Blog - ASI Signage

Guide to Channel Letters

16 Jan 2020

Introduced in the early 1970’s, Channel Letters quickly gained popularity and continue to be a standard in the signage industry. Channel Letters are typically illuminated, fabricated from metal with translucent acrylic and installed on the exterior of a building.

Originally, Channel Letters were hand-made with color and font limitations. A myriad of industry innovations now allow fabrication to be extremely customizable, efficient and precise. Today, design of Channel Letters has become increasingly imaginative – limited only by building regulations or budget.

There are various factors to consider for Channel Letters such as: type of illumination, mounting method and location of installation on building.

Illuminated Channel Letters

Front-Lit, Standard or Face-Lit: Face of each letter is translucent, so light shines out through the front.

Back-Lit, Reverse or Halo-Lit: Face of each letter is nontransparent, while the Back is translucent– allowing the light to diffuse through the back of the letters instead of the front. Effect looks most pronounced on buildings that are painted a light color.

Combination-Lit: Combined features of Front-Lit and Back-Lit, allowing light to shine both one color from the Face and a different color from the Back of each letter.

Open Face: Face of each letter is left open, so light shines out through the front and the dimension of the inside of each letter is visible along with any light source.

A myriad of industry innovations now allow fabrication to be extremely customizable, efficient and precise.

Creating Channel Letters

Back: Building-mounted side of Channel Letter. For Front-Lit: A flat sheet of metal is typically cut by router, laser or waterjet. For Back-Lit or Combination-Lit: Typically a translucent acrylic or polycarbonate Back so that the illumination radiates out against the building from behind the letter Face, creating a halo effect.

Returns: Sides of the Channel Letter. Typically formed by a metal strip that fits the Back and Face.

Seam: Returns are welded, flanged and riveted or fastened with wire to the metal Back if Front-Lit or metal Face if Back-Lit to create a solid Channel Letter. At this stage, the letter is ready to be painted.

Light Source: LED is the most common and efficient Light Source, allowing Channel Letters to be thinner. For the best effect, utilize LED colors that match the color of the Face if Front-Lit or compliment your brand if Back-Lit.

Face: Public-facing side of Channel Letter. For Front-Lit: Typically a translucent acrylic or polycarbonate Face so that light radiates outward. Applying black perforated vinyl causes the Face to appear black in the daytime and white when illuminated at night. For Back-Lit: Typically a flat sheet of metal is cut by a router, laser or waterjet.

Trim Cap: Border attaching the edges of acrylic or polycarbonate Face to the Returns for Face-Lit or Combination-Lit Channel Letters. Provides a clean, finished look.

Backer Panel: Potential addition to add a contrasting background color for the Channel Letters while hiding blemishes on the building. Able to contain power supply.

Today, design of Channel Letters has become increasingly imaginative – limited only by building regulations or budget.

Top 3 Mounting Methods

Direct or Flush Mount: Most Common. Channel Letters are attached directly to the building. For Back-Lit, Channel Letters are generally given some separation from the building using standoffs. Power Supply is housed behind the bulkhead wall.

Raceway Mount: Landlords may require a Raceway, a metal rectangular box that holds the Power Supply, since it reduces the number of wall penetrations. Raceways are typically painted to match the color of the building.

Wireway Mount: Landlords may require a Wireway – thinner and broader than a Raceway, like a Backer Panel. Wireways require more wall penetrations than a Raceway, but less than Direct Mount. Power Supply is normally housed behind the bulkhead wall.

Channel Letters are typically illuminated, fabricated from metal with translucent acrylic and installed on the exterior of a building.

Exterior Installation Location Options

Canopy or Marquee Sign: Extends over the building’s entrance from the exterior wall.

Parapet Sign: Mounts to the edge of the building’s roof on a wall or railing.

Projecting Sign: Mounts to the building, extending down at a perpendicular angle.

Roof Sign: Mounts to the building’s roof.

Wall Sign: Attached to the exterior wall of the building.

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

Importance of Light Reflectance Value Contrast for Signage

10 Dec 2019

Vital to signage design, LRV codes appear on paint swatches and fan decks. Understanding LRV is crucial when choosing color contrast between signage text and background, therefore it is most commonly used and understood by signage consultants, architects, environmental graphic designers and interior designers.

LRV is the acronym for Light Reflectance Value. Not to be conflated with vividness, value speaks strictly to the lightness or darkness of a color.

