A

A-frame

A two-sided freestanding sign hinged at the top so it stands on the pavement unaided. Also called a sandwich board. Used for temporary and daily messaging.

ACM

Aluminum composite material. Two thin aluminum skins bonded to a plastic core. Light, rigid and flat, and the most common substrate for outdoor commercial panel signs.

ADA signage

Interior signage meeting Americans with Disabilities Act requirements — raised characters, Braille, specified contrast and mounting height. Typically required for permanent room identification.

Awning sign

Graphics applied to a fabric or metal awning, so the shelter and the sign are the same structure.

B

Backer panel

A panel behind lettering or a logo that gives it a defined field and separates it from the building surface.

Banner

A sign printed on flexible material, hemmed and grommeted for temporary mounting. Vinyl for most uses, mesh where wind load matters.

Blockout

Banner material with an opaque middle layer so a double-sided print does not show through from the other side.

Brushed finish

A directional grain applied to metal, giving a soft satin appearance rather than a mirror or matte one.

C

Cabinet sign

A sign built as an enclosed box with one or more faces mounted in a frame. Faces can be changed without replacing the structure.

Calendared vinyl

Vinyl produced by rolling. Thicker and less dimensionally stable than cast, cheaper, and suited to flat surfaces and shorter terms.

Cast vinyl

Vinyl produced as a liquid cast into a thin film. Thinner, more stable and conformable than calendared. The choice for curves and long-term outdoor work.

Channel letter

An individual three-dimensional letter fabricated with sides and a face, often built to be illuminated. Mounted directly to a building or onto a raceway.

Coroplast

Corrugated plastic sheet — a fluted core between two plastic faces. Inexpensive, light and short-lived. The standard yard sign material.

CNC routing

Computer-controlled cutting that carves or profiles a sheet material to a drawn shape. Used for dimensional letters, contour-cut panels and carved wood.

Contour cut

Cutting a sign or graphic to follow the outline of its artwork rather than leaving it as a rectangle.

D

Dibond

A widely used brand of aluminum composite material. Often used generically the way people say Coroplast, though it refers to one manufacturer’s product.

Dimensional letters

Individual letters with real thickness, cut from acrylic, metal, PVC or foam and mounted with studs or adhesive rather than printed onto a panel.

Directory sign

A sign listing the occupants of a multi-tenant building or site, usually built so individual tenant strips can be changed.

Double-sided

A sign printed or fabricated on both faces so it reads from either direction. Standard for freestanding and projecting signs.

E

Eco-solvent ink

A printing ink used in wide format work that produces durable outdoor prints with lower solvent content than older formulations.

Electronic message center

A sign face made of programmable LED modules, capable of displaying changing text or graphics. Commonly abbreviated EMC. Usually the most heavily regulated sign type in any ordinance.

Engineering

Structural calculation of a sign’s footing, framing and wind loading. Required by many jurisdictions above a certain size or height.

F

Face

The surface of a sign carrying the message. On a cabinet sign the face is a replaceable component.

Fascia sign

A sign mounted flat against the vertical band of a building above the storefront.

Flatbed printing

Printing directly onto a rigid sheet rather than onto vinyl that is then applied. Fast and clean, and it still needs laminating or coating for long outdoor life.

Freestanding sign

Any sign supported by its own structure in the ground rather than attached to a building. Covers monument, pylon, pole and post and panel signs.

G

Grommet

A reinforced metal ring set into the hem of a banner so it can be tied or fastened without tearing.

Ground sign

A freestanding sign that sits low to the ground, with little or no visible support structure. Often used interchangeably with monument sign.

H

Halo lighting

Illumination placed behind dimensional letters so light spills onto the wall around them, silhouetting the letter. Also called reverse channel or backlit.

Hoarding

Temporary perimeter fencing or screening around a construction site, frequently used as a surface for printed banners and graphics.

K

Kerning

Adjusting the spacing between individual letters so a word reads as a single shape rather than a row of characters. Poor kerning is one of the fastest ways to make a sign look amateur.

