According to our 2018 State of the Industry Report, 67.1% of sign companies sell electric signs, including wholesale. Among those companies, 90.8% ranked channel letter signs as the type of electric sign sold most often, ahead of cabinet signs, EMCs and other forms. And while nothing in the sign industry is ever easy, it’s surprising that nearly one-third of shops take a pass with this very common and profitable type of sign. They might want to reconsider.
根据我们2018年的行业状况报告，67.1%的标识公司都在销售电子标识。在这些公司中，90.8%的公司将发光字标识列为最常销售的电子标识类型，超过了灯箱式标识、EMCs等。但令人惊讶的是，近三分之一的商店都对这种非常常见且有利可图的标识类型化视而不见。
CUSTOM OUTSOURCING IN CALIFORNIA
外包发光字标识
The channel letter entrance sign for restaurant Taco Temple was three months in the making. “We were designing signs for the entire restaurant and the freeway pole sign starting the end of December 2018,” said Elizabeth Howard, creative director of Lola Red Design Group (San Luis Obispo, CA) . “The restaurant was also going through demo and renovations when we began designing.” The client was a dream to work with, Howard said. “They gave us ample room to stretch our design and sign knowledge. They had a logo with bold primary colors, and we feel we elevated it with a textured, wavy background on the signface and the incorporation of the illuminated channel letters.”
塔可寺餐厅的入口标识制作了三个月。Lola Red设计公司的创意总监伊丽莎白·霍华德说：“从2018年12月底开始，我们就在为整个餐厅和高速公路的路牌设计标识。”“当我们开始设计时，餐厅也在进行翻新。”霍华德表示，与这位客户合作是他的梦想。“在标识设计上，他给了我们足够的自由。另外，他们提供了一个原色标识，我们可以在这个标识表面加入丰富的波浪形纹理，并加入发光字。”
But Lola Red is a small shop without the capabilities to produce channel letters. So, their entrance sign for Taco Temple combined what they do well in-house – colorful dimensional signs – with channel letters outsourced from Gemini. “We depend on Gemini for this line of product from start to finish,” Howard said, citing the company’s reputation for accuracy and high quality, “not to mention they have policies in place to reduce waste and recycle materials when possible. We like that about them.”
但是Lola Red是一家小公司，没有独立生产发光字的能力。所以，他们为塔可寺餐厅设计的入口标识的时候，充分发挥了他们擅长立体标识这一点，并且将发光字的制作外包给双子座公司。霍德华说：“我们的这一系列产品都是外包给双子星公司的。因为该公司在业内有着很高的声誉。更不用提他们制定了适当的政策来减少浪费和尽可能的回收材料。我们喜欢与这样环保的公司合作。”
Lola Red Design Group Creative Director Elizabeth Howard's retired-electrician father drilled the lag screws to secure the sign.
（Lola Red公司的创意总监伊丽莎白·霍华德的父亲是一名退休的电工）
Lola Red’s fabrication team routed the sign backer from ½-in. MDO hardwood onto which 1.5-in. painted HDU dimensional letters were laminated. “We designed the background of the sign to have a slight ripple texture to give it interest and an added layer of design value,” Howard said. The shop ordered 3-in.-deep Stainless Steel Face Lit Metal Letters from Gemini, the tallest of which was 16 in. The letters feature black returns and yellow acrylic faces. Gemini also took care of the LED lighting placement. “The letters were a simple turnkey approach for us to create this unique sign assembly,” Howard said.
Lola Red团队在制作过程中使用1.5英寸的MDO硬木，然后对字母进行涂层处理。霍华德说:“我们在标识的背景层添加了波纹纹理，这让他看起来更加生动，也更有设计感。”团队向双子星公司订购了3英寸的金属字母，其中最高的有16英寸。这些字母的特点是黑色的背面和黄色的亚克力涂层。双子座还负责LED灯的布置。霍华德说：“对于我们来说，这些字母可以作为零件，组合出各种各样的标识。”
Lola Red worked closely with an electrical contractor and their general contractor to pull together all the details. And when necessary, they employ a structural engineer for large, complicated or heavy sign installs. “With each project – and the knowledge of other experts – we learn more of how to design and engineer for a successful end product,” Howard added. And this install had something even more special about it.
Lola Red公司还与一家电气承包商进行合作，甚至在必要时，他们还会聘请专业工程师来安装大型、复杂或沉重的标识。霍华德补充说：“通过与相关专家的探讨，我们了解到如何更好的设计和制作一个产品。”
“My favorite detail of this project was having my 77-year-old father on-site at the install,” Howard said. A retired electrician, he lent the shop use of his lift. He was eager to participate and even did the honors of drilling in the lag screws through the signface to secure the sign to the beam behind it. After the install, Howard’s father told everyone how proud he was of them. “It doesn’t get better than that,” Howard said.
