Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

PROFESSIONAL TIPS & SUGGESTIONS

Signs are an extension of your business image: the quality and look of your signs have an impact on how your customers perceive your business. Through the use of name tags, desk and door signs, cage, stall, or wall signs, they identify, inform, direct and request of your customers.

Seven main factors contribute to the look of a sign: color, wording, size, type style, logos and graphics, material, and engraving method. Attaching your signs and Protecting your signs are discussed at the end of this section.

1. What COLOR should I choose? Color sets the tone of a sign. Reds, yellows and oranges are bright, "hot" colors associated with warning, action and urgency. Blues are cooler. Greens, browns and tans are earthy, calm.

Choose colors with a high contrast between the surface color and the letter (core) color. Colors can compliment your decor for a subtle look, or contrast for higher visibility. Specialized Engraving, LLC offers a rainbow of colors. Please contact us if you are looking for a color which is not shown in this web store.

Show Animal Exhibitors: Choose a color to match your cage or stall curtains.

• Is the trim gold or yellow? Consider brass, or a plastic with a gold core.
• For silver or white trim, choose aluminum, or a plastic with a white core.
• Do you switch between several curtains depending on the animal being shown? Consider a neutral grey, black, or white, or a color common to all your curtains.
• For a coordinated look, choose a surface color which matches or is close to the predominate color of the curtains. For a bolder look, choose a contrasting color.
• For wood, plastic, and mesh cages, pick a color which matches any interior bedding or decorations, or which compliments your animal's coloring.

2. What WORDING should I use? Keep wording simple, polite and to the point. The more letters on a line, the smaller each letter will to be to keep the height/width ratio correct within the limits of the engraving space.

3. What SIZE sign should I use? Signs should be big enough for your wording to be easily read, and appropriate to amount of text. A general rule of thumb is 1" of letter height for 10' of viewing distance. Unless specified, Specialized Engraving will choose letter height appropriate for the number of lines and size of the sign.

Show Animal Exhibitors:

• At cat shows, the isles may be narrow. On a 2" x 8" sign with 2 lines, we generally put a letter height of .625" for the cattery name and .425" for the breed.
• A 2 line stall sign, being viewed from further away might need to be 3" x 10", to allow for larger letters.

4. How do I choose a FONT (type style)? Type styles, also called fonts, range from simple to fancy, plain to classic, whimsical to professional. The style you pick should be appropriate for the purpose of the sign. Specialized Engraving offers a number of fonts. Match searches for additional fonts are available.

Show Animal Exhibitors:

The type style you choose can compliment your animal's breed. For cats:

• Consider a sleek Cotillion for Siamese, the fancy, frilly ChaseCallas for Persians, a solid and classy Roman for Maine Coons.
• The slightly exotic look of Presidential and Shogun works for Russian Blues, British Shorthairs and Oriental breeds.
• CarrieCatts is a fun and whimsical font with each letter being an outline of a cat, perfect for Household pets .

5. Where would I place LOGOS and GRAPHICS? These images identify you, your company, a particular event or special place. Because we read from left to right, logos and graphics are commonly placed to the left of wording, or at the top or bottom of the sign.

For an estimate on logos and non stock clip art, please fax a clean copy of the logo, in addition to the general size, layout and text of your sign.

Show Animal Exhibitors: I have received official permission to engrave the CFA logo on cat cage signage. I have not yet received permission from TICA.

6. How do I choose the MATERIAL to use for the sign? Specialized Engraving offers three types of materials for signs: brass, aluminum and plastic.

Colored brass and aluminum have a colored surface over metal. Brass has gold letters, aluminum has silver letters. The letters on satin gold brass and satin silver brass can be blackened for higher contrast. Brass and aluminum signs will scratch, so you need to take care of them. These metals are suitable for indoor use.

Engraving plastic is a tough, two layer material consisting of the surface color and the letter (core) color. Plastic is more scratch resistant than brass. A number of the plastics are suitable for exterior use.

7. ENGRAVING methods. Three basic methods of engraving are listed here, each having it's own look and application.

Burnishing, used on brass and aluminum, gives letters a bold look. Cutters of different widths can be used, much like the effects of using different widths of pens and markers. Burnishing is my preferred method on metals.

Diamond Drag, also used on brass and aluminum, produces letters with thin lines. It is traditionally used on awards and plaques. Diamond drag works well when the letter height is under 1/4", a multiple line font is used, and the text will be read up close. The only time I use diamond drag on cage or stall signs is if satin brass is the chosen material. Because satin brass is brass-on-brass, there is no contrast between the material and the letters. Diamond drag of hatch filled letters allow the letters to be blackened, making them quite visible.

Routed engraving is used on plastics. It produces letters of varying widths, depending on the cutter width.

Hatch filling of Fancy Fonts on brass, aluminum or plastic is an additional step used with "true type" or outline fonts. With brass and aluminum, this method fills in the inside of the letters to give them a very beautiful and striking effect. On plastic, the process routes out the interior of the letters to produce a solid letter.

8. How do I ATTACH my signs? Signs can be mounted with: holes and hooks or chains, double backed adhesive, velcro, magnetic bars, holders, or a combination of the above.

Show Animal Exhibitors:

• Hooks and holes are the most common mounting method for wire show hall cages.
• If you use short chains instead of hooks, be VERY sure the animal won't/can't get his/her paws caught in the chains.
• Magnetic bars (used on name badges) on the back of signs are the perfect way to foil the animal who loves to knock signs off! Magnetoc bars work on wire, cloth, mesh, plastic, parachute and wood cages.
• Soft black plastic cat cages have a velcro strip running horizontally across the upper portion. Hooked velcro or magnetic bars attached to the back of signs allows you more freedom in selecting sign sizes. Using the clear plastic window limits you to approximately a 1.5" x 6" sign. The glare from overhead lights in show halls can reduce visibility through the plastic pocket.
• Wood cages can use sticky back soft velcro on the cage, and the hooked velcro on the signs, or magnetic bars.
• PVC and mesh cat cages: by attaching a chain to the holes and hooks, a sign can be hung over the front center support. Magnetic bars can be used to attach signs directly to the material.

9. How do I PROTECT my signs? Signs from Specialized Engraving are individually bagged, then wrapped in bubble wrap inside the mailer, or placed in a padded mailer.