Know the Signs: A Non-Print Signage Primer

“Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs,” sang the Five Man Electrical Band in their 1971 hit single “Signs” (perhaps made more famous by the band Tesla’s 1990 cover)—and indeed it’s hard to venture very far without encountering a sign of some kind. As we have written about many times, print businesses have been adding wide-format and display graphics as well as signage to their product and service offerings. When it comes to signage, a lot of traditional print businesses have focused on print-related signage—and understandably so. Not only is ink on a substrate something easily understandable to any print business (heck, it is the print business), but today’s wide-format equipment can print virtually anything, including many kinds of signage. 

Signage has a long history—it dates from the earliest human civilizations—and for most of that history, print was a very small portion of it. As a result, to truly get into signage may require being at the very least conversant in a wide variety of manufacturing and construction techniques, materials and even new technologies, in addition to some kind of ink on some kind of substrate. If a small business is looking for a “sign,” what they may—indeed, what they probably—have in mind is not anything printed, but something constructed. 

Let's look at some common forms of non-print-related signage. 

Changing Channels

Just as in the early days of print, when text was created by assembling individual metal letters into words, sentences, paragraphs and pages, a lot of signage today still comprises individual letters lined up and attached to a display surface, such as the front of a building. These are called "channel letters," and are individual metal or plastic letters that are assembled to form exterior signage. Like any text, they can be set in standard typefaces as well as custom brand faces and logos. 

For many businesses, channel letters are an essential component of branding, and if you take a trip to your local shopping center or “valley of malls,” you will see no shortage of creative uses of channel letters. Channel letter signs can be illuminated, and channel letters are starting to overlap with other kinds of illuminated lettering, with neon and LED lettering often classified as channel letters. Channel letters are custom manufactured out of metal like aluminum (which doesn’t rust and is reasonably lightweight) with lighting assemblies added as needed.

ImageFirst™ is a wholesale exterior sign manufacturer that specializes in all kinds of outdoor signage, selling to retail sign companies across the country. Indeed, ImageFirst has been working with FASTSIGNS to help franchises expand their offerings beyond printed signage. ImageFirst offers a full range of sign manufacturing services, but over time has carved out specific niches. 

“There’s not a lot that we don’t do or delve into,” said David Watts, ImageFirst’s plant/production manager. “As of the last few years, we’ve gotten into custom architectural signage. You see all these nice buildings going up and they want signs to match their buildings or signs that fit in with the architecture of the building. That’s kind of where we’ve grown our niche.”

As a wholesale sign manufacturer, ImageFirst doesn’t work directly with the architect or builder, but rather with the sign company that was contracted by the party involved in constructing the building. 

ImageFirst has a wide variety of online resources, including "The Ultimate Guide to Channel Letters." There are different mounting techniques for channel letters. For a “clean” look, they can be directly attached to the intended façade using fasteners. Any electrical that is required for illumination is run through the wall to which the letters are attached. An alternative is a “raceway,” which is a metal container or frame. The letters are mounted to the front of the raceway, and then the back of the raceway is mounted on the edifice itself. The raceway often needs to be weatherproof since it will house the electrical components. The advantage of using a raceway rather than direct mounting is that it reduces the number of “penetrations” into the edifice. This is especially important in a location like a retail plaza or mall where there may be a regular turnover of tenants—you don’t have to keep drilling into the wall or monument each time a new tenant wants their own channel letters installed.

Channel letters can be illuminated. They can be front lit (lamps within the letters themselves shine outward), back lit or “halo lit” (the letters are not flush with the edifice and light shines from behind, creating a kind of “reverse” effect)—or illuminated using a combination of lighting types. 

Monumental Signage 

A term you’ll hear in signage conversations is “monument.” A monument, monument sign or pylon is simply a freestanding exterior sign. It is often illuminated and a monument can include channel letters. Monument signs can also involve carpentry and hand painting, as well as other more artisanal techniques. 

Projecting Projects

A projecting sign is a sign that is an integrated architectural element of a building. It is connected to the exterior of a structure and projects outward. Projecting signs thus have the same look and feel as the building itself since it is actually part of edifice. There are some special engineering issues associated with projecting signs, which will be familiar to anyone who has ever installed outdoor banners or other printed signage.

