Glossary of Terms

- A -

Aluminum Composite Material (ACM): a three-layer composite panel consisting of aluminum sheets bonded to a polyethylene core.

Acrylic: A type of plastic characterized by clarity, both transparent and opaque color ranges, and paintability used in sign making 2. Term generically used in the sign industry to describe all plastics. 3. Certain types of paint which have an acrylic resin as a vehicle.

ADA: The Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal standard governing building codes and accessibility. Title III governs signs.

Aluminum: A common light metal. Softer than steel, can be welded and formed.

As Built Drawings: Contract drawings that have been marked up to reflect any changes to a project during construction, differentiating them from the bid documents. Also known as record drawings.

- B -

Backlit sign: A sign consisting of a cabinet containing a light source and a translucent face.

Base: Concrete foundation which extends above grade.

Blade sign: A sign mounted from the end, also called a Flag mount.

Boom: 1. The crane on a sign truck. 2. The action of moving the crane, i.e. "boom up" or "boom down."

Bronze: 1. an alloy of copper and tin used in casting and fabricating letters + plaques. 2. A moderate yellowish brown or greenish metallic color.
Brushed finish: Finish given to metal, or other similar material, either by hand or mechanically, that produces a glossy, frosted appearance.

Building Permit: A written document issued by the appropriate government authority, permitting the construction of a specific project in accordance with the drawings and specifications that the authority has approved.

- C -

Cabinet: The back and/or sides of a display.

Canopy sign: A sign mounted to or supported by a canopy.

Cast: To manufacture letters, plaques, etc. by pouring material into molds, rather than being fabricated.

Channel: 1. A partition rising from the face of a wall or sign, or a letter, designed to confine light, or to provide a shadowing effect. 2. Structural metal in the shape of a "C".

Channel letter: A fabricated letter, consisting of metal sides and internal illumination. Can have either a metal or plastic face.

Conduit: Plastic or metal tubing used to encase electrical wiring.

Copy: The sum of all words on a sign.

Corrugated: Metal or plastic material that has a "washboard" appearance.

Countersink: To ream a hole with a taper, to accept a tapered screw or bolt, so that is flush with the tapered surface.

Crazing: A "spider-web" cracking of plastic. Usually caused by weathering or cleaning with strong solvents.

- D -

Deck sign: Letters mounted on an L-shaped raceway, lighted from behind.

Decorative: For looks only, not structural.

Design intent drawings: Drawings that show the size, profile, dimension and basic relationship of sign to it's location. Part of the bid package.

Detail drawing: A section of a drawing that is enlarged to show more detail, or more specific callouts.

Dibond: A brand name of ACM – see Aluminum Composite Material

Direct illumination: Signs lighted from the outside with floods, spots, etc.

Directional: A display which shows guidance information.

Directory: A display which shows location information.

Display: Refers to all signage and graphics.

- E -

Elevation: View from ground level.

Exterior: Outside.

- F -

Fabricate: To manufacture all, or part of, a sign or display from basic raw materials, or component parts.

Face: 1. The area of a sign or display having copy, graphics, etc. 2. The front of an object.

Fascia: The facing band which finished off a canopy or building projection.

Fiberglass: Glass in a fibrous form, used in making certain types of signs, figures, etc. It can be layered, or blown with a spray gun over a mold. Useful for making odd or complicated shapes, and can be illuminated from within.

First surface: The outside or exposed surface, i.e. painting the first surface of a sign face.

Flag mount: A sign mounted from the end, also called a Blade sign. Refers to any powder coated glass tubing. 2. A type of paint that glows under a blacklight.

Footing: The concrete base into which a sign support is set.

Formed: An acrylic background or individual letter that has been given dimension by heating and shaping with pressure, vacuum, or draping over a mold.
Frosted: A fine-grained, slightly roughened surface, as on metal or glass, produced by sand blasting, painting, or chemically etching.

- G -

Galvanized: Metal that has been chemically treated to resist rusting, but hot dipping in zinc.

