When a company purchases a new office building, one of the many things that they inherit is the building directory. In most cases, the directory may need to be updated with new tenants names or maybe a few need to be removed. Imagine your surprise when you open the case and realized that the strips that make up the internal portion of the sign is cobbled together with electricians tape. That’s right. Electricians tape.
When dealing with directories, there are an unbelievable number of manufacturers. Each one of them does something a little different. Whether the end strips snap into place or slide into groves, nest together, rest on side rails, or fit into a frame, there are a lot of things to note when doing a directory replacement. We have learned a great many tricks to ensure a perfect fit. This directory wasn’t anything different except for the tape. Even the blank strips weren’t blank, they were engraved, turned backwards and taped over.
We started by measuring the strips and making a charcoal rubbing of the strips. This is the only way to ensure that the strips are exactly the correct size and style. There are at least three different types of strips: shiplap, Z channel or S strips. Of course the wrong one will not look the way it should in the wrong frame. You can have gaps. The names and suite numbers will not line up. Definitely not the appearance that you want. Next, we identified the correct material, we sent the rubbing to our manufacturer of the strips. They were able to match the size exactly. We set up a template that made sure each strip had the exact same left and right margin and that all the suites lined up. We worked with our customer and created a template for the names and how they would appear on the sign. We also established a font and the size of that font.
After removing all of the old strips that were taped together, we cleaned the inside of the display and removed some of the adhesive that had moved off of the tape and onto the frame. As we rebuilt in the inside of the sign, we made sure that all the strips locked into place and that no light showed through the face of the directory.
So if you need work on your office directory and you would prefer not to replace the entire frame, call Optimum Signs at 262.289.9481 or email us at info@optimumsignswi.com. We would be happy to help you present the most professional appearance possible.