LRV is a measurement for the total quantity of visible and useable light reflected by a surface when illuminated by a light source. Conversely, LRV also tells you how much light a color absorbs.

LRV runs on a scale from 0% to 100%.

0% = theoretical absolute black, however the blackest blacks have an LRV of about 5%
100% = theoretical absolute white, however the whitest whites have an LRV of about 85%

Think greyscale – if you were to place your preferred color choices for signage text and signage background on the greyscale, would they have a high level of contrast? Imagine red and green, colors which are opposites on the color wheel. While they would have a high color contrast, they would not have a high LRV contrast. Therefore, this combination would not lend itself well to signage.

Paying attention to LRV contrast is critical for signage visibility.

The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) recommend a contrast in Light Reflectance Values between sign text and background colors of 70% or above. However, this an ideal guideline and not a requirement – value contrasts below the 70% rule of thumb can still provide enough contrast for low vision users to read clearly.

ASI has an LRV Contrast Calculator to simplify the process of ensuring your signage color choices meet or come close to the 70% contrast mark. Alternatively, you can use the calculation Contrast % = [(B1 – B2) / B1] x 100, where B1 = LRV of lighter area and B2 = LRV of darker area.

Best Practices:

1. Signage with a reverse contrast, a dark background with white letters, make the signs easiest for low-vision users to read.
2. Signage in dark areas should be illuminated internally or by additional task lighting.
3. LRV Contrast between sign text and background colors of 70% or above, calculate here.

Sources:

Rubin, G. S., & Legge, G. E. (1989). Psychophysics of reading: VI. The role of contrast in low vision. Vision Research, 29(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(89)90175-2

LRV Light Reflectance Value of Paint Colors. (2019, October 17). Retrieved from https://thelandofcolor.com/lrv-light-reflectance-value-of-paint-colors/.

Value Contrast. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.designforsight.com/valuecontrast.html.

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

Thankful For Our Clients

22 Nov 2019

To our clients, thank you.

Thank you for trusting us with your most valuable asset, your brand. With a global network comprised of Graphic Designers, Structural Engineers, Project Managers, Production and Installation teams, we are all in your corner and dedicated to implementing your vision.

While executing on a signage plan may be exciting, we know it can also be a high-pressure time for a business. Chances are, your signage installation is time-sensitive, overwhelming and highly visible – with ASI, you are in good hands. We thrive when working alongside clients to understand a custom vision, turning a design-intent into a tangible installation that is on-time and on-budget.

At ASI, we share a common goal with you: bringing your signage to life. We see our clients as partners. It’s more than just a project, we hope to establish a long-term relationship between our businesses.

Thank you for choosing ASI. Your support and trust mean the world to us.

Best Regards,
Your friends at ASI

About Us

At ASI, we are passionate, committed signage professionals.

Our company, founded in 1965, is a network of over 500 employees that live and work in cities across the U.S.

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

Highlighting LED

31 Oct 2019

LED lighting is the way of the future – a modern lighting technology that is brighter, lasts longer and saves more energy than traditional types of illumination.

In order to appreciate how innovative and modern LED lighting is, one should explore the history of its predecessors. Gary Allen, a physicist with GE Lighting for over 25 years, discussed this background in his TED Talk, A Lighting Revolution. In his presentation, Gary catalogued 3 main lighting phases throughout history – incandescent, discharge lighting, and solid-state lighting.

1. Incandescent
• Light as byproduct of heat
• Process = heating metal wires without burning them out by closing them in vacuum tubes
• Maximum efficiency = 95-99% of energy wasted as heat
• Common example: Incandescent light bulb

2. Discharge lighting
• Light as byproduct of heat
• Process = vaporize wires creating luminous gas and sealing them inside tubes
• Common examples: Florescent, Neon
• Maximum efficiency = 66% of energy wasted as heat

3. Solid-state lighting
• Heat as byproduct of light
• Process = microchip illuminates a tiny Light Emitting Diode or LED, heat sinks diffuse heat
• Common example: LED
• Maximum efficiency = 66% of energy wasted as heat, potential for as low as 20%

What is the chief difference that fueled these breakthroughs? Efficiency.

Efficiency = Lumens or amount of light generated / Watts or electricity consumed

Due to the cooler process and heat sink that protects them, LED lighting products have a different definition for lifetime compared to incandescent or discharge lighting . Instead of burning out, LEDs undergo lumen depreciation where brightness of the LED dims gradually over time. When lumen output decreases by 30%, an LED is considered at end-of-life.

