat sign surfaces.

The new sign program will replace 66 panels throughout the state, 14 of which occupy interstates and will be installed during Memorial Day weekend. The others will follow over the next year. MoDOT and the state’s Division of Tourism collaborated on developing the logo. The design features stylized “s”es that form a crooked river bend, homage to the Mississippi River and its prominent role in forging the Show Me State’s history.

(May 2010) posted on Fri May 28, 2010 10:30am EDT by Steve Aust for www,signweb.com

Idea on attracting businesses to Rockford...

This township in Ohio has updated their signage codes to allow more flexibility in hopes of attracting more businesses. Some of these items are stricter than what we currently have, but many are extremely forgiving compared with our codes. While I agree extremely large, gaudy signs are unacceptable and tarnish a community's image, allowing businesses to advertise their spaces effectively is extremely important to their continued success. If you'd like more information on the current sign regulations for Rockford and other communities give me a call!

~Amy Donahue
signage consultant

After enduring criticism that its sign regulations are not friendly to businesses, Liberty Township has amended its zoning code to relax the rules.

Following months of review by the township's zoning commission and several public hearings, township trustees OK'd amendments to the signage code for the first time in more than a decade during their meeting Monday, May 17.

The new code makes replacing signs easier and allows for more wiggle room in size and design. Notable changes include:

* Rather than go through a public hearing to receive approval for a replacement sign that does not match the original, applicants can get a permit from the zoning inspector for a sign approved by township trustees.

* Restrictions to the number of colors, types and sizes of fonts have been removed.

* In addition to the proprietor and business name, such signs may now include the address and a graphic or image to illustrate the nature of the business. These signs are allowed to be on the building wall, rather than restricted to a show window or door.

* Temporary sidewalk signs are allowed in front of businesses with no permit required.

* The allowed size for freestanding signs and wall signs for business identification have been increased.

* Signs with business names, address numbers and directional arrows designed to assist the public in locating a business are allowed without a permit, though some restrictions apply.

A last-minute amendment was added to the list during the meeting to allow neighborhoods to post signs that ban solicitors and advertise block-watch programs.

The changes serve to simplify the signage requirements, which business owners have complained are needlessly complicated; however, trustees have said the rules are not the sole reason for businesses that have asked to be annexed into Powell.

"Business owners that use signage requirements as an excuse to leave the township are making just that -- an excuse," Trustee Bob Mann said at a previous meeting.

Trustee Chairman Curt Sybert said at the same meeting that the amended code allows for better signage for businesses.

"One of our businesses installed a drive-through pharmacy and our old code wouldn't allow them to advertise that, so no one knew it was there. Our new code would allow that," he said.

The changes will take effect in 30 days.

By LAURA ENGLEHART for Columbus Local News. Published: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 4:40 PM EDT

Retail Floor Graphics

I've been raving about this 'new' medium over the past year and it looks like more and more clients' are seeing the value in this great way to advertise!
~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

Imagine strolling down a clear mountain stream, wondering how you’re going to spend this summer day. You follow the creek until you reach a stack of fishing rods, tackle boxes and bait. Perfect—only you’re not really in a fly fisherman’s paradise. You’re in your local sporting goods store, and that stream was really just a printed floor graphic that led you to your next purchase.

Between point-of-purchase displays, in-store banners and event promotions, sign and print shops fulfill much of the retail industry’s marketing needs, and floor graphics are complementary to these applications with their creative uses and strong branding capabilities.

WHY FLOOR GRAPHICS?

Floor graphics are particularly valuable because more branding messages can be created in an area where space is limited, says Michael Eyman, vice president of Permovable Technologies. Today’s planogram, a diagram of retail product placement, is often jumbled with too many consumables, making for a confusing shopping experience with little product identification.

“We’re running out of space to get people’s messages across,” Eyman says. “But floor space allows the retailer as well as the brand owner to get their message out at the point of sale.”

DESIGNING FLOOR GRAPHICS

When designing floor graphics, Kucera recommends simple, clear and highly visible images. Remember, a cluttered message can get lost in the shuffle. Bolded, concise copy; 3-D elements; and photos are all effective ways to make the graphic pop, Milazzo adds.

“The floor is no place for text-heavy graphics,” Kucera says. “You really need to have something snappy that’s going to draw the eye in and get your message across.”

Using more creative applications also helps a message stand out while reinforcing the brand identity, which is the ultimate goal of floor graphics, Milazzo says. Take, for instance, a Heineken floor graphic in a grocery store. Instead of a square piece of vinyl filled with copy, create a Heineken bottle-shaped graphic in front of the beer cooler. Or maybe try a round pizza graphic for Red Baron in the frozen food section. These images are more interesting to the eye and leave a stronger product connection. With a powerful graphic, your retail client can increase sales, and you become a more valuable business partner and marketing solution.

