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Tips for Planning Your Interior Signage Project

 

Planning an interior signage project is a process that requires collaboration among building owners, designers, architects and sign makers.

For designers who are strictly working with tactile signs, the planning process involves making key decisions that are based on where the signs will be placed, the materials that will be used and the types of signs that are required.

Before you begin planning your next commercial interior signage project, take a minute to review the mini-guide we have put together below.

Understanding ADA Sign Requirements

Complying with ADA signage requirements is arguably the most important factor of planning tactile signs. Building owners will need their signs to adhere to the guidelines put forth by the ADA (which you can review in our downloadable ADA signage requirements guide), and designers will most certainly want to deliver a quality product that adheres to the right standards.

Before you even begin designing a sign, make sure you understand the guidelines that you will have to follow.

Deciding Which Types of Signs are Needed

Depending on the scope of the project, the commercial building and a few other key factors, the type and number of tactile signs that you will need will change.

There are certain ADA signs that must be displayed in every building (stairwells, elevators, restrooms, etc., while other signs are do not have to be ADA compliant at all (building address, directories, parking, etc.).

Once you know the certain types and amount of signs that you will need, you can decide where and how you want to have them made.

Thermoformed vs. Polymer Signs

When it comes to ADA sign creation, there are two major routes you can go: photopolymer and thermoforming.

Photopolymer signs are created using photosensitive sheets of polymer resin that are covered with a film negative and exposed to UV light. They do offer a few customization options, but the technology that creates them is limited.

Thermoformed signs are created by heating plastic and forming it over a custom made mold. It allows designers to choose from a huge variety of options including color, size, shape and 3D effects (see the full range of design capabilities).

Design a Sign Today

At Encompass Sign, we make the design process of our thermoformed signs easy. As a designer, you can use our 100% Free design studio suite, 101400, to choose your sign family, style, color, text and more.

It’s easy to get started, just head over to our 101400 Design Studio and start designing your ADA signs today.

ADA signs, thermoformed signsEncompassComment

A Gold Timex to Photopolymer ADA Signage!

Thanks for your service to industry for the last 25 years. Photopolymer signs have been the predominant choice of designers for tactile ADA signage for a quarter of a century. Thankfully, at the inception of ADA legislation in the late 80’s and early 90’s photopolymer signs provided a standard process and uniform look for ADA signage. 

Without photopolymer ADA signs, designers in the 90’s would have chosen sub-standard, ineffective and random sign designs for their building environments. 

Before Beanie Babies, the World Wide Web, and before anyone understood the importance of branding…. photopolymer signs made it easier to outfit a building with ADA signs.  Even after the Japanese tsunami forced core prices to double, photopolymer signs remained the only good choice for designers. Thankfully, new technology has finally evolved. 

Thermoformed ADA signs give designers the creative latitude and durability that designers need to meet their client’s branding needs, at an appealing price point.  It’s no surprise that according to Dodge Analytics, “Thermoformed ADA signs” saw an increase of 237% in Specifications in 2016. Thermoformed signs are now universally acknowledged in Specs as an “approved equal” to photopolymer signs and that’s a big win for ADA thermoforming manufacturers. Those who really know about the differences between photopolymer ADA signs and thermoformed ADA signs are knocking clients off their feet with new ideas never available until now.

Photopolymer signs are still plenty viable.  There are over 3,000 sign-makers that still maintain their relationship with the two surviving raw material photopolymer providers. Machinery needed to produce these signs still exists and is almost free to get started; it’s the raw photopolymer material price increases to watch out for...  While Father Time and new technology may have caught up to photopolymers signs, their contribution and service to the industry over the last 25 years certainly must be treasured!   

To learn how to use this new thermoforming ADA technology and provide your design team a new design tool belt, durability and scalable branding offering, follow this link http://www.encompasssign.com/gallery/ or simply contact us 855-672-2201

Adam Halverson, Chief Strategist : adamh@encompasssign.com

About Encompass Sign Systems

Encompass Sign Systems specializes in thermoformed tactile signs and leading-edge directional and wayfinding systems. We provide designers and architects with highly scalable wholesale signage that have limitless branding capabilities and unsurpassed durability.