Five businesses modify their sign production to assist those affected by COVID-19.
有五家公司为了应对新冠的影响，帮助困难人群，改变了标识业务的方向。
In our May issue, we devoted ample words to COVID-19 and how the virus is affecting the signage and graphics industry, with our headline feature in part checking in with sign businesses. Were they open or closed? If they were open, why had they been declared “essential businesses,” and what safety measures had they implemented? And in general, how were signshops grappling with their new realities?
五月份时，曾有人对“新冠疫情是如何影响标识行业”的问题进行过研究：标识行业在疫情期间应该开工还是停工？在开工的情况下，为什么原先并不为人看重的行业为什么突然成为“基础服务”？在疫情期间开工，标识行业实施了哪些安全措施？最重要的是，标识公司应该如何应对这一新局面？
This month, the focus is on sign businesses, print shops and sign-industry-adjacent companies that have altered their output or formed new initiatives to aid the COVID-19 relief effort, from honoring frontline healthcare workers to putting out-of-work artists back on the job.
以下介绍的这五间公司，重点业务均为标识业务，公司性质有印刷店、标识设计等，他们在这数月间的运营方针是对以上几个问题最好的回答：他们改变了产品的产量，或者改变了生产结构，以帮助新冠疫情的救灾工作。
这些公司或代表人们表彰一线医疗工作者，或是帮助失职艺术家重新找到工作···贡献不可谓不大。
Indiewalls (New York)
Indiewalls公司
Indiewalls is a New York City-based company that connects designers with independent artists in corporate design settings, with its client list including Marriott, Starwood and Hilton: “Exactly the type of business getting hit by the market freefall and hotel shutdowns,” said CEO Gavi Wolf. Waiting in line at his local grocer, Wolf was struck by “drab six-feet-apart” signage, and came up with a new concept. Today, each “Indiesign” is custom-designed by an independent artist who has lost work because of COVID-19. The signs present information in a positive and vibrant manner even as they adhere to CDC guidelines. A portion of the proceeds goes directly to the artist.
Indiewalls是纽约的一间标识设计公司，在企业内部的工作环境中，喜欢将专业设计师和独立艺术家组合起来开展工作，主要客户有：万豪、喜达屋和希尔顿，用公司执行总裁加维·沃尔夫的话说：“正是市场上那些饱受疫情冲击，收入呈现出‘自由落体’状的酒店行业。”
疫情期间的一天，沃尔夫在杂货店中排队，无意间看见了一面名为“单调的六英尺”有关新冠疫情的标识作品，被其中的创意深深震撼，于是他提出了一个新概念：公司将继续运行为新冠疫情做出努力，制作与疫情相关的标识作品，并且每个这样的标识都要由一位因疫情失去工作的独立艺术家来设计。
如今，Indiewalls公司已经制作出很多这样的标识，标识的内容都依照“新冠疫情防控指南”制作，已积极而充满活力的方式提供这些信息，收益的一部分归艺术家们所有。
Custom floor, wall and window signs have been produced for several large hotel groups, with Wolf hoping to expand Indiesigns’ offerings to restaurants, supermarkets, pet stores and “really anyone who is open or opening up. …We want the process of sourcing signage to be easy, positive and more beautiful,” Wolf said. “We see a lot of opportunity in how signage is designed and purchased and we plan on helping it change for the better.”
与Indiewalls公司合作的几家大型酒店已经定制了印有这些标识的底板、墙壁、和窗户，沃尔夫希望这些标识产品能进一步扩展到餐厅、超市、宠物店，更重要的是，能提醒到每一个人。沃尔夫说：“我们还希望在疫情期间，标识的采购过程也能变得更简单、积极、美观···另外，在标识的设计方面，我们也看到了很多的机会，并且已经有计划进行更好的改动。”
ER2 Image Group (Hanover Park, IL)
ER2平面设计集团
ER2 Image Group’s COVID-19 response was multifold: vinyl application, signmaking and the manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE). ER2 branded a side of its building with “We’re all in this together,” in 3M IJ8624 vinyl. According to Alan Schellerer, vice president/partner of ER2, to further personalize the sentiment, each of the company’s 65 employees signed pieces of paper. The signatures were then vectorized, cut out of textured vinyl and applied near the quote.
ER2平面设计集团对应新冠的策略更为多样：乙烯基的应用，标识制作，制造个人防护设备。ER2用3M的乙烯基树脂为建筑物的一侧打上“我们在一起”的标识烙印。
ER2副总裁艾伦·谢勒尔表示，为了进一步针对用户需求进行个性化定制，公司的65名员工先将自己的名字签在纸条上，然后将签名进行矢量化，保证其不会变形，然后将签名打印在乙烯基上贴在报价单旁边。
The company has also donated 1,000 signs to the community, encouraging locals to express their appreciation for medical professionals or first responders as part of a positivity-driven social media campaign by ER2. Finally, Schellerer said that ER2 – typically a full-service grand format printing company – has converted much of its resources to producing PPE and “other types of COVID-prevention signage,” and is educating its staff about selling such signage as companies return to work.
