Sign Terminology
A | B | C | D | E | F | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W
A
ACRYLIC: Type of material used to form faces.
ALUMACORR: A brand name substrate, has a corrugated plastic core with laminated aluminum faces on both sides.
ALUMINUM: A lightweight metal material used in sign panels, poles and frames. It is strong and durable in relation to its weight, and resistant to rust and corrosion.
ALUMINUM PAN SIGN: A sign in that is fabricated from aluminum tubing with an aluminum skin face, or an aluminum panel that is broke (bent) at the sides to give depth.
ALUMINUM PLATE LETTERS: Dimensional letters cut from aluminum plate.
AWNING SIGN: A building mounted sign that provides additional functionality as shelter.
B
BACKGROUND PANEL: A sign panel to which text or graphical elements are affixed.
BALLAST: An electrical device required to operate fluorescent lamps.
BANNER: A sign composed of lightweight material. Promotional banners include those used to announce open houses and grand openings, make special announcements, or communicate events. Ornamental banners use images or colors of a decorative nature.
BASE PLATE: A flat, thick piece of metal, usually steel and square or rectangular in shape, welded to the bottom of a sign support structure and then anchored with bolts to a concrete foundation or other substructure.
BITMAP: An image made up of a matrix of dots, or pixels.
BRAILLE: A system of small raised dots that represent the alphabet, punctuation and numbers for the visually impaired. The ADA stipulates the use of Braille on signage in certain instances.
BRUSHED FINISH: A textured, non-reflective polished finish applied to metal by lightly brushing the surface with an abrasive material or briefly applying a mildly corrosive chemical.
C
CABINET SIGN: A sign structure consisting of the frame and face(s), not including the internal components, embellishments or support structure.
CARVED SIGN: signs in which letters or shapes are incised or relieved in the sign substrate surface. Today the majority of carved signs are created with the aid of CNC routers, but they can be hand done. Common substrates include hardwoods and HDU.
CHANNEL LETTER: Fabricated or formed three-dimensional letter that may accommodate a light source.
CMYK: Abbreviation for the ink colors cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black. Combinations of these four colors of inks are used in printing to create all other colors.
COROPLAST: Brand name corrugated plastic substrate.
D
DIGITALLY PRINTED VINYL DECAL: White vinyl film with printed graphics, which is then applied to another surface. Typically used when complex logos are used.
DIMENSIONAL LETTER: A specification description of a letter, logo or symbol, either cut out, cast, molded or fabricated in material such as metal or plastic to create a raised condition.
DIRECT TO SUBSTRATE PRINTED GRAPHIC: Printing process in which the ink is printed directly on top of a substrate.
DIRECTIONAL SIGN: Signs designed to provide direction to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
DIRECTORY SIGN: A sign that identifies the names and locations of tenants in a multi-tenant building or in a development made up of a group of buildings.
E
ELECTRODE: a terminal that conducts an electrical current between tow conducting substances.
Electrodes are found at both of the ends of a neon unit.ELECTRONIC MESSAGE CENTER: A variable message sign that utilizes computer-generated messages or some other electronic means of changing copy.
EPS: Short for Encapsulated Post Script, the common file type that vector files are saved as in order to share such file among different graphic design programs.
EXPOSED NEON: Neon that has no protective covering or enclosure.
EXTERIOR ILLUMINATED: A sign that is illuminated by a light source that is directed towards, and shines on the face of a sign.
F
FACE: The surface area on a sign where advertising copy is displayed.
FACE LIGHTED CHANNEL LETTER: An illuminated channel letter with translucent face.
FLEX FACE: A sign face made of a flexible material stretched over a supporting frame.
FLUORESCENT LAMP: Electric-discharge lighting utilizing glass tubing manufactured to standard lengths.
FORMED PLASTIC LETTER: A letter created by heating a sheet of acrylic or plastic until it is pliable and then shaping it into the desired form using a mold of the letter. After the plastic cools, it retains the molded shape and any excess material is trimmed away.
FREESTANDING SIGN: A sign that is not attached to a building.
H
HALO ILLUMINATED CHANNEL LETTER: An illuminated reverse channel letter (open or translucent back) so light from the letter is directed against the surface behind the letter producing a halo lighting effect around the letter. Also referred to as Silhouette lighted or halo lighted.
HDU: Short for high density urethane, is designed for three dimensional signage applications, most commonly sandblasted.
I
INDIVIDUALLY MOUNTED CHANNEL LETTER: A channel letters mounted flush with the building facia. Power supplies are either remote or self contained in the letter itself.
INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED: A sign that is illuminated by a light source that is contained inside the sign.
J
JEWELITE: Brand of trim cap for channel letters.
JOB SITE SIGN: Announces project credits and information regarding a construction project such as architect, developer, consultants, financing, etc.
JPEG: Short for Joint Photographic Exports Group, is a graphics file format designed for use with photographs and other color bitmap files.
K
KERNING: The process of moving pairs of letters farther apart or closer together to make them appear more evenly spaced.
KOMATEX: A brand name substrate, a rigid foamed PVC material with a closed-cell matte surface. Komatex (also known as Sintra) sheets have a regular, fine-celled foam structure and are light in weight.
L
LED: short for Light Emitting Diode, A small electronic device that emits light when electrically charged.
LED CHANNEL LETTER: Fabricated or formed three-dimensional letter that is accommodated with LEDs as a light source.
LEXAN: A trade name for polycarbonate plastic sheeting
M
MDO: Short for Medium Density Overlay, nn exterior grade plywood sheet that has been given a resin-impregnated overlay on one or both sides to improve its paintability.
MONUMENT SIGN: A freestanding sign that stands directly on the ground or ground level foundation. A monument sign is often used to mark a place of significance or the entrance to a location.
