Fabricating Wayfinding Signs
Metal fabrication doesn't always have to focus on parts for industrial machinery or construction. Many metal items are used in every day, non-industrial life. Kitchen tools, car accessories, jewellery findings – all of them involve some sort of metal fabrication. The same goes for many office items, including wayfinding signs. These are those signs that mark locations, let you know which companies are in that office park on the corner, tell you which building wing has which office numbers, and so on. This sort of metal fabrication does not always involve simply cutting out a square of metal and slapping some paint on it. The fabrication can involve the letters themselves, as well as any disability modifications.
Make the Surface Easy to Clean
When you arrange to have wayfinding signs made, make the design such that the final sign is easy to clean. Lovely metal filigree work might seem dazzling now, but it's a hassle to keep clean and keep free of dust; instead, give fabricated letters smooth surfaces and make the rest of the sign smooth enough to wipe clean in a few seconds. Dust that gets caught in crevices and the indentations in designs can quickly turn a sign dingy and dull.
Include Braille
Any sign accessible to pedestrians should have Braille on it, and the metal fabrication company making the sign can add the letters where you want them. Braille might not do much good on those large corner signs, for example, the ones you pass as you approach large office parks, but you can put Braille on signs near walkways and on hallway walls. Aim to make as many disability-friendly signs as possible.
Is the Post Included?
Some signs are affixed to walls, others rest on posts. Check with the metal fabrication company to see if they will make those posts, if the posts are included with the sign or ordered separately or if they can recommend another metal fabrication company that will make them. Some companies are sign-specific; in other words, they'll make things like signs and plaques, but not other metal products. But do check about this as you don't want to find out when you pick up the signs that you now have to dash to order posts to place the signs on.
Metal fabrication makes much of modern life possible. If you need to have custom wayfinding signs created, go straight to a local company that can do its own metal fabrication.