Signage refers to the general term for guiding signs, directional signs, functional signs, index signs, and indicator signs, among others. Depending on the habit, people often refer to signage as: advertising signage, identification signage, directional signage, guide signage, door signage, floor index signage, road signage, indicator signage, illuminated signage, 3D signage, and so on. #Signage#

Signage materials and production processes are incredibly diverse. It's precisely because different materials and techniques have different names that it can be quite confusing. Today, as a signage manufacturer's editor, I'd like to share some insights into signage materials and production techniques with you, accompanied by signage images for detailed explanations. We categorize common signage into the following 24 types:

Acrylic Signage: Acrylic carved signs; the base is made of acrylic with a variety of colors available. Choose the acrylic color based on the base color designed by the artist; the letters are also acrylic laser-cut stickers applied to the surface. The acrylic letters can be spray-painted in a matte finish to contrast with the glossy base, take a look at how the acrylic carved signage looks.


Acrylic carved signboard
2. Identification Plates: Acrylic silk-screened or UV-coated identification plates; plates made from transparent or colored acrylic, laser-cut to shape, with silk-screened patterns or text on the front. Transparent acrylic can have UV-blocking or reverse-printed patterns/text visible on the front, while other colored acrylics can only be printed on the front. The previous image of the transparent acrylic with UV-blocking identification plates is for reference only.


Acrylic screen printing or UV label
3. Third category of signs: Painted silk-screened or UV signs; painted substrates can be made of metal (commonly iron, steel, aluminum) painted, or also acrylic boards, aluminum composite panels, PVC boards/Snowboard, etc., painted. The surface paint color can be customized, available in glossy or matte finishes. Text or patterns can be silk-screened on this surface, and complex designs can also be UV printed.


Enamel Printing or UV Label Plates
4. Fourth Category Signage: Double-color Plate Engraved Signs; the base plate features single-color characters on a double-color plate, with other colors of text or patterns applied using UV or silk-screen printing techniques. The base plate can be shaped or square/circular.


Two-color board engraved sign
5. Category 5 Signs: Acrylic Heat-Bent Signs; These are quite familiar. The L-shaped signs commonly used for scanning payments on desks are made using this technique, with the content printed on the back via UV.


Acrylic Heat-Bent Signage
6. Category 6 Signs: Metal Bending Signs; also known as luminous signs, these are shaped by machine bending, then welded, sanded, painted, and acrylic inverted, featuring LED illuminated characters inside. This technique is widely used.


Metal Bending Sign
7. Category 7 Signs: Perforated Signs; Perforated signs are not limited to metal, as they also include options like PVC foil-perforated lacquer, acrylic perforation, and aluminum-plastic panel perforation. Perforated signs can be designed with either illuminated or non-illuminated lettering. Small perforated signs also have a wide range of applications.


Hollowed-out signboard
8. Category 8 Signage: Vacuum Formed Signs; Made of vacuum formed acrylic panels with a metal steel frame base support. Commonly found vacuum formed light box signage at gas stations. Check out the effect of the vacuum formed signage.


Blow Molding Signage
9. Category 9: Corrosion Signs; Traditional corrosion signs are well-known, but when combined with other materials, they can create various types of signs. However, regardless of the designer's concept, the primary production techniques are mainly carving and corrosion.


Corrosion Identification Sign
10. Category 10: 3D Letter Signs; The 3D letters can be made of metal, acrylic, or other 3D precision letters like PVC, combining small letters to form a functional sign, which we refer to as a 3D letter sign. Check out the previous set of 3D letter signs to see the effect of the precision 3D letter signs.


Three-dimensional Letter Sign
11. Category 11: Bulletin Board Signs - Whether for companies, factories, or even our residential community elevator walls, bulletin board signs are needed to post announcements. Regardless of the material, we refer to them as bulletin board signs; typically made of acrylic, take a look at the previous photos to see how others make them.


Bulletin Board Sign
12. Category 12:匾额 signs; authorization plaques, medals, dealer authorization plaques, or various plaques awarded by industries, which we categorize under匾额 signs. These are special signs, with different styles, materials, and sizes, etc. Below is a set of匾额 signs photos for your reference.


