Photo Courtesy of Harbor Graphics Corporation, Benton Harbor MI
This story explains the basics of reflective vinyl, discussing terms such as candlepower, conspicuity, retroreflective, and high intensity reflective tape.
When it comes to fleet graphics, my
heart pumps faster when my headlights illuminate a trailer with well-designed
reflective markings. I admit, maybe I should get a life. However, I’ve seen
similar reactions from middle-aged businessmen who spend 30 minutes turning
their high beams on and off to experience new reflective truck graphics.
That’s the level of interest and
excitement that great graphics should create. A winning, reflective-graphics
program effectively communicates the client’s fleet advertising message while
providing optimum safety at a competitive price. That’s much easier said than
done.
Over the years, I’ve worked with many talented
pros who’ve taught me the essential do’s and don’ts in the design and
manufacturing of reflective fleet markings. In reviewing some of the following
time-tested tips, I hope you discover new ways to improve your designs and give
your customers the biggest bang for their investment in reflective vehicle graphics.
(NOTE: Also read my story about Designing Vehicle Graphics.)
(NOTE: Also read my story about Designing Vehicle Graphics.)
Reflecting on Reflectivity
Approximately 35 years ago, I was trying
to win over a large tanker fleet account on the south side of Chicago. The
graphics package incorporated green and blue reflective markings on the sides
and rears of the units.
Fortunately, my employer was practically
the best production man in the business. After carefully inspecting the printed
markings, Larry noticed that one of the colors didn’t reflect. He was sure that
white had been added to the ink system to achieve a color match. Mixing any
opaque color with transparent ink will kill reflectivity.
After I demonstrated to the fleet
manager that he’d been buying reflective markings that didn’t reflect, he was
furious. In his mind, he’d been cheated. That signaled the end for the
incumbent printer.
Whether you screenprint or digitally
print colors, make sure that the ink neither clouds the nighttime appearance of
color nor deadens the reflectivity. Surprisingly, colors printed with some
thermal-resin printers — such as the Gerber Edge™ — can have higher candlepower ratings than pigmented sheeting’s
equivalent. However, be sure to print with transparent foils.
The moral of this story? If you quote on
an existing reflective-graphics program, take the time to inspect the markings
at night. A spotlight is a handy tool for nighttime viewings. As you evaluate
the graphics program, ask the following questions:
- What are the existing program’s shortcomings or problems?
- How can you re-engineer the job to improve the nighttime visual impact of the graphics?
- How can you improve the graphics’ readability?
- How could you make the program more cost-effective?
Remember, the key to achieving better
graphics solutions is to ask better questions.
Do your sheets match?
Early in my career, a co-worker learned
a costly lesson about the importance of matching reflective sheets for daytime
and nighttime appearance. The design for an Ohio-based manufacturer
incorporated a 7-ft.-tall graphic of a staple gun. To minimize material waste,
he printed the pictorial on two sheets of reflective material, with one sheet
coming from a 3-ft.-wide roll and the other from a 4-ft. log.
However, the two white reflective sheets
were noticeably different. During the day, one sheet appeared yellowish, while
the other looked light gray. The nighttime variance was even worse.
Using material from two different rolls
was the first in a series of errors. Color and reflective values often vary
from one roll to the next. That’s why it’s prudent to use material from the
same roll. If that’s not possible, at least make sure all the material comes
from the same lot number.
Second mistake: Each log used for the
staple-gun pictorial came from a different production run. Reflective sheeting’s
color can vary greatly from one lot number to another, and also from one roll
to another within a specific lot. Appearance can even vary on different parts
of a roll, from one side of a roll to another.
Because variations are so common,
matching sheets of reflective film should become a routine production
procedure. Good design and production
planning can minimize color-shift problems. Joining sections of a multi-panel
graphic along a hard, dark line in the design can camouflage any change in
color from one panel to an adjacent panel.
Reflective Graphics Design Tips
The bigger, the better. A large mass of
reflective sheeting increases nighttime visibility and improves the advertising
message’s total impact.
