Suggestions Green reflective, White text

[Kelcy Deeds]

Hey guys, so i've made a bunch of signs already for the government here in Belize and they tend to stick to the MUTCD standards pretty closely and i'm pretty aware how the signs SHOULD be made, (white backing with color overlay using all the standard 3M stuff) however, i recently came across a very very good deal on Green, Brown and Blue (3930 Varients) Reflective sheeting and im wondering what to correct procedure would be on using this for the green highway guidance signs or if its even usable. How would you go about applying white text to the green backing?

 

[unclebun]

With cut white reflective vinyl lettering

 

[Kelcy Deeds]

So you would just apply something like 3m 5100 over top? wouldnt the reflectivity be different and not be accepted? or would you apply a cuttable prismatic white over?

 

[unclebun]

They don't sell the approved stuff as being cuttable. It would depend on the governing authority whether you can use cut vinyl lettering on the sign. We commonly use it for street signs on green or blue reflective blanks, but that is governed by the city, not the state. If it's for the national government, and they require the printed as standard, then just do them that way.

 

[Kelcy Deeds]

Which exact vinyl do you use for cut lettering? And do also apply the 1160 clear afterward? How does plain 5100/ij680 look on top of 3937 green? Is it still quite reflective or do the letters look kinda dim. Or basically does it look up to par? As much as white reflective with overlay would look? They don't care about specific regulations here, they just want the final product to look as good as HIP with and overlay

 

[unclebun]

We use Avery 1100, but the 3M 5100R would be the same. There is no need for an overlaminate when you use the cut vinyl; it's only necessary when you print to protect the ink. I've never lettered on the specific product you are talking about, since the blanks we use have EGP reflective. Cuttable reflective vinyl is plenty reflective; you see it on emergency vehicles all the time. But I don't know if it looks all that different on HIP.

You have to wonder what they intended to be used on brown and blue and highway green, if not cuttable reflective. I can see using the opaque black on yellow and orange. But not on the dark colors.

 

[Kelcy Deeds]

We're required to overlam due to these idiots here pulling off all the die cut letters. We had one road with about 30 yellow 30"x30 diamond signs with black diecut lettering on it and within a few weeks people ripped off all the lettering

 

[unclebun]

around here they just steal the whole sign to hang in their dorm room