L

Lamination

A clear protective film applied over a print. It carries the UV inhibitors and takes the abrasion. On the Gulf Coast it is the single largest factor in how a printed sign looks in its third year.

Lexan

A brand of polycarbonate sheet. Impact resistant and used where breakage is a concern.

Lightbox

See cabinet sign. A sign built as an illuminated enclosure with translucent faces.

M

Mesh banner

A banner material perforated to let wind pass through. Used on fencing and building elevations where a solid banner would act as a sail.

Monument sign

A low freestanding sign with a solid base, typically at a property entrance. Reads as part of the landscape rather than a pole with a sign on it.

Mounting

How a sign attaches to its structure or surface. Frequently the difference between two quotes that otherwise look identical.

O

Optical center

The point slightly above the true center of a panel — around 46% down from the top — where the eye naturally settles. Key elements placed at the true center read as slightly low.

Overlay

A panel fixed over part of an existing sign face to change one element without reprinting the whole thing. The cheapest way to keep a long-running sign current.

P

Pan face

A sign face formed with a raised edge so it fits into a cabinet frame, rather than sitting flat.

Post and panel

A freestanding sign made of a flat panel fixed between or onto posts. Simple, quick to install and the standard format for site, directional and real estate signage.

Premask

The paper or film layer over cut vinyl lettering that holds it in position during application and is removed afterwards. Also called transfer tape.

Projecting sign

A sign mounted perpendicular to a building so it reads to pedestrians moving along the facade. Also called a blade sign.

PVC sheet

Rigid expanded plastic sheet. Clean to cut, good for interior and sheltered exterior use, and less durable than aluminum in full sun.

Pylon sign

A tall freestanding sign on one or more visible supports, used where a sign must be seen over parked vehicles or from a highway. Multi-tenant pylons carry a stack of tenant panels.

Pole sign

A freestanding sign mounted on a single visible pole. Similar in purpose to a pylon sign, generally simpler in structure.

R

Raceway

An enclosure that mounts to a building and carries letters and their wiring, so the building surface is penetrated once rather than many times.

Reface

Replacing the face of an existing sign while keeping the structure. Usually a fraction of the cost of a new sign and the first thing worth checking.

Registration

Alignment of the separate elements of a print. Poor registration shows as fringing or shadowing on edges.

Reverse channel

See halo lighting. A dimensional letter with a solid face and an open or translucent back.

Rider

A small panel attached above or below a real estate sign carrying a supplementary message such as Sold, Price Reduced or an agent name.

S

Sandblasted sign

A sign, usually wood or HDU, with its background eroded away to leave the copy raised. Produces a heavy dimensional texture.

Setback

The minimum distance an ordinance requires between a sign and a property line or right of way. One of the most common reasons a fabricated sign has to be moved or rebuilt.

Squeegee

The hand tool used to apply vinyl graphics to a surface, working air out from the center toward the edges.

Substrate

The base material a sign is made from, as distinct from what is printed on it. Coroplast, ACM, aluminum, PVC and acrylic are all substrates.

T

Tenant panel

One replaceable strip in a multi-tenant directory or pylon sign, changed as occupancy changes.

Transfer tape

See premask.

Translucent vinyl

Vinyl formulated to let light through so it reads correctly on an illuminated face.

V

Variance

Formal permission from a jurisdiction to depart from the sign ordinance — for example to exceed a height or area limit. Slow to obtain and not guaranteed.

Vinyl lettering

Copy cut from adhesive vinyl film and applied directly to a surface, rather than printed. The standard method for windows, doors and vehicle lettering.

W

Wayfinding

The system of signage that moves people through a site — entrances, parking, buildings, rooms. Judged as a system rather than as individual signs.

Wet method

Applying vinyl over a lightly soaped surface so it can be repositioned before it grips. The forgiving method, and the one to use if you are installing it yourself.

Wide format printing

Printing at widths beyond standard office equipment, onto vinyl, banner material or rigid sheet. The process behind most modern signage.

Wind load

The force wind exerts on a sign face, and the reason large signs need engineered footings and framing. Mesh and perforated materials reduce it.