Smaller sign companies with a bit of experience under their belts often wonder how easy it might be to break into some new territory – can your expertise and some basic equipment (some already on-hand as well) allow you to become a master of channel letter installation, for instance?
拥有少量专业制作经验的小型标识公司常常在想，怎样才能更容易地开拓一些新领域？那么他们可以检验一下自己是否具备成为槽形发光字安装领导者的专业知识和基本设备。
Industry insiders say the steps required to begin doing channel letter install jobs are not impossible, especially if you outsource the sign construction work to a wholesaler. The real trick, most say, is mastering the skills and know-how to manage the business bureaucracy, government regulations and approvals required for most signs, which can present the biggest challenges for newcomers – not to mention the electrical and construction skills often required for even basic channel letter jobs.
业内人士表示，想要开始做槽形发光字安装工作也不是不可能的，尤其是当你将标识加工过程外包给批发商。大多数人都说，标识制作真正的诀窍是掌握制作技能，并了解按照政府法规如何处理业务，这是新手面临的最大挑战，更不用说槽形发光字制作项目所需的基本电气知识和制作技能了。
Warren Sciortino, owner of LetterFab, a sign manufacturer and wholesaler located in Crested Butte, Colorado, says he has plenty of clients who are doing great business on a do-it-yourself basis, using manufacturers to tackle the sign-making work and then simply renting lift equipment from a big-box home construction store for their install work.
坐落于科罗拉多甘尼森机场的LetterFab公司，是一家标识制造商和批发商，其负责人沃伦·斯提诺称，他有很多自己做大型标识项目的客户，他们都是让标识制造商处理制作过程，然后从一家大型房屋建筑公司租用举升装置，以此来完成安装工作的。
“I sell signs to one guy who used to work for a bigger sign company – he went out and bought a lift, and now he does the service work and installation himself, and loves it, and makes good money,” Sciortino says. “A lot of people are getting into it, and even picking up their own equipment, as bigger sign companies sell off their crane trucks because of CDL concerns or overall expenses.”
斯提诺说：“我将标识卖给一个为大型标识公司工作过的人，他离职后买了一台举升装置，自己做标识安装工作，他热爱这个过程，并且赚了不少钱。由于大型标识公司对CDL和总体费用有所担忧，很多人都正朝着这个方向发展，有的甚至在挑选他们自己的设备。”
But before cruising the classifieds looking for major hardware, Sciortino cautions newcomers to consider the much broader skill set they’ll need to be able to translate a potential client’s cocktail napkin sketches into attractive and acceptable signage, much less the sometimes daunting work of drilling through other people’s property to do a proper install job.
但是在挑选硬件装置之前，斯提诺提醒新手们要先掌握更多的技能，比如能够将潜在客户的印花餐巾纸图案转变成吸引人的、合人意的标识，或是掌握钻探作业的安装过程。
“The biggest problem with a good installation is the need to ask all the right questions,” he says. “You’ve got to take pictures of signs in the area and see what the other guys have, the colors and the styles. And then it all depends on the landlord and his specs, and those can be tight. The landlord doesn’t want you putting a lot of holes through his building, either.”
他说：“进行完美安装过程的关键是需要问清所有问题。你可以在这片区域内拍下所有标识图片，观察它们已有的颜色和风格，接下来要做成什么样的标识就完全取决于房东的标准了，他可能会很严格，因为房东也不想让你在他的房屋上钻太多孔。”
Franchisees, such as folks opening their own UPS store, will often be able to get company-approved drawings demonstrating appropriate signage styles, but Sciortino says even those require specialized expertise to render and install correctly.
像那些经营自己的UPS商铺一样的特许经营人，经常能得到企业认可的标识风格图案，但是斯提诺说，即使是那些风格也需要具备专业技能的人来安装。
“They’ll get drawings for both direct and raceway styles; raceway is a lot less expensive, as you just have to run a whip through, wire it up and do the installation, which you could do in a couple of hours,” he says. “Direct is much more complicated, with direct wiring and power supplies for each letter, and metal boxes per UL standards. Sometimes a disconnect switch will also be required. They can be a big job with lots of bucket-time.”
他说：“他们可以购买直线型或弯道型字体风格，弯道型的会更便宜一些，因为你只需接通一根电线，然后将标识安装起来就可以了，几个小时之内就能完成。而直线型更复杂，因为需要给每个字母都安装上电线和电源，有的时候还会需要一个隔离开关，需要花费大量时间才能完成。”
Bob Chapa, president of Signarama of Troy/Metro Detroit, says the municipal and county regulations governing the size, style and brightness of any channel letter job can also be a headache for newcomers, especially if they haven’t dealt with the issues (or the government departments and documents) related to public signage.
特洛伊/底特律Signarama公司总裁鲍勃·沙帕说，市、县政府对发光字尺寸、风格和亮度的规定，对新手来说也是一件很头疼的事，尤其是当他们处理不好有关公共标识规定的问题时。
Chapa’s Signarama branch is unique to that chain in that it has both a full-fledged manufacturing team and an experienced sales and design team who can handle the site inspections and much of the bureaucracy required for his Southeastern Michigan-area clients. That leaves them with just the install work to worry about.