Gauge: A standard of measurement, primarily for the thickness of metal, or size of wire.

Gloss: A highly reflective surface, i.e. A glossy paint finish.

Grade: ground level.

Grade 1 Braille: A Braille format that included only the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and some punctuation.

Grade 2 Braille: A Braille format that includes more characters, including contractions. A Braille proofreader must approve final artwork.
Ground mount: Sign with the bottom directly touching grade.

- H -

Halo: 1. Lighting something from behind, with the light source being contained within the perimeter of that object to create a halo effect.

Hang bar: A horizontal bar located at the top of a sign face, designed to carry the weight of the face, eliminated sag, and helping keep the face retained in high wind loads.

Hardware: Generally refers to the clips, nuts, bolts, screws, and other metal attaching devices used to install letters and signs on walls, etc.

High Intensity Discharge Lighting (HID): Lighting elements normally used for large area lighting such as parking lots, warehouses, etc. Adapted for use in large formed sign cabinets.

Housing: The component that encloses the end of a luminous tube when direct connection to the high voltage wires is not possible.

- I -

Identification sign: Refers to the main display for a business, which relates its product, service, or name.

Illumination: Refers to and includes all forms of lighting, direct and indirect.

Incandescent lamp: An electric lamp in which a filament, in a gas or vacuum, gives off light when electrically charged.

- K -

Kiosk: A small portable or permanent structure used for light retail sales, information, and phone booths, graphic displays, etc.

- L -

Lamp: 1. Incandescent or fluorescent light. 2. The action of installing lamps.

Landmark: 1. A sign or display that is so outstanding it stands apart from those around it. 2. A building or structure set aside for preservation.

Layout: 1. A drawing which shows the intended design of a sign, and the copy placement thereon. 2. A full size drawing of a sign. 3. A rough sketch of what the finished product will look like.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) sign: A type of changeable copy sign using an LCD panel as the sign face. LCD signs are often used in public spaces, and can have fine detail and moving images.

LED (Light Emitting Diode) sign: A type of changeable copy sign using a matrix of Light Emitting Diodes. Commonly used in large outdoor systems, where the viewer is at least 10' away.

Legibility: How well a sign character can be read at a given distance.

Lexan: A brand of high impact polycorbonate sheet.

Light Emitting Diode (LED): A semi-conducting crystal with two terminals, used in electronic displays, and as indicator lights, etc., on certain equipment.

Logo: That part of a brand or trademark that appears as a symbol, design, or distinctive letter.

- M -

Marquee: 1. V-shaped, semi V-shaped, or flat wall mounted signs, with changeable or permanent copy. 2. A generic term that applies to any specialty sign cabinet.

Mast: The vertical support for an arm mounted sign.

Material Data Sheet (MDS): Published information concerning the dangers of, and precautions to be taken with certain chemicals, spray cans, solvents, cements, etc.

Mechanical drawing: A line drawing specifically tailored to the needs of manufacturing, often generated using CAD software.

Monument sign: Monument signs – sometimes referred to as monolith signs – are large, free-standing, weather-resistant signs that sit close to ground level. They generally have little or no open space between the sign and the ground and are constructed to be solid signs that stand the test of time.

- N -

Non illuminated: A sign or display that has no lighting, either direct or indirect.

Not to scale: A sketch or drawing that has no reference scale.

- O –

Omegabond: A brand name of ACM – see Aluminum Composite Material

Opaque: Solid, not allowing light or images to pass through. Also refers to a coating or cover without letting the color or image below to show through.
Open channel: A sign component that has a back and sides, but no face.

Open channel letter: A letter constructed with back and sides, but no face.

- P -

Pad: Concrete foundation which is level with or below grade.

Pantone Matching System (PMS): A system of matching and reference for ink and paper colors. Since these colors are difficult to match in paint, this system's use is minimized in the sign industry.

Pegged off: A letter or graphic that is raised from the background surface by means of studs, cups, blocks, or other types of spacers.

Post and panel: Type of sign that is composed of a face supported by round or square supports, usually informational in nature, and generally mounted low to the ground, for good visibility.