Excerpted from article by Amanda McGrory. Sign & Digital Graphics. 05/01/2010

Wrap Design Strategies

Nothing hurts me more than a poorly designed vehicle wrap - and my clients! If you're looking for a well designed wrap look no further... I enjoy building relationships with my clients and understanding what they like and need to promote their business!
~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

Every good wrap estimate has a line item on it for design. What is your customer buying for this price? The answer, in most cases, is prospects.

Isn’t this what they are hiring us for, anyway? They want more prospects; they want their phone to ring, or more traffic to their Web site.

They are looking for more people to talk to about their products or services. This is truly what you should be selling your customer through your design services. It takes a special talent to not only deliver a vehicle that looks good, but one that is able to convey a precise message at 45 to 75 mph. Once a designer can prove their skills in this area, that line item can increase in value and the client will be happy to pay for it.

Vehicle wrap designers are professionals, and just like any other professional career with the proper experience, will get treated as such. When you see your doctor or lawyer, do they sit you in a room while they ask you how you think they should handle your medical procedure or lawsuit? Then why should your customer come to you and tell you what their design should look like on their vehicle wrap? You should be guiding them on what works, what doesn’t work, where to place the call to action and how the elements of the wrap should be placed.

A professional wrap designer understands that this will not only give their client a better final product, but will allow them more creative freedom throughout the project. I do not want to give the impression that the customer should have no input on their wrap, because that is far from true. The customer has to drive this vehicle every day, so designing a vehicle that they are proud to jump into is important, but asking them what they want their vehicle to look like and following that direction is a mistake you do not want to keep making.

Understanding your customer is the first step in a good wrap design. Using a form like a creative brief that the client fills out at the beginning of the project is a good start. This creative brief should ask questions about the customer and their business so that you get a better understanding on who they are and what their expectations are. This brief should ask questions about the customer's target market, results they expect, colors they like and details on the items they cannot live without being on the wrap. This form should be filled out before the customer’s initial interview. This allows the designer to get to know the customer and can brainstorm ideas before the customer is interviewed.

When you collect this creative brief, you should also collect any logos, images, etc., that they feel must be on the wrap. Next, a meeting with the customer is important. This meeting is an extension of the creative brief and should allow the designer to get an intimate knowledge of who they are designing for and the target market this message is speaking to. Between the creative brief and client interview, a good designer should have a few ideas for concepts and should be ready to start designing a vehicle wrap that will produce results.

Knowing your vehicle is next, a good place to start is going to the manufacturer’s Web site and having a look at the vehicle that will be your blank canvas. Getting a good look at the curves and obstacles will help with placement of your message and make the design process run a lot smoother. The best way to get to know your canvas is to have the client bring you their vehicle for measurements. Not only will this allow you to double check the measurements of the template you will be using, but it will allow you to see what trim package the vehicle has. There is nothing worse than finding out last minute that the client’s vehicle had an upgraded trim package from the factory that forces you to adjust positioning of text in the eleventh hour.

A common mistake I see in vehicle wraps is a busy design. This most likely is the designer allowing the client to run the design and wanting to put each and every service they perform on the side of the vehicle. Keep it simple, keep it exciting but do not overload the design. Text should be kept to the bare minimum, and should be placed on a relatively solid background and not over an image. This allows the message to be easily read. You should always come up with the information layout before the graphic layout to insure readability. Simplifying the text to the bare minimums or necessities will allow for a clear view of it all. Drilling down the text to the minimums should be simple at this point because you should have covered this in your initial client interview.

Choosing fonts that are readable from a distance is important. You only have a few seconds to capture the attention of the prospect, so finding a readable font is as important as any other aspect of your wrap. Limit your font selection to no more than three. Having a bunch of different font styles will muddy the message and make the wrap look too busy. Spending some time on font color will also insure readability. This may seem obvious, but white text reads best on dark backgrounds, many customers request dark colors on dark backgrounds and they should be directed away from this.

When choosing images, care should be taken so that the images add value to the message without drawing from it. An image can be so over the top that it gets looked at, but the message never gets read. What should happen is the imagery draws attention to the vehicle, and therefore the message gets read. The imagery should complement the text in such a way that when this happens, the consumer is drawn to the call to action. Simple is better when it comes to images. Also, empty space is as important as the areas with text and objects on them.

Do not rely on your client to supply you images. The images supplied by your client likely will not be usable. There are a lot of Web sites that specialize in supplying images for print applications; you will be able to purchase the images for a small fee in various sizes. Choose the size that will allow you the best print output quality. The background of your wrap should be an interesting looking texture or pattern, but again, one that enhances and does not interfere with the message. The background is always best if kept subtle. Come up with ways to use depth of field. Build a foreground and background with logos and information layered in the midground. This is much more pleasant to look at and will help capture the attention of the consumer. In the end, a well designed vehicle wrap is one that delivers results. Taking control of your designs is a big risk because if what you designed does not deliver, the customer will be disappointed. The payoff is when you get good enough to know that what you are creating will increase your clients business and deliver the results they expect. This payoff will come in the form of repeat business and referrals like you have never seen before.

