Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008 - (Page 42)

Photo 2. Photo 3. Photo 4. Photo 5. also take advantage of this trick (Photo 3). The human eye will see the outline and the color. In this case, there’s no color if the letter color is truly black. The “white edge” always cuts into the letter style but maintains it in the overall shape. Notice the difference in the face trim on the previous two examples. One is black and the other is white, while the returns are white. One set almost looks as though there’s no “white edge”—that is, until one actually takes a closer look at them. So is this effect deceiving, or is it effective? The white edge on white return tends to make the logo/font look “correct,” and yet it still registers as an illuminated black. Cheat When I say “cheat,” I don’t mean in the sense of cutting corners; instead don’t illuminate the black. You might consider instead using gray or a light tint that looks dark in the daylight (Photo 4). If you use a gray tint for the face color (vinyl), this will make the letter look darker in the daylight (with no real black reference) and “illuminated’ at night. Without the white edge trick, additional illumination may be needed. Another faux-black illumination method includes using perforated aluminum or perforated vinyl. In either case, black perforated material is applied over a white face. At a distance, the look will appear solid black to the viewer. The nighttime glow is based on the light coming through the perforations. An alternative is to print the color black (UV-based ink) in a pattern akin to the perforation. The pattern eliminates the holes you get with perforated material and only creates visual holes where the illumination comes through. One classic trick is to fabricate a set of face-lit channel letters with two sets of plastic cut out for the faces. The inner set is milk white (light-white). The alternative is a white diffuser film, but the thickness appears to help make the second layer “dark.” Tinted gray is the top or surface. When there’s no illumination from behind, the tinted gray acrylic looks almost black. To counter this, more illumination is placed inside the channel letter. The entire letter is black during the day and white/gray at night. Black is Opaque In the end, there’s really no way to illuminate a black letter. Black is opaque; any color that’s opaque will have an impossible time with illumination (Photo 5). The question: Can you make it black in the daylight and some kind of black that looks good at night? b 42 Sign Builder Illustrated October 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008

Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008 Contents SBI Agenda Quotes & Comments Contributors Revving Up for WrapQuest Dispatches Sign Show Sandblasted and Dimensional Sign Rescue, Part Three UV Ink and Printer Update, Part One Black is Black! Makin' Money With Molded Letters Making a Monster A Custom Built Sign Shop The Evolution of Architectural and ADA�Signage Finishing That Makes the Cut Maximizing In-store Signage and P-O-P Displays Wide Format Opportunities Panel Saws: A Precise Cut SBI Marketplace Q&A

Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008

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