Advancement in lighting efficiency over the past two centuries has been steady and progressive. Lasting ten times longer than a traditional bulb and saving up to 90% more energy, LED lighting technology provides unbelievable benefits.

LED’s Top 10 Capabilities
1. Long Life – Last decades, not months or years.
2. Small – Compact and light, LEDs are the tiniest light source.
3. Precise – Aim the light right where you need it, instead of light flooding out in all directions.
4. Efficient – Less energy lost in heat, longer lifespan.
5. Color – One LED can display many colors, with a wide range of hues.
6. Low Cost – Savings in electricity. Cost to purchase continues to decrease.
7. Control – Lights can be dimmed or turned on/off when you schedule them to.
8. Safe – Does not contain mercury or other toxic gasses.
9. Easy – Easy to install, service and transport.
10. Bright – LED lights are brighter and can be seen from a greater distance.

LEDs have a significant impact on the illuminated signage market, with high-efficiency white LEDs typically rated for 50,000+ hours of life or about 12+ years of operation. Choosing the right materials and design for your signage is a big decision, ASI can help you with the process.

Source:

Allen, Gary (2013). A Lighting Revolution [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghwxAlMZF_A

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

Donor Recognition Signage – Why is it Effective?

13 Sep 2019

Signage for donor recognition is a creative and interactive piece of what we do at ASI. The process of planning, designing and creating donor recognition signage is especially hands-on.

Today, there is the sense that donor recognition signage is not only for acknowledgement but that it creates a unique storytelling opportunity for an organization to share its mission and values. Modern designs are generally architecturally integrated, artful installations that speak to the organization’s roots while honoring the generosity of donors that make their growth possible.

While there is an opportunity to showcase an organization in full, there is also the opportunity to retain and attract donors through recognition signage. Research shows a relationship between donation amount and level of recognition received by donors (Samek & Sheremeta, 2015) as well significant evidence that individuals are more likely to donate when they receive public recognition (Andreoni & Bernheim, 2009).

When done properly, donor recognition systems go beyond signage to become an iconic part of the architectural environment. At ASI, with experience in bringing donor recognition visions to life, our consultants walk clients through different types of materials, eco-friendly options, and electronic displays. Our goal is always to thematically and visually compliment the architectural integrity of a space, while integrating an organization’s mission, values, and brand. To be cost-effective, donor recognition signage is designed with flexibility and longevity in mind, often with modular or digital elements that allow changes.

Where is Donor Recognition Signage Found?

• Healthcare Facilities
• Educational Institutions
• Museums
• Parks and Cultural Centers

What is Donor Recognition Signage?

Donor Recognition Plaque – Plaques are more traditional and normally honor an individual, organization, or small group of individuals. Often, plaques are posted outside doors in buildings that a major contribution helped build.

Donor Recognition Wall – Recognition walls consist of multiple signs or one large sign system that displays many names. Often, recognition walls are permanent installations that contain digital or modular elements for future updates.

Why is Donor Recognition Signage Effective?

1. Appreciation – A key element of donor retention is thanking your donors and letting them know you appreciate their contributions. Public recognition makes clear that your relationship is valued.
2. Build a legacy – Recognition signage remains on display for a long period of time. This is attractive to donors who wish to showcase their legacy.
3. Inspire other Donors – Prospective donors see donor recognition signs and are encouraged to give. Recognition can motivate donors to be strong and lasting supporters of your organization.

Best Practice Tips

• Consult your organization’s community so that they can share thoughts on the addition of a donor recognition installation since the landscape of the space will be altered.
• Ensure you work with a signage company that will create donor recognition signage that fits the culture of your organization.

References

Andreoni, J. and Bernheim, B. D. (2009). Social Image and the 50-50 Norm: A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Audience Effects. Econometrica, 77(5):1607–36.

Ariely, D., Bracha, A., and Meier, S. (2009). Doing Good or Doing Well ? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially. American Economic Review, 99(1):544– 55.

Holmes, J. G., Miller, D. T., and Lerner, M. J. (2002). Committing altruism under the cloak of self-interest: The exchange fiction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38(2):144–51.

Karlan, D. and McConnell, M. A. (2014). Hey look at me: The effect of giving circles on giving. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 106:402–12.

Samek, A. S. and Sheremeta, R. M. (2013). Recognizing Contributors: An Experiment on Public Goods.