By Jim McClure (Sign & Digital Graphics, November, 2009)

Let's Talk Channel Letters

What benefits make channel letters so appealing as a means of on-premise signage? Check out this article on the value of this pivotal sign product as advertising as well as things I take into account when working with clients on these projects!

~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

SIGNS ARE ADVERTISING
As advertising, signs have a tangible valueⁱ. They also have definable costs. When a business plans a marketing strategy, the quantity and type of advertising is examined, a budget is prepared, cost of advertising per impression is calculated to determine the value of the advertising.
Many detailed studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between the number of impressions and the motivation to buy a product. Because it takes a number of repeat impressions to result in motivation, most advertisers will seek to maintain a consistency of message in all advertising media.

Another issue of advertising is the success in converting motivation into action. If a consumer is sitting at home and sees an advertisement, the resulting action may be to try to remember to buy the item the next time the consumer is visiting that store. Another consumer, traveling on the interstate highway sees a billboard for a gas station. The resulting action is to look at the fuel gaugeⁱ. If the gauge shows a need for fuel, the motorist will probably pull off at the appropriate exit and purchase fuel.

The television ad may be a high-tech computer generated extravaganza; a simple 16-sheet billboard located near the appropriate exit canⁱ be more effective in producing the desired result of a purchase.

Extending this analysis, an on-premise sign can be the most effective form of advertising a business, in that when it is viewed, the consumer is virtually on the doorstep. Very little motivation is required for the consumer to stop, provided the advertised message or the establishment’s name is visible and readable at sufficient distance that the consumer may negotiate himself or his vehicle to the premise without incurring an accident.

BENEFITS
Even with the proximity of the on-premise sign to the front door of the business, it is vital that the copy on the sign be effective. It must be sized so as to be readable at a sufficient distance to permitⁱ the consumer to respond. In many code jurisdictions, the allowable size of a freestanding or wall mounted sign may be so restrictive that the resulting copy size is insufficient to meet the requirements of noticeability and readabilityⁱ. By using individual channelⁱ letters to identify the premises, a larger copy size can be achieved within the permitted size allowances. In this manner the effectiveness of the on-premise sign can be multiplied many times over.

To explain this fact more specifically, most sign codes limit the size of permittable signs based on the number of square feet of graphic area. For a standard box sign, the calculation of graphic area includes not only meaningful copy on the sign faceⁱ, but also the background areas as well.

For channel type letters, the copy is fabricated as individual letters and/or logo signs. When these are mounted on a building, the building’s façade becomes the background for the sign. This form of background is usually not included in the calculation of square footage, only the actual area of the graphic faces. In this manner, a business that might get its name displayed in 12'' copy on a 4' x 8' box sign, might get its name displayed with channel letters several feet tall under the same sign code.

Obviously, the channel letters would be more noticeable and more readable than the same copy displayed in the smaller size on the standard sign face. This enhancement adds value to the business location far above the cost of the channel letters.

The sign industry has been slow to incorporate valuation techniques used throughout the business community to accurately value on premise signage.

Most businesses must advertise to attract their customers. Advertising seeks to motivate a select group of individuals to conduct transactions with the advertiser. For a large percentage of businesses, customers must visit the business premises at some time to conduct or fulfill the business transaction. For these customers, the advertising must motivate the customer to leave whatever location in which they are currently, and to travel to the business premise. Upon arrival within the vicinity of the business, these potential customers must be able to easily and safely identify the business location. With an on-premise sign, the hardest part of the motivation has been accomplished; the customer is in the vicinity of the advertiser’s business premises.

Channel letters, presented in a larger copy size than regular sign graphics will make the process of notice occur more quickly, permitting the potential customer to plan and then negotiate to the business site more easily and with less hazard to himself or others around him or her.

START WITH THE SITE SURVEY!

The initial survey is the single most important step of your design and marketing effort. Without the information garnered by the survey, the most impressive signage can be rendered ineffective by existing conditions not otherwise recognized. When conducting the survey, the following conditions should be documented:

Approach — The distance measured along a line of travel from the point where the signage display first becomes visible to the point where copy is no longer readable (having passed perpendicular to the line of sight). Consider the approach to the business. What speed is permitted on the street(s)? What obstructions are along the approach? How clear is the line of sight?

Exposure Time — Exposure time is the amount of time an observer has to view the contentⁱ of the sign. Exposure time is a function of the approach, noticeability of the sign, legibility of the sign, and rate of travel along the approach path.

Noticeability — This term is actually a combination of detection and conspicuity.

Conspicuity — The quality of an object (sign) or a light source to appear prominent or to stand out in its surroundings. The depth associated with the individual channel letters contributes greatly to this quality.

Detection — The quality or state of being perceivable by the eye. In many outdoor applications, visibility is defined in terms of the distance at which an object can be just perceived (I.e. detected) by the eye. Since channel letters can be spaced without an associated cost in square footage allocation, a spread patternⁱ can often be used to increase the distance at which the letters can be discerned and read.

Article Author: Tim Cummings. Sign Business. 02/01/2003