“[Projecting signs] can be a little bit harder because of the wind load,” said Kelly Sheldon O’Byrne, product manager–interior signage for ImageFirst. “There’s a lot more surface area and sail area, so they have to be better constructed and engineered.” 

While wholesalers like ImageFirst don’t work directly with architects and building contractors, they’ll often be consulted about some of the particulars. 

“Occasionally I’ll do designs based on architectural renderings,” said Nick Nelson, project manager and designer for ImageFirst. “Basically, they have an architect’s drawing of what they want the sign to look like, and I’ll design it based off what we’ve quoted, and then also specify fabrication techniques and lighting techniques. A lot of architectural drawings don’t take into consideration access to the electrical or the internal structure. So that’s kind of the part we play in that is taking a design they have and making it functional.”

New Horizons

As has been the case with print-based wide-format and display graphics, getting customers up to speed on what viable options are is one of the biggest challenges, and with signage, getting customers to think beyond traditional channel letters or plain vanilla signage takes a little bit of hand-holding. 

“It’s getting them to broaden their horizon past just letters on a wall to more of an architectural look,” O’Byrne said. 

Some new-ish materials for exterior signage include:

Flex Face

Flex Face is a translucent vinyl material that is stretched over a frame and can then be backlit. It can be printed or cut into the desired shape. 

“It’s especially great for big designs that are going high up because of the wind load,” O’Byrne said. “It’s a lighter product so it manages better.”

Cor-Ten

Cor-Ten is a weathered steel material commonly used for signage, and ImageFirst offers an aluminum-based material that replicates the look of weathered steel. It’s an aluminum panel treated with a primer and an iron flake solution. An acid is applied to begin a chemical reaction that “rusts” the surface. How long this rusting process is allowed to take place (a few hours vs. overnight) determines how rusty the panel becomes. The rusting process is halted using another coating. It’s a lighter and more flexible material than steel itself.

“By using aluminum, we can rout it, bend it and illuminate it,” O’Byrne said. “It’s also a little easier to work with. It’s a really cool product.” 

Other kinds of faux materials such as faux masonry are also eye-catching options for monument signs, sign bases or accents. ImageFirst offers a variety called InStone which is applied over an aluminum frame and is available in several different textures.  

Solar Systems

For sign installers who don’t want to muck about with electrical connections, solar panels can be attached to a sign to provide the power for its illumination. It’s not just a good use of renewable energy, but can be more convenient.

“It helps when you have a sign that is maybe 100 or 200 feet away from the building and they don’t want to dig a trench to get electricity out to the sign,” Nelson said. 

Code Comfort

One vitally important consideration when designing and planning exterior signage is to be aware of local sign codes, regulations and restrictions in the location in which the sign will be installed. (They can vary from municipality to municipality.) Ultimately, the due diligence related to sign codes and the related permits is the responsibility of the sign’s end-use customer, but sign shops can help their customers out by either being up to speed on the local laws themselves, or being able to provide the customer with sign code resources. (The International Sign Association is a wonderful resource for gleaning information in local sign codes.) It’s the sign equivalent of “call before you dig.”

Go For It

All of this may seem a little daunting to a small print business that might produce wide-format or display graphics: suddenly start fabricating letters and erecting projecting signs or monuments? Isn’t that a bit like the Monty Python sketch about the accountant who wants to become a lion tamer? Well, five or so years ago, wide-format printing seemed pretty daunting to the print business that only ever did direct mail or transactional work. And that’s why partnering with a company like ImageFirst—rather than trying to do it yourself, at least at first—can help tap into these product areas, because they can be worth it. 

“We try to stress to companies who maybe are hesitant to take on that large monument sign or large building ID that you can sell 300 interior signs for, let’s say, $20,000, or you can sell one large exterior monument for that price—or even more,” Nelson said. “So you get a lot of bang for your buck on the exterior monument signs, too.”

“I think sometimes they’re scared because they haven’t done it before,” O’Byrne saod. “But when you have good partners like ImageFirst, you can talk it through and get a better understanding of what you need and the smart questions to ask your clients.” 

“There are a lot of things to look into, and we try to help them through all the processes of that exterior signage, including the best way to install it,” Watts said. “So we try to help them and walk them through the process from the beginning until they get seasoned and they’re up to speed.”