Signboard
13. Category 13: Nameplate Signs; Nameplates include machine nameplates, tree nameplates, etc., which are easy to understand. The key point is that machine nameplates are usually made of zinc alloy, stainless steel, and aluminum plates, while acrylic, two-color boards, and aluminum plastic boards are more common. Take a look at a set of photos to showcase images of nameplate signs.


Nameplate Signs
14. Category 14: Parking Signage; Whether it's a shopping mall or a building, any location with parking requires a P-letter parking sign to indicate to drivers where the parking entrance and exit are. Therefore, the P-letter signage is a standard must-have for every parking space. Let's take a look at the previous set of parking signage.


Parking Signage and Identification Plates
15. Category 15 Signs: Underground Parking Entrance Signs; Typically, when entering the underground parking garage of a building, a nearly 6-meter-long entrance directional sign is mounted on the wall above the entrance. These signs can be reflective or non-illuminated, primarily serving as indicators for the parking entrance.


Underground parking entrance sign
16. Category 16: Tag Labels; Suspended signage is commonly used in shopping malls and supermarkets, serving as a reminder for area identification; typically hung with two rods, it comes in both simple and decorative styles; most supermarkets use illuminated versions. View a set of suspended tag label photos.


Hanging Tag Label
17. Category 17: Side Wall Signage; Besides being commonly used in restrooms, side wall-mounted signs are also frequently applied in various public areas. They are essential in places like administrative units, libraries, parks, and other public venues where clear visibility from a distance is required. A set of photos will better illustrate the side wall installation of signage.


Side wall sign
18. Category 18 Signs: Directional Signs; Most of these signs are made of metal with powder coating, featuring cut-out designs and sheet metal craftsmanship, with built-in LED illuminated signs; commonly used as advertising signs indoors in shopping malls or complexes for guiding directional signs.


Guidance signage
19. Category 19: Underground Parking Guidance Signs; Many underground parking garages in high-rise buildings are interconnected. The sense of direction underground differs from that on the surface, so there are often more directional signs in underground parking, especially in large complexes. Underground parking guidance signs are specific to the environment and are mostly illuminated due to the dim lighting underground. Illuminated signs can also serve as lighting.


Underground parking guidance sign
20. Ten types of signage: hotel signage; hotel signage is a systematic design plan; room number signage is part of each hotel's identification system.


Hotel Signage
21. Eleven Categories of Signs: Traffic Signs; Within traffic signs, there are many subcategories, such as safety warning signs, reflective signs, informational signs, road signs, etc., which we collectively refer to as traffic signs; road name guide signs on common highways or major roads can be categorized under this broad category. Traffic signs are mostly made of aluminum plates with 3M reflective film applied; the reflective film comes in advertising and engineering grades, with varying prices based on quality.


Traffic Sign
22. Twelve Types of Signs: Painted Signs; Painted signs are closely related to vehicles, used in parking spaces, parking lot pillars, parking lot walls, busy streets, etc. They indicate where the vehicle owner has parked, including solid and dashed lines, and differentiate areas in underground parking lots.


Painted signage
23. Thirteen Types of Signs: LED Electronic Signage; Large LED displays cannot be categorized as signs, but small ones placed on desks or viewed at close range are referred to as Electronic Screen Signs. Why are they included in this category? Because with the synchronization of digital technology in the future, their usage will increase, as they can sync with mobile data. Therefore, they are also known as Digital Signs.


LED Electronic Signage
24. Fourteen Types of Name Tags: Chest Name Tags; Although used less frequently, they are still in use by some, and they cannot be omitted from the statistics. Chest name tags are also known as chest cards, available in acrylic etched silk printing, aluminum alloy, and stainless steel etching. Shapes include irregular, round, square, and more.


Name Tag
Here we have shared 24 common types of signage. If my post has been helpful to you, don't forget to follow. Look forward to the next edition, where I'll delve into detailed explanations of signage production techniques.