Samek, A. S. and Sheremeta, R. M. (2015). Selective Recognition: How to Recognize Donors to Increase Charitable Giving

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

Digital Signage Engagement through Social Media

25 Jul 2019

According to the 2019 Global Digital Report by We Are Social and Hootsuite, 3.5 billion people – or 45% of the world’s population – are now social media users. This percentage increases to anywhere from 50%-70% of the population in more developed nations. In North America, 70% of the population is social.

As social media is on the uptick, global digital signage growth is on an even more dramatic upward trajectory. The global digital signage market size is predicted to reach 31.71 billion USD by 2025 according to 2019 study by Grand View Research, Inc.

Besides steep growth, what do social media and digital signage have in common?

Both platforms share the following traits:

• Designed to engage
• Environments for communication
• Deliver information
• Showcase brand
• Encourage participation
• Provide dynamic, real-time information

This cross-section means that, together, digital signage and social media can be leveraged to drive value through improving the experience of all who interact with your business. When social media is utilized to complement digital signage, your brand content appears dynamic and current while offering a unique, authentic communication channel.

How should your business implement social media into a digital signage solution?

Here are some tips:

1. Consider which social media outlet best fits your industry and customer base
2. Place a call to action on your digital signage
3. Dedicate someone to interacting, updating and monitoring content to ensure the right messages are displayed

Integration of the two platforms acts to engage visitors, both online and on-site, while leaving the impression of an involved brand. With a future in which digital signage absorbs a greater market-share and social media use continues to grow globally, integration of the two platforms will also rise. Together, social media content and digital signage can do more to drive participation than either individually.

Discover More…

ASI’s Digital Signage Capabilites

Digital Signage and Wayfinding

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

Wayfinding support for individuals with dementia

09 Jul 2019

Navigating the world around us is a task we all partake in regularly – the ability to naturally learn and remember spatial environments is critical to our everyday lives. In the signage industry, helping our clients to create easy to navigate spaces is something we are passionate about. The more technical term for this process is wayfinding, the process of ascertaining one’s position, then planning and following a route.

In the case of individuals with dementia, the ability to navigate through and successfully find one’s way from one place to another is often impaired (Caspi, 2014). The most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, affects over five million people in the United States. For these individuals, trouble wayfinding is an early symptom of their disease and immediately impacts quality of life (Chiu et al., 2004; delpolyi, Rankin, Mucke, Miller, & Gorno-Tempini, 2007).

Despite this well-studied link, residential environments for those with dementia are often especially difficult to navigate. Picture the quintessential assisted living residence, with its non-distinctive hallways and poorly differentiated routes. As we have all experienced, losing our way can be scary – in individuals with dementia there is added anxiety, distress and decreased desire for interaction. Without the ability to independently participate in wayfinding, those with dementia must rely on others to guide them from one place to another. This loss of independent function comes hand-in-hand with a loss of dignity and health.

Below are 4 areas in which creative and thoughtful signage can best support persons with dementia:

1. Distinctiveness:
Built environments that lack distinctive landmarks and points of reference may be more difficult for older adults and those with dementia to find their way.
2. Color:
Color is a strong cue property for the identification and memory of environments.
3. Familiarity:
Familiarity, in terms of meaning to the individual and the ability to easily identify the cue have been shown to help persons in wayfinding.
4. Visual cues:
Cues that grab the user’s attention and stand out from the surround. When placed at key decision points, these cues facilitate wayfinding.

The above signage cues aid with wayfinding both visually and cognitively. Visually, they attract attention and are more likely to be seen by the aging eye. Cognitively, they provide environmental support for encoding and memory retrieval (Craik & Jennings, 1992). Providing visual cues through signage may make environments more memorable – and thus to be more supportive of wayfinding – by using bold, colorful, meaningful and distinctive cues.

A supportive signage environment for persons with dementia is key for wayfinding success.

Posted by Jessica Wolfe

BRANDING, COLOR AND DESIGN

11 Apr 2019

Looking at all the great brands that exist in the world, the color selected for the brand and the designs chosen for the logos are not by chance. Extreme consideration is given to both color and design. It has been said, for example, that blue signifies trust, red has been identified with excitement and orange reflects optimism.