Choose your colors carefully. The
measure of a reflective color’s luminescence is called its candlepower rating.
This rating corresponds to the amount of light that is reflected back to the
source. These values can vary greatly, depending on the angle at which the
light source strikes reflective markings and the viewer’s angle. For this
reason, product specifications usually indicate entrance and observation angles
when listing ratings.
Descriptions and “type” classifications
for retro-reflective sheeting are listed later in this article. The chart
(Table 1) compares the candlepower ratings of various colors for different
classifications of reflective sheeting.
TABLE
1
Comparative Candlepower Rating
for
Various Types of Reflective Sheeting
(At an observation angle of 0.1° to 0.2° and an entrance angle of -4°.)
|
|||||
Color
|
Type I
|
Type II
|
Type III
|
Type IV
|
Type V
|
White
|
70
|
140
|
300
|
400
|
2000
|
Yellow
|
50
|
100
|
200
|
270
|
1300
|
Orange
|
25
|
60
|
120
|
160
|
800
|
Green
|
9
|
30
|
54
|
56
|
360
|
Red
|
14
|
30
|
54
|
56
|
360
|
Blue
|
4
|
10
|
24
|
32
|
160
|
Brown
|
1
|
5
|
14
|
12
|
N/A
|
Note:
Candlepower values for reflective sheeting can vary from one manufacturer to
another. The values listed in the above table represent only one
manufacturer's products. To obtain product specifications on other reflective
sheeting products, call your sign supply distributor or the manufacturer. The
angle formed between the light source's path and a line perpendicular to the
surface of the reflective sheeting is the entrance angle. The observation
angle measures the angle between the line of the observer's sight and the
path of the light source.
|
|||||
Because candlepower varies greatly
between colors, the selection process is extremely important for the design of
reflective graphics. For instance, orange, yellow and gold usually have
comparatively high reflective brilliance, while blue, green and red have very
low candlepower ratings. To improve their effectiveness, colors with low
ratings should cover an area large enough to allow the motorist to see the vehicle
from a reasonably safe distance.
Contrast improves readability. Studies
prove that color combinations with the most contrast are more legible. Black or
brown copy on a yellow, white, orange or gold background is a visually
effective combination for reflective markings. Light colors on a dark
background provides contrast, but with severely limited reflective intensity.
Try creating contrast — along with a
more distinctive look — by using drop shadows. Shading letters with an opaque
color provides readability when light colors are used for both the copy and the
background. Drop shadows also effectively improve daytime appearance and
legibility. When using light colors for reflective striping, border the stripe
with a dark color so the stripe shows up during the day.
Copy considerations. Although there are
thousands of available typestyles, keep it simple — big, bold block letters
read better. Ideally, lettering should be at least 10 in. high. Spacing between
letters should be approximately twice the width of the letter’s stroke.
Although dark copy on a white background
is usually effective, thin letters spaced too tightly together on a highly
reflective background create an “overglow” — the background’s reflective
brilliance bleeds around the edges of the lettering, making it illegible.
Make contoured cuts. You can compensate
for poor reflective intensity by printing colors with low values on white
reflective sheeting. Trim the sheet on the outside of the printed graphic so
that a 3⁄8-1⁄2-in. white border remains on the perimeter; this greatly improves
the marking’s reflective brilliance, readability and overall visual impact.
Shaping the graphic in such a manner is also more appealing than a square
print. Contour cutting can remedy the overglow problem.
Nesting minimizes material waste.
Compared to opaque cast and calendered vinyl, reflective sheeting is costly.
Many fleet graphics producers nest lettering by arranging them on a sheet of
reflective to maximize material usage. This helps the user obtain significant
savings and a competitive edge.
Use reflective art boards. Producing and
presenting a reflective art board of your client’s design can generate the
excitement necessary to close the sale. When you show a miniature version of
reflective truck graphics, have your prospect view the design in the dark with
a flashlight at eye level. Also inspect mock-ups of reflective graphics to
reveal design flaws.