N
NEGATIVE SPACE: Empty or unused space (having no lettering or graphics) within the sign face.
NEON: Electric discharge, cold cathode tubing manufactured into shapes that form letters, parts of letters, skeleton tubing, outline lighting, and other decorative elements or art forms, in various colors and diameters and filled with inert gases.
NEON CHANNEL LETTER: Fabricated or formed three-dimensional letter that is accommodated with neon as a light source.
O
OPAQUE: Describes any material or substance through which light does not pass, i.e. it is neither transparent nor translucent.
OPEN FACE CHANNEL LETTER: A channel letter with returns that project forward from face of letter such that the neon tubing is visible. A clear face for physical protection of internal components may be used.
P
PAN FACE: A plastic sign face molded into a three dimensional shape. Also called molded face, molded and embossed face, molded and debossed face.
PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM: also shortened to simply PMS, is a standardized series of thousands of colors, each with specific color formulations as and identification numbers.
PDF: Short for Portable Document Format, are files that allows the reader to view and print a document as originally designed without having to install the original design program or fonts used to create the file. Software for viewing PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Reader.
PEEBLE: Refers to the textured background of a sandblasted HDU sign.
PLAQUE: An inscribed, commemorative plate or tablet, usually of metal, placed on a building, monument or the like.
POLE COVER: An enclosure for concealing and/or for decorating poles or other structural supports of a ground sign.
POLE SIGN: A freestanding sign, usually double-faced, mounted on a round pole, square tube, or other fabricated member without any type of secondary support.
POLY METAL: A brand name substrate with a PVC core and laminated aluminum surface.
POST AND PANEL SIGN: An unlighted sign fabricated by using one or more visible posts to support the sign body.
PRIMARY ELECTRICAL: Electrical wiring that directly connects a transformer to the breaker box.
PROJECTING SIGN: A sign that is attached to a building but extends beyond the building.
PUSH-THROUGH: A letter or graphic which is cut out, then pushed through a corresponding space that has been removed from a sign substrate. The push-through is typically different color and/or material than the rest of the sign. Typically used with an opaque sign cabinet and internal lighting. "Push-thru letters" are most often translucent acrylic letters that are pushed through a sign face panel to be flush or over-flush with the front surface of the sign face.
R
RACEWAY: A metal structure enclosing the electric components of a sign, may also serve as a mounting structure for the sign.
READERBOARD: A sign on which copy can be changed manually. It usually consists of a panel on which individual letters or pictorials are mounted. Like a window sign, it can advertise special prices or items. It can also be placed so that it can be easily seen from a passing motor vehicle.
RACEWAY MOUNTED CHANNEL LETTER: A channel letter that is mounted to a raceway.
RETAINER: A framing member mounted around the perimeter of a sign face, and attached to the sign cabinet structure. It is designed to attach the face to the cabinet and/or intended to provide a decorating trim piece.
RETURN: The sides of a channel letter.
REVEAL: An indented detail on a sign.
REVERSE CHANNEL LETTER: A fabricated dimensional letter with opaque face and side walls.
ROUTED FACE: Elimination of material in a substrate by and or computer aided with a CNC router. Technique used primarily in aluminum faces in which the negative space opaque while the copy is illuminated.
S
SANDBLASTING: A method for sign production common with wood, HDU, and glass. A rubberized stencil of the artwork is computer cut and applied to the substrate, which is then sprayed with a pressurized stream of sand to texture the unprotected area.
SATIN FINISH: Refers to a smooth, glossy finish
SEAM: A line formed by the joining together of two separate pieces of the same or different materials at their edges.
SIGN BAND: A horizontal area above a multi-tenants' building's entrances, architecturally designed to accommodate signage in a sign centric manner.
SPACE/STANDOFF: any device used in mounting letters or signs that separate them form the surface to which are being installed.
STAND OFF: Insulators that support a neon tube,as well as hold it away from the background surface and provide some impact resistance. Also called tube supports.
STEP STAKE: Support structure for corrugated substrates, typically Coroplast.
SUBSTRATE: The material out of which the face is made. Wood, metal sheeting, paper and acrylic are some examples of sign substrates.
T
TACTILE SIGN: A sign that conveys its message through raised or engraved artwork.
TEMPORARY SIGN: Any sign not intended for permanent installation, such as banners and signs at construction sites. They may be incidental or miscellaneous in nature, such as political and real estate signs.
TIME & TEMP: A variable message sign which displays current time and temperature in a stationary or alternating manner.
TRANSFORMER: The electronic component that changes the voltage coming into the sign (the primary voltage) into a higher or lower level (the secondary voltage) necessary to power the sign.
TRANSLUSCENT VINYL: Allows the passage of some light through the vinyl illuminating the vinyl, without being transparent.
U
U-CHANNEL POST: A standardized steel post with pre-drilled holes for easy sign installation.
UNDER-CANOPY SIGN: A sign designed to be mounted underneath a canopy.
V
VECTOR: A line segment between two coordinates, on which a knife or tool patch can be created for plotting or routing. Because vector-based images are not made up of a specific number of dots, they can be scaled to a larger size and not lose any image quality.
VINYL GRAPHIC: Graphics cut from adhesive-backed material, in dozens of opaque, translucent, metalized, and transparent colors and patterns.
W
WALL SIGN: A sign that is attached flush with a building and is only visible from one side.
WAYFINDING: Enabling a person to find his or her way to a given destination through the use of effective signage.
WEEP HOLE: A small opening or hole in the bottom of a letter or sign cabinet, placed at the lowest ping to prevent water form accumulating in a unit.
WOOD GRAIN: Refers to the faux finish in texture sandblasted into the background of a sandblasted HDU sign.