Signage refers to a 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#

There's a vast array of materials and manufacturing processes for signage, and it's the different names for various materials and techniques that often confuse people. Today, as an editor from a signage manufacturer, I'd like to share some insights into signage materials and manufacturing techniques, accompanied by signage images for detailed explanations. We categorize the most common signage into the following 24 types:

ID Signs: Acrylic carved ID signs; base plate in acrylic with a variety of colors available; choose the acrylic color based on the base plate 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 plate, check out the effect of this acrylic carved ID sign.


Acrylic Engraved Signage
2. Type of Signs: Acrylic Silk Screen or UV Signs; signs made by laser cutting transparent or colored acrylic into the desired shape, with silk-screened patterns or text on the front. Transparent acrylic can have a UV-resistant or reverse-printed design visible on the front, while other colored acrylics can only be printed on the front. The previous set of pictures of transparent acrylic UV-resistant signs is for reference only.


Acrylic screen-printed or UV label plates
3. Third-Category Signs: Painted Silk Screen or UV Signs; Painted substrates can be made of metal (commonly iron, steel, aluminum) painted, or also acrylic plates, 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 signs: Double-color plate engraved signs; base plate with single-color characters and double-color plate engraved display characters, with other colors of text or patterns using UV or screen printing technology. The base plate can be shaped or square/circular.


Two-color board engraved sign
5. Category 5 Signage: Acrylic Heat-Bent Signage; This type is quite familiar. The L-shaped QR code payment signs commonly used on desks are made using this technique, with the content printed on the back via UV printing.


Acrylic Heat-Bent Signage
6. Category 6 Signage: Metal Bending Signs; also known as luminous signage, these signs are crafted by machine bending, welding, polishing, and painting over a reverse-mounted acrylic, featuring LED-illuminated letters. This manufacturing process is widely used.


Metal Bending Sign
7. Category 7 Signs: Cut-out Signs; Cut-out signs are not limited to metal cut-outs, as they also include cut-out signs made of PVC textured board, acrylic, and aluminum plastic panel. Cut-out signs can be designed as illuminated or non-illuminated characters. Small cut-out signs also have a wide range of applications.


Hollowed-out signboard
8. Category 8 Signs: Vacuum-formed Signs; Made of acrylic sheets vacuum-formed, supported by a metal steel frame base. Commonly seen vacuum-formed light box signs at gas stations. Check out the effect of the vacuum-formed signs.


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


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 signage
11.第十一类 Signs: Bulletin Board Signs. Whether for companies, factories, or our residential community elevator walls, we need signs for posting announcements. Regardless of the material of the sign, we refer to it as a bulletin board sign; typically made of acrylic, take a look at the previous photos to see how others have made them.


Bulletin Board Sign
12. Category 12: Signboards; plaques, authorization badges, awards, dealer authorization badges, or various plaques issued by industries, which we categorize under signboards. These are special types of signboards, featuring different styles, materials, and sizes. Below is a collection of signboard 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 the nameplate signs.


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


Parking Lot Signage
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 fixed on the wall above the entrance. These signs can be reflective or non-illuminated, primarily serving as indicators for parking entrance.


Underground parking entrance sign
16. Category 16: Tag Signs; Suspended signs are commonly used in shopping malls and supermarkets, serving as area identification prompts; they are usually hung with two rods, available in both simple and decorative styles; most supermarkets use illuminated versions. View a set of suspended tag sign photos.


Hanging tag label
17. Category 17: Side Wall Signs; Besides being commonly used in restrooms, side wall-mounted signs are also widely applied in many 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 these signs.


Side Wall Signage
18. Category 18: Directional Signage; These signs are predominantly made of metal with baked paint, hollowed, and sheet metal craftsmanship, featuring built-in LED illuminated signage; commonly used as advertising signs indoors in shopping malls or complexes for directional guidance.


Guidance sign
19. Category 19: Underground Parking Signage; Many high-rise buildings have interconnected underground parking garages. The sense of direction underground differs from that on the surface, so directional signage in underground parking is often more abundant, especially in large complexes. Underground parking directional signs are specific to the environment and are predominantly illuminated due to the darker lighting conditions underground. Illuminated signage can also serve as lighting.


Underground parking guidance sign
20. Ten Types of Signage: Hotel Signs; Hotel signage is a systematic design solution; Room number signage is part of each hotel's identification system.


Hotel Signage
21. Eleven types of signboards: Traffic signs; Traffic signs are further divided into many types, including safety warning signs, reflective signs, informational signs, road signs, etc., which we collectively refer to as traffic signs; the road name guide signs commonly seen on highways or major roads can be categorized under the broad category of traffic signs. Traffic signs are mostly made of aluminum plates, with 3M reflective film applied to them; the reflective film comes in advertising and engineering grades, with different quality levels affecting the price.


Traffic Sign
22. Twelve Types of Signboards: Painted Signboards; Painted signboards are closely related to vehicles, often found in parking spaces, parking lot poles, parking lot walls, and busy roads, where they indicate where drivers can park, including solid and dashed lines, and the distinction of different areas in underground parking lots.


Painted Signage
23. Thirteen Types of Signage: LED Electronic Display Signs; Large LED screens are not categorized as signage, but small ones that are placed on desks or viewed at close range are referred to as Electronic Display Signs. Why are they classified here? Because as digital technology synchronizes in the future, their usage will increase, as they can synchronize with mobile phone data. Hence, they are also known as Digital Signage.


LED Electronic Signage
24. Fourteen types of name tags: Chest name tags; Although used less and less, they are still in use by some, so they cannot be omitted from the statistics. Chest name tags are also called chest cards, and they come in acrylic etched silk printing, aluminum alloy, and stainless steel etching. The shapes include irregular, round, square, and more.


Name Tag
Above are 24 common types of signs shared with you. If my sharing is helpful to you, remember to follow. In the next issue, I will share a detailed explanation of the production process of signs, stay tuned!