Primary wiring: Electrical wiring from a breaker box to a ballast, transformer, or other electronic device.

Push through: Process of manufacturing sign faces by routing out the copy or graphics, and inserting a cut out thru the opening, so that is either raised from, or flush with the surface.

Pylon: Generally refers to all large, free standing signs.

- Q -

Quartz light: Enclosed floodlights using Q Tungsten halogen lamps.

- R -

Raceway: A continuous metal box, containing all required electrical components, onto which illuminated signs, letters, or graphics are affixed prior to installation. This technique is used where numerous penetrations into a wall or sign face is not recommended.

Reface: To replace an old face with a new one, without changing the size or shape.

Reflective: Capable of reflecting exterior directed light, giving the appearance of being illuminated, such as reflective vinyl sheet.

Retainer: The component that holds a sign face in place, or acts as a cover for certain face-retaining hardware.

Retrofit: To replace the face of a sign with a different material than it was originally designed for.

Return: The sides of a channel letter.

Reveal: An indented detail on a sign.

Reverse channel letter: A letter that has a face and sides, but no back, often using halo illumination.

Roof sign: A sign that is installed above the line of the parapet or roof of a building.

- S -

Sandblasting: To remove, incise, or texture an area by means of pressurized sand.

Scale: 1. An instrument for measuring distances on a drawing, map, etc. 2. The proportion between two sets of dimensions, i.e. between a sign drawing and the finished product.

Schedule: A listing of certain components, such as paint colors, pipe sizes, etc. on an Architectural drawing.

Scope of work: A written description of all work to be done on a particular contract.

Second surface: The back or reverse side of a sign face.

Section: Profile view of an object as if part of it were cut on a plane and removed. Also called a cut away view, or cross section.
Shop drawing: A mechanical drawing of the sign or display, used for manufacturing.

Single face: A sign having copy on only one face.

Site: Location of a structure or group of structures.

Soffit: The bottom or underside of an overhang, such as a canopy or marquee.

Spacer: A device used in mounting displays and letters which causes them to extend from the background.

Stanchion: An upright support, permanently mounted or portable.

Stroke: The horizontal or vertical bar of a letter.

Stud: 1. Protrusion on the back of a sign or letter to facilitate mounting. 2. Vertical support for a wall.

Survey: 1. To take accurate measurements of an existing sign or building. 2. To investigate a location with the intent of determining types of signage required. 3. A map of a sign location.

- T -

Tactile signage: High contrast, raised or incised signage, generally intended for the visually impaired. This would normally include Braille copy.

Template: 1. A cut out pattern, usually of wood, metal, or plastic, used in the transfer of shapes to finished material for cutting or painting, and testing accuracy. 2. Pre punched metal or plastic device used as a guide for drawing circles, ovals, arcs, and shapes.

Translucent: Diffuses light, so that objects beyond cannot be viewed, but visible light can pass through. (Example: frosted glass)

Transparent: Clear, so that object beyond can be seen

- V -

Variance: A method by which a government body formally deviates from the terms of its sign or zoning ordinance. Typically, obtaining a variance for a sign requires the applicant to show that it would not be contrary to the public interest or that literal enforcement of the regulations would result in unnecessary and undue hardship (due to conditions unique to the property.

Vector: Vector graphics are digital art that is rendered by a computer using a mathematical formula. Raster images are made up of tiny pixels, making them resolution dependent and best used for creating photos, but not digital graphics.

Vertical reader: Copy that reads vertically, rather than horizontally.

- Y -

Yoke: A cable or other device used to distribute weight and balance when used to lift large signs and steel lengths.

- Z -

Z clip: Z shaped metal or plastic clip used in to make various sign attachments.

Zone: Relating to the sign industry, a geographical area with specific limitations for signs.

Zoning: Restrictions of areas or regions of land within specific area based on permitted building size, character, and uses as established by governing urban authorities.

Zoning Permit: Document issued by a governing urban authority that permits land to be used for a specific purpose