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(March 2006) posted on Tue Mar 14, 2006

Tips on plastics usage, with some historical perspective

By Paul R. Davis

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How do you select rigid plastics for sign faces? Does your supplier advise you what to use? Does your customer specify a plastic? How do you decide if the sign face will be flat or formed? Will the face be decorated with paint or vinyl, or will you, instead, opt for pigmented plastic?

There are many ways to answer these questions, but cost alone should not be the determining factor. Cost effectiveness should be. You should plan for your plastic-face sign to last at least 10 years. Anything less is a disservice to your customer.

The General Motors dealership-identification program from the early '70s has used more acrylic than any other sign program over the ensuing 30+ years. Many signs have been up more than two decades and still look good. The program primarily has incorporated pigmented acrylic, mostly from Aristech (Florence, KY).

Very few electric-sign companies will get involved in a massive sign program like GM, but many of the particulars should be applicable for custom signage as well. In the midst of changing its corporate identity, Nissan is currently replacing formed faces with second-surface decoration.

First-surface decoration occurs on the outside of the sign, so it's exposed to all of the elements. Second-surface decoration occurs inside the plastic face. While protected from the elements, it's exposed to the lightsource that illuminates the sign (typically fluorescent).

All of Nissan's and GM's U.S. programs feature embossed signage, meaning the dimensional aspect is closer to the viewer. The opposite method, debossing, is more of an indention of the plastic surface. The face's basic pan is embossed above the retainer level.

Copy is embossed above that level. Most signs have at least three levels of embossing:

1. The retainer level;

2. Top of the pan level; and

3. Top of the copy level.

In the GM program, the dealer name has always been produced by embossing a clear material, with second-surface painting.

Also in the '70s, Cummings Signs (Nashville, TN) built the ARCO program, which identified the combination of four to five oil brands. All told, the program included more than 12,000 double-faced signs that averaged 55 sq. ft. (which means 1.3 million sq. ft. of acrylic material).