霍华德说：“这个项目中我最喜欢的部分是现场安装的时候让我77岁的父亲也参与进来。”他是一位退休的电工，也参与到这个项目中来，甚至还在标识上钻了几个螺钉，然后把标识固定在后面的横梁上。安装完毕后，霍华德的父亲告诉大家：“这是一个非常美好的体验。”
NEWFOUND FREEDOM IN TOMS RIVER
独立制作发光字标识
Of course, many sign companies do enough channel letter work to merit producing everything themselves. For years, Girtain Sign Co. (Toms River, NJ) , a fourth-generation family business, used an Arete for their channel letter work, though this machine only marked the bends and did not make them. But when Arete went out of business, the company founded by Girtain’s grandfather in the 1920s went looking for a replacement. They settled on the new Accu-Bend FREEDOM channel letter bender from Computerized Cutters. One of the reasons for this choice was the bang – or bend – for the buck. “The Freedom was about $22,000,” said Andy Girtain, co-owner of the company, “compared to $60,000 [for other machines],” noting that the old Arete had cost about $35,000.
当然，也有许多标识公司能够独立生产发光字。多年来，吉尔顿团队一直使用Arete弯字机进行发光字标识制作工作，尽管这种机器只能辅助制作。后来Arete弯字机损坏，于是吉尔顿的祖父在20世纪20年代开始寻找替代品。他们最终选择Accu-Bend弯字机进行生产。做出这一选择的原因之一是因为成本限制。团队负责人安迪·吉尔顿说:“Accu-Bend弯字机需要2.2万美元，而其他类型的机器需要6万美元。”他指出，Arete弯字机大约花了3.5万美元。
The Freedom bender is still relatively new, but Girtain made six sets of letters in the first month of ownership and has about six more sets lined up for the second. “I plan to do about 2-3 sets per month,” he said. That first job was a 48-in. set of letters with white faces, white trim and bronze returns for Value City Furniture in Lakewood, NJ. The Freedom’s standard coil depth is 5.3 in., which Andy Girtain said covers 90% of their jobs, and that Girtain Sign has made 12-in. to 48-in. letters with it so far. In addition, the machine has a small footprint, less than 4 x 8 ft. Girtain Sign put their Freedom bender on a bench with wheels; they cover and store it under shelving when not in use.
这个标识项目在时间上面相对自由，吉尔顿说：“我原本计划每个月做2到3个标识。”但是他在第一个月就完成了六个标识，在第二个月又完成了六个。还为美国新泽西州莱克伍德的Value City家具公司制作了一组印有白色涂层、白色和青铜色装饰边框的字母标识。安迪·吉尔顿说，他们90%的工作都是独立完成的，并且能够制作12英寸以上的标识。此外，弯字机占地面积是很小的，还不到4 x 8英尺。当不使用时，可以很轻松的把它们放在架子下。
Girtain Sign Co. used its Accu-Bend FREEDOM channel letter bender from Computerized Cutters to make letters for a Value City Furniture.
（吉尔顿团队使用Accu-Bend弯字机为Value家具城进行标识制作）
As for the lighting for the channel letters they sell, Girtain Sign uses G2G Lighting AnPro 180 - 6300K for everything. “This produces an even, white lighting,” Girtain said. His company has used LED lighting exclusively for channel letters for about the last 10 years, because it’s more cost-effective and easy to use. “Neon will always be around on a smaller scale,” he added.
至于标识中的照明部分，吉尔顿团队使用的是G2G公司180 - 6300千瓦时的照明设备。吉尔顿说：“它能产生均匀的照明光线。”在过去10年里，公司一直使用LED照明，因为它很经济、也很容易使用。
Girtain Sign Co. looks well-positioned for their channel letter projects, rolling out their Freedom – which Girtain already refers to as a “workhorse” – whenever it’s needed. Girtain advises other sign companies that sell and install channel letters to acknowledge that they’re a custom sign product and should be priced accordingly. “[Channel letters] are a time-consuming process even with an automated machine,” Girtain said, before concluding, “Try not to sell letters smaller than 10 in. in height with a minimum 1.5-in. stroke.”
吉尔顿团队准备推出他们的标识定制业务，并且建议其他销售和安装发光字标识的标识公司也开放定制业务。吉尔顿说：“即使是使用机器，制作金属字母依旧是一个耗时的过程。”“尽量不要出售小于10英寸的字母。至少要为1.5英寸高。”
TAMPA’S HALO-LIT HOME RUN
吸引眼球的发光字标识
Another shop that bends its own channel letters is Creative Sign Designs (CSD; Tampa, FL)which uses an SDS Automation Super ChannelBender for the task. The company put their machine to work for their project that was featured among the winners of our recent Signshop Competition and also for a multi-sign job for the Volaris Starkey Ranch, an apartment complex in Odessa, FL whose tagline is “Life at first sight.”