Nighttime Safety
When we examine the basics of reflective
markings, nighttime traffic safety should be the primary objective. Nearly 70%
of all fatalities occur at night. People wrongly assume that reflective
markings on the rear of a vehicle provide all the necessary nighttime
identification.
The fact is, nearly half of all car and
truck collisions are “T-bones.” Moreover, these types of crashes account for
more fatalities and greater property damage. Nearly all of these collisions
result in some injury to the car’s occupant.
Imagine a large truck slowly turning in
a poorly lit intersection and a speeding motorist approaching the intersection.
Drivers need ample warning, and side reflective markings that decorate the
vehicle’s full length help to alert them effectively.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
regulations require any carriers engaged in interstate commerce to use either
red-and-white retro-reflective striping (which reflects light back to its
source) or reflex reflectors on the sides and rear of tractor-trailer units.
These regulations cover semis, flatbed trailers and tankers with a gross
vehicle weight over 10,000 lbs. The rules also cover any tractor weighing more
than 2,032 lbs.
Simply put, nearly every fleet vehicle
that travels anywhere must have this striping, commonly referred to as
“conspicuity markings.” Red-and-white markings must cover at least half the
length of the sides of trailers and tractors, and must also be applied to the
underside protector or bumper on the rear of the trailer. Tractors must also
have reflective material applied to the bracketing system for mud flaps.
High-intensity reflective tape is an
important part of any fleet-graphics program. These stripes tell the motorist
the unit’s length and help determine the mass and shape of the unit. By using
highly reflective colors and positioning markings at a height where headlights
show the greatest reflective brilliance, motorists can see the vehicle more quickly.
This advance warning gives the motorist enough time to recognize the impending
danger and react appropriately.
According to NHTSA research, reflective
conspicuity markings provide drivers with the needed warning to avoid
accidents. Government research estimates that nearly 8,000 accidents are
prevented annually in the United States due to these markings. Avoiding these
accidents prevents $5 million in property damage losses every year. Further,
the NHTSA estimates that conspicuity markings have reduced rear collisions by
25%, and side-impact collisions by 15%.
Reflectivity basics
When I started in the business,
reflective sheets worked like mirrors. Appropriately, these products were
called “mirror-reflective.” However, mirror-reflective film’s biggest
shortcoming allowed motorists to see only reflective light when the headlights
were perpendicular to the vehicle surface. At any other angle, the light
reflected in the opposite direction, into the oblivion of the night.
Current reflective sheeting features the
unique characteristic of retroreflection. Two types of retro-reflective sheeting
are available: enclosed-lens, glass-bead sheeting, and microprismatic — or
“cube-corner” — retro-reflective material.
“Glass bead” sheeting features a complex
construction of many laminated layers. Thousands of microscopic glass beads are
embedded per square inch in these layers. Sandwiched between the adhesive and
the bead layer, a metalization layer is closely molded to the contoured
backside of the beads, and acts as a reflector. Light passes through the film’s
top layers and strikes this layer. Bouncing off the metalization layer, light
returns through the beads back to the light source.
Rather than glass beads, microprismatic
reflective material uses an embossed geometric pattern on the sheeting’s
interior surface to refract the light beam. By bouncing the light off different
planes of the pattern, the light is redirected back to its origin.
Various reflective film types and colors
are available from manufacturers such as Arlon, Avery Dennison and 3M™. Years
ago, the color selection for reflective sheeting was limited to approximately
10 colors. Today’s designers can choose colors like new gold, tomato red,
burgundy, light blue, purple and Kelly green.
Your selections should match the
physical characteristics and budget of the intended application. Consider the
substrate to which the markings will be applied.
Some reflective products can only be
applied to flat surfaces. Stiff sheeting used for conspicuity striping won’t
conform to rivets. When applying these types of products, the film must be cut
around the rivet head; special cutting tools have been developed for this
application. Using the proper installation tools and techniques, softer
reflective films conform to rivets, corrugations and other irregular surfaces.
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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.
Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.
Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 400 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published. Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon.
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