沙帕的Signarama分公司拥有独一无二的资源，它有成熟的生产团队和经验丰富的销售及设计团队，他们可以为密歇根州地区的客户处理现场检测事项、联系所需的官僚机构，之后他们就只需进行安装工作了。
“We go out and conduct a detailed site survey, checking out all of the neighbors’ signage and hopefully getting ahead of the curve, permit-wise, by seeing what that city has already allowed,” he says. “And then the design process is just as important, with someone who understands their brand and how they want it represented. Most logos would look terrible if you just simply lit them up as they were.”
他说：“我们做了详细的现场调研，观察所有邻里的标识类型，希望能在符合城市制作准则下，做出更新颖的标识。接下来的设计过程也是很重要的，设计师必须了解他们的品牌以及他们期望的效果。如果你只是将标识照亮，那么大多数商标看起来都会很难看。”
Chapa’s team then applies for the necessary permits with full renderings of the finished work. After years of experience dealing with municipal code, Chapa says his team is able to get most local channel letter sign jobs approved in a week.
沙帕团队接下来就向政府监管部门申请制作整个标识的许可。经过多年的标识制作许可申请经验，沙帕说他的团队在一周之内就能得到当地对发光字制作项目的批准。
Working with clients further across the U.S. and in the Caribbean, Sciortino says he’s seen regulations becoming more complex over the years, with some cities requiring engineered drawings, some asking for UL labels on practically every component of signage, and others requiring both an electrical license and a sign installation license to do their job.
在与美国和加勒比地区客户的进一步合作中，斯提诺说，他发现近几年来标识制作准则变得越来越复杂，有些城市要求有工程图纸，有些要求标识的每个部件都有美国UL认证标志，还有的要求电气许可证和标识安装许可证。
Those adventurous souls who want to tackle the design and regulatory approval processes themselves but not deal with the headache and cost of assembling signage themselves can also collaborate with a sign wholesaler such as Richmond, Ohio’s Sign America, which manufactures signage in a largely automated facility, according to client specs.
那些想要自己解决设计过程和监管部门批准过程的企业还可以和标识批发商合作，例如俄亥俄州里士满的Sign America公司，它可以根据客户的标识项目大规模进行自动化生产加工。
Sign America’s Kim Cronin says the process is fairly simple, provided that a sign shop has done its homework and prepared signage that will be suitable (and compatible) with its customers’ needs and physical space.
Sign America公司总裁金姆·克罗宁说，我们公司的标识加工过程相当简单，只要标识商铺自身的工作已经完成，然后将符合客户需求和实体空间要求的标识提供给我们就可以了。
“Small and large companies have told me over the years that it is less expensive to order from a wholesaler than to fabricate themselves,” she says. “Customers obtain artwork for a project and order the job, and then all parts of the channel letter are cut and routed and the faces are trimmed and the letters are assembled. Then we add LED lighting and UL labels, and package it for shipping.”
她说：“多年来与小公司和大公司合作的经验告诉我，将标识生产过程外包给批发商比自己加工更划算。客户得到项目的标识样品后开始分配任务，然后将发光字切割成型、修剪其表面、将其组装起来。然后再将LED照明系统和UL标志安装上，打包好后运输。”
No matter who supplies the signage, Sciortino says the installation process can present a wide variety of hurdles, and certainly requires a steep learning curve.
斯提诺说，无论是通过哪种方式制作标识，其安装过程会出现各种各样的问题，这确实需要不断地积累经验。
“You’ve got to go out and look at what you’ve got to deal with,” he says. “Do you have attic access? Are you going to have to drill through brick – some brick walls are three inches thick and then you still have 15 to 18 inches of block to drill through. Most shopping centers put up half-inch to three-quarter-inch blocking, and you can just bolt or screw the sign onto that.”
他说：“你必须要去了解那些你需要解决的问题。你知道阁楼的入口吗？你打算把砖块穿透吗？——有些砖块大概3英寸厚，你还需要再穿透15到18英寸厚的障碍物。大多数购物中心的墙壁通常有半英寸到四分之三英寸厚的障碍物，你用螺栓或螺钉就可以将标识安装到墙壁上。”
As a sign wholesaler, he’s also happy to let new installers know when they may be in over their heads on a first-time project.
作为标识批发商，他很乐意告诉新的安装人员，他们在进行第一个项目时需要注意哪些问题。
“Sometimes, we’ll call them back and ask, ‘how is this mounted? What’s the size of the lift you’re using?’ You have to take the responsibility for the installation, and I can tell when the client really doesn’t know a lot about the job.”
他说：“有时我们会打电话给安装人员，问他们‘这是怎么安装的？你们用的举升装置是多大的？’你必须承担起标识安装过程的责任，我敢说客户对这项工作真的不甚了解。” |