Creative Sign Designs也是一家制作发光字标识的公司，它使用SDS自动化弯字机来完成这项任务。该公司在他们参加标识竞赛的项目中使用了这个机器，并最终获胜，同时，它也为佛罗里达州奥德萨市的Starkey Ranch公寓制作一组标识，其主旨是“一见钟情”。
CSD included materials inspired by the Starkey Ranch natural setting to bring designer Robinson Creative Inc.’s (Southlake, TX) vision to fruition, according to Bryan Vaughn, CSD’s VP/general manager. These included softer indirect lighting for the halo-lit letters, Cali Bamboo composite decking (a 100% recycled material giving the look of the wood finish) and a custom faux COR-TEN steel painted finish – all of which tie into Starkey Ranch’s green initiatives.
Creative Sign Designs公司副总裁布莱恩•沃恩表示，这个标识的设计灵感来自Starkey Ranch公寓的自然环境，罗宾逊公司的设计师将这个设想变为现实。包括使用环形字母进行照明，使用Cali公司的竹复合甲板和人造油漆进行装饰。
The Cali Bamboo composite material applied as the background behind the channel letters had to be cut to size per design requirements, and then adhered to the face of the aluminum cabinet. “This was the first time for our architectural fab and final assembly departments working with that substrate,” Vaughn said. “It was easy to cut and drill and adhered without issue to the cabinet to give the sign a great long-life, faux-wood look.”
发光字标识的背面使用了根据要求切割成合适的尺寸的竹复合材料，然后粘在铝材料的表面。沃恩说:“这是我们第一次使用这种材料。”“它很容易进行切割和钻孔，也很容易安装在支架上，看起来还很漂亮，也和耐用。”
Creative Sign Designs put its SDS Automation Super ChannelBender to work for a project for the Volaris Starkey Ranch.
（Creative Sign设计公司使用SDS自动化弯字机为沃拉里斯斯塔基牧场进行标识工作）
The largest of the half-dozen signs CSD fabricated was a 3.5 x 24-ft. double-faced blade. The V logo area on top encompassed a .125-in. aluminum face with a ¾-in. white acrylic push through logo – a ½-in. protrusion – with a 1/8-in. routed shoulder flange for the stud-welded rod and nut security attachment on the back. In addition to the company’s Super ChannelBender, CSD’s fab department also fired up their MultiCam Series 3000 router, RAS TURBObend+ brake/folding machine, OMAX 1530 Maxiem waterjet and AkzoNobel paint system. CSD’s painting team also faced a challenge with creating the faux-painted, Cor-ten steel look, Vaughn said. They ultimately used multiple colors and a hand-finish on all the cabinet areas prior to clear-coating with the AkzoNobel paint system. CSD specified Hanley LED Phoenix series HLED-PF2080 LEDs for both the push through copy and reverse channel letter illumination.
Creative Sign Designs公司制作的6个标识中，最大的一个是3.5 x 24英尺。标识顶部的V型区是一个半英寸的铝合金表面，上面使用白色亚克力做了凸起，并且用螺母进行焊接。除了使用公司的自动弯字器，公司的FAB部门还使用了MultiCam系列的刨槽机，OMAX 1530 Max水射机和Akzo的涂料。沃恩说，团队还面临着一个挑战，那就是如何创造出钢结构外观。他们最终使用多种颜色进行了手工处理，然后用Akzo的涂料进行涂层。公司还指定用Hanley公司的菲尼克斯系列的HLED-PF2080 LED进行照明。
The contractor left CSD with the steel tubing protruding out from the building as directed during the construction, Vaughn said. “This ensured proper engineering and a perfect fit for a smooth installation.” The CSD install team powered up its Altec LS63 to lift, weld and bolt the cabinet to the tubing. All told, this was an eight-week project from production through completion.
沃恩说，承包商在施工过程中按照指示将钢管从建筑物中伸出，这样子能够更好的进行安装。Creative Sign Designs公司的安装团队使用Altec LS63机器，将标识吊起、焊接并将其固定在支架上。从生产到完成，一共用了八周的时间。
Whether your shop is small or large, furnished with a dedicated channel letter bender or not, every sign company is capable of selling and installing custom-designed, beautiful and safe channel letter signs.
无论您的公司是大是小，无论您的公司是否配有专用的发光字标识弯字机，每一家标识公司应该具有销售和安装发光字标识的能力。
Lola Red Design Group produced these channel letters for Taco Temple with an assist from Gemini.
（Lola Red设计公司与双子星公司合作制作了这些发光字标识）