ER2还向社区捐赠了1000个标识，鼓励社区中的居民对专业医疗人员和急救人员的感谢，这是ER2积极推动的社交媒体活动中的一部分。最后，谢勒尔说：“ER2在以前是一家提供全方位服务的大幅面印刷公司，现在已将大部分资源和设备转换为生产个人防护用品和‘其他类型的新冠预防标识’，并且教育员工如何在复工后出售此类标识。”
Image360 Tucker (Tucker, GA)
Image360公司
The pre-pandemic versatility to produce virtually any type of sign or graphic has served Image360 Tucker well in recent months. In late March, Image360 offered a finite amount of free banners to Tucker-area restaurants to let potential customers know that take-out and/or delivery were available. The company also used its HP Scitex FB550 printer to produce 350 24 x 18-in. Coroplast yard signs for the local school system to indicate that playgrounds were closed throughout the school district. They also cranked out 200 free graduation signs for the local high school, “to give the seniors a fraction of their joy back,” per Senior Vice President Earl Walker. Image360 Tucker’s ShopSabre CNC router was put to use by fabricating sneeze guards – made with clear ¼-in. acrylic material – for essential businesses while Georgia’s shelter-in-place order was in effect.
Image360公司在疫情之前置办的通用型专业设备几乎可以生产任何类型的标识或图形，在近几个月中已经为其带来数之不尽的好处。
3月下旬，Image360开始向塔克地区的餐馆提供了有限数量的免费横幅标识，以使潜在客户知道其仍然能进行外卖或送货。Image360还用添置的惠普Scitex FB550打印机生产了350份60*45厘米大小的新冠防护标识，送给当地的学校系统，向人们提示学校操场已经封闭。Image360的高级副总裁厄尔·沃克介绍：“我们还为当地的高中提供了200个免费的毕业标志，让毕业生们不要留下遗憾。”
Image360公司的ShopSabre数控雕刻机可以将亚克力制作成口罩（厚度6毫米），佐治亚州政府已经签署了临时庇护令，宣布其成为“基础服务”。
The shop has since produced sneeze guards for other businesses after shelter-in-place was lifted in late April. The company has also made 12-in.-round floor decals for a local jewelry store to promote patron and employee safety. “These capabilities have not allowed us to ‘make up’ for the lost job opportunities caused by the pandemic, as our industry has been heavily affected,” Walker said. “However, it gave us the ability to fabricate orders while typical signage under ‘normal circumstances’ was being cancelled.”
4月下旬取消隔离限制后，Image360还为其他企业生产口罩，该公司还未当地一家珠宝店制作了30厘米高的底板贴画，以提醒顾客和员工注意安全，沃克说：“由于标识行业受到严重影响，这些功能虽然不能帮助公司弥补由于疫情造成的失业，但是至少能够帮助公司接到订单。”
St. Louis Sign & Mural (St. Louis)
圣路易斯标识和壁画设计所
According to Dan Ricketts, the founder and owner of St. Louis Sign & Mural , when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US, all of his “large jobs” were put on hold. He countered by offering temporary paper signage for window fronts, advertising his work on social media. A request came in about making a yard sign saying, “We are all in this together.” Ricketts posted a photo of that sign, and instantly received five additional orders. “I knew these were going to be a hit, so I came up with three more designs,” he said.
圣路易斯标识和壁画设计所的创始人丹·里基茨说道：“当新冠疫情袭击美国时，我们公司所有的‘大业务’都只能被搁置，为了对疫情做出反击，我在窗前立起一个临时的纸质标牌，并且在社交媒体上做广告，表示会制造提示新冠疫情的标识。当我发布出该标识的照片后，立即接到了五份订单，我知道这样的产品一定会受到欢迎，因此又新增了三种设计。”
Ricketts spray-paints the background of the signs, pounces the design and hand-paints the sketch using lettering brushes and 1Shot or Alphanamel paints. St. Louis Sign & Mural donated $10 from each sign sold to Gateway180, a service provider for homeless people in St. Louis; Ricketts reached his donation goal of $500 in early May. “It’s been a great way to stay busy, improve my brush skills and help others all at once,” he said.
里基茨使用绘制标识专用笔和涂料进行标识背景的制作，并以手工紧急绘制草图。设计所从售出的每个标识中捐出10美元给帮助无家可归者的慈善机构，截止5月，一共捐赠了5000美元。里基茨说道：“这不仅让公司有事可做，能提高我的制作技巧，更重要的是能帮助更多的人。”
Synergy Sign & Graphics (Strasburg, OH)
Synergy平面设计公司
Synergy Sign & Graphics has used its MultiCam 3000 series CNC router to cut surgical mask extenders – or “ear savers” – to donate to local nurses and hospitals. Owner Jim Dawson estimated that Synergy has donated 10 extenders for each one they have sold (to pay for material costs). Synergy has also beamed out the mask extender files to over 50 shops worldwide, crediting SA International’s EnRoute software for the smooth programming.
Synergy平面设计公司使用他们的MultiCam3000数控雕刻机制作手术口罩护耳器，捐赠给当地的护士以及医院，公司老板吉姆·道森估计，一只护耳器的出售价格就能担负起十只护耳器的制作成本，这位捐赠工作减轻了很大负担，Synergy公司还向全球50多家商店提供了制作护耳器的扩展文件。
One of the shops on the receiving end of Synergy’s files was Signverse (Stoneham, MA) , whose co-owner, Drew Juliano, was named one of Signs of the Times’ 2020 Makers of Tomorrow. “We have it down to a science now,” Dawson said. “We can make about 4,000 pieces in a little over two hours.”
接收Synergy公司文件的企业中，有一间名为Signverse的公司，这间公司的所有人德鲁·朱利亚诺被《时代》杂志评为2020年的明日之星。道森说：“现在的标识行业已经是一门专业的科学，我们可以在两个多小时的时间内制造大约4000件产品。”
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