We also know that the precision of obtaining a correct color is critically important to most brands – reflecting the exact Coca-Cola red is not negotiable to Coke in reflecting their brands color. Color matching is, however, an area fraught with pitfalls for the unwary. So often brands are created for print on the page and for electronic media where matching with paint or with materials which have limited color palette is very hard to achieve. Understanding processes help, however. Paint being a solid generally looks the same whatever the substrate and only varies according to reflectance and lighting conditions. Click here to get additional facts on this topic

In researching the topic, of color, design and branding in general, we found a very interesting resource. To read more click here

– Selwyn Josset 2019

Posted by Liz Kelly

BRAND LOVERS: 7 Reasons to Obsess About Your Best Customers

06 Feb 2019

BRAND LOVERS:

7 Reasons to Obsess About Your Best Customers

THE BIG IDEA: Here are seven benefits for making your best customers the central focus of your organization’s primary directive.

__________________

No matter how big your marketing budget, you can’t market to everyone. The more restricted your budget, the more intelligent your approach needs to be.

Your best customers are your Brand Lovers. Understanding the needs of your Brand Lovers and serving them better than anyone else is critical if you want to outmaneuver the competition and grow your market share.

Here are seven reasons why your Brand Lovers are so important:

Your Brand Lovers choose you more often than your competitors. To most Mac users, there’s no alternative competitor to choose from.
Your Brand Lovers spread the word about your brand and create new customers for you. Basically, your best customers are the source of your word-of-mouth stream.
Your Brand Lovers are by nature loyal customers. Customer loyalty is a better determinant of profitability than mass appeal.
Focusing on your Brand Lovers gives your organization a singular vision of whom you’re trying to serve. Too many companies chase too many different kinds of customers and dilute their efforts in the process.
Similarly, serving your best customers can lead to explosive return on investment (ROI). Example: When Apple opened their retail stores, they expected to generate $1,000/square foot. They actually generated $4,000/square foot. Ultimately, your Brand Lovers drive the profitability of your business.
Think about what would happen if you turned just 10% of your occasional customers into Brand Lovers. For large enterprises, this shift can represent a sizeable revenue increase.
By focusing on your Brand Lovers, you can build a powerful brand that stands for something meaningful to them. This gives you clear differentiation in the marketplace and helps you organically attract more of your most profitable customers.

The bottom line is that serving your best customers is the surest way to grow a strong, profitable business—in any economic climate.

Reference:

Bueno, B. (2019). 7 Reasons to obsess about your best customers. The Cult Branding Company.

Posted by Liz Kelly

BURYING ONES HEAD IN THE SAND

17 Jan 2019

BURYING ONES HEAD IN THE SAND

The United States has an extremely competitive economic environment in all sectors including the service sector and factually, small businesses dominate the space. Given this fact, it is mind blowing how little interest many service-providers take about the quality of service that they provide, especially small and mid-sized providers.

Many larger companies will follow up on the service that they provide by requesting their customers to complete a Customer Satisfaction Survey. Many of these companies, such as Toyota will actually base the commission of the service representative on the results of the customers survey – this is the importance they place on the opinions of their customers. However, most small and mid-sized businesses are like the proverbial ostrich with their heads buried in the sand – they don’t seem to want to know or care about how they well they performed. When last did you receive a request from a small or mid-sized service provider to complete a customer satisfaction survey? Surely, they want to know how well or poorly they performed? Simple, questions such as the following should be critical to any organization in assessing whether they have any problems and if so, would be indicators in assisting them in improving:

How well did we perform?
Did we meet or exceed your expectations?
Are you satisfied with the quality of our product?
Were you happy with the professionalism of your service representative?
Did we perform in a timely manner?
What can we do better to improve our performance?
Would you use our company again?
Would you recommend our company to others?

Proactivity is one of the keys to success and knowing what your customers think is an essential element in getting ahead of problems.

Don’t be an Ostrich!!

Posted by Liz Kelly

Guide to Channel Letters

Illuminated Channel Letters

Creating Channel Letters

Exterior Installation Location Options

Importance of Light Reflectance Value Contrast for Signage

Thankful For Our Clients

Highlighting LED

Donor Recognition Signage – Why is it Effective?

Where is Donor Recognition Signage Found?

What is Donor Recognition Signage?

Why is Donor Recognition Signage Effective?

Best Practice Tips

Wayfinding support for individuals with dementia

BRANDING, COLOR AND DESIGN

BRAND LOVERS: 7 Reasons to Obsess About Your Best Customers

BURYING ONES HEAD IN THE SAND

Latest News

Guide to Channel Letters

Importance of Light Reflectance Value Contrast for Signage

Thankful For Our Clients

Highlighting LED

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