ADA signs come with a laundry list of requirements but that doesn’t mean they have to be dull. New substrates, colors and manufacturing techniques have all made the making of required ADA signage creative and fun.
ADA标识的制作要求有很多，但这并不代表我们的ADA标识就要沉闷、暗淡和无趣。新的板材，颜色和制作工艺可以让要求严格的ADA标识制作起来极富创意和趣味。
“ADA signage has come a long way from its origins as being very utilitarian. Designers and sign makers alikenow incorporate ADA-compliant signage as part of their larger signage vision,” says Kristin Kachur, marketing and publications coordinator for Rowmark. “Customers can decorate ADA-compliant materials through digital printing, custom painting and full-color sublimation. There are now so many different colors, substrates and mounting hardware that can be used while still remaining compliant, not to mention a variety of signage shapes, sizes and dimensions, and this has opened up a lot of creative possibilities.”
Kristin Kachur说：“ADA标识一直注重对残障人士的导视作用，现在的标识设计者和制作者都将ADA兼容标识纳入业务范围内。顾客可以通过数码打印、绘画和全彩升华来装饰ADA兼容材料，现在有很多可以运用的色彩、基板、安装硬件都在ADA的范围内，设计和制作者可以在标牌的形状、尺寸以及维度方面尽情发挥创造力。”
Scott Bigelow, president of Signs of Our Times Inc., a wholesale ADA Braille sign manufacturer based outside of Sacramento, California, admits that the trend in ADA signage is moving to digital, but it is not his favorite. “I’d rather work with real materials vs. printing ink on substrate and calling it a sign. For a yard sale sign or a billboard, that’s fine. When it comes to interior signs or ADA, I’m looking for something more than a printed sign. More creative. Design is the key to any good sign, especially ADA,” he says.
Signs of Our Times公司是一家位于美国加利福尼亚州的ADA盲文标识的生产和经销公司，其总裁Scott Bigelow表示，ADA标识正在趋于数字化，但他本人并不喜欢。他说：“与其将墨水打印在基板上，然后称其为‘标识’ ，我更喜欢在真实的材料上制作一个促销标牌或者一个广告板，至于室内导视牌或者ADA标识，我正在试图寻找一种更好的解决方式，这需要一种新思维。创新是标识成败的关键，尤其是ADA标识。”
Signs of Our Times works with clients all across the country. California has the most stringent ADA guidelines by far, Bigelow says. “The further east you go, the less strict they are about being compliant. They are coming out with machines and processes that make the job easier, faster and cheaper,” he says, but are they compliant?
Bigelow说，Signs of Our Times公司的业务遍布全国，到目前为止，加利福尼亚的ADA导视标识要求最苛刻。他说：“离东部地区越近，其兼容性要求越低，东部地区的标识公司一般都有相应的机器和程序来简化加工过程，降低成本。”但是，这种标识真的具有兼容性吗？
Some of the newest offerings he saw at a recent Las Vegas trade show included 3D printed ADA signs. The words were not spaced appropriately and were not the right height, he says.
在最近一次的拉斯维加斯的展会上Bigelow看到很多新型的标识，其中包括3D打印的ADA标识，但他表示，标识上的文字高度和空间布局都恰当。
ADA signs have to have a matte finish, so they are not reflective. The letters and pictograms must stand out in high contrast to the background and they must have braille lettering. Only certain