Opaque background paint

[Signs Express]

We just installed some replacement pan formed polycarbonate faces in an existing sign cabinet. The original faces were yellow with blue lettering. The yellow background illuminated as well as the blue lettering. On the new faces we installed there is a dark blue background with white text and a multicolor logo. The blue background is completely opaque when the sign is illuminated. Is this fairly common practice with darker colored backgrounds? You see illuminated sign faces with translucent color backgrounds all the time (red, yellow, light blue, etc...) but I suppose these are always lighter shades. What's the typical way to do it?

Thanks!

 

[iSign]

In my opinion, it is not "wrong" to have standard (non translucent) vinyl for a dark background, nor is it wrong to have translucent (as long as enough contrast remains).. but in any case, if a customer wants a blue background, they probably want at least a little blue to show at night... I don't see how that wouldn't happen with vinyl... but you said pan formed... so are these faces printed?

sorta seems like a trick question... who is to say if it is "common".. is that really the question? ..or did you sub this out, and not specify translucent blue & now wonder who's fault it is?

 

[Gino]

Sounds like you didn’t use the right kinda paint…. or whoever painted it.

If my logo colors or colors of choice for a sign were a dark blue background and whatever other colors, I would expect them to be that way day or night.

Heck, even if you have black on an illuminated face, it still will be translucent and stay in keeping with the intensity of the other colors and not look opaque black, but translucent.

The idea behind illuminated signs is to have light pass through the ink, paint or vinyl and produce a full color display of all the same tones and quality. To suddenly have an opaque section or area is wrong in the profession. There are those that do this to save cost on vinyl, but it is still basically frowned upon by professionals.

Your faces, since you said they were painted before and being painted again, should have been to spray your translucent paint on all the masked off areas and then back the whole thing up with a white coat across the whole face for uniformity.

 

[Signs Express]

Thanks for the info guys. We subbed out the production of the sign faces to a large, fairly well know wholesaler of electrical signs, faces, channel letters, etc... The background and embossed lettering are all painted.

Our customer has not said anything negative about it, but it just struck me as odd and I never thought to ask before hand. This is the first face we've done with a dark background. Most every one we've done in the past has been a white background.

 

[Marlene]

if the background is painted, the darker clolors look better when opaque as they can look patchy. if done with vinyl, it should be somewhat lighted as the dark blues translucent do light. if done with vinyl then opaqued, that seems odd as that would be something you would normally have to request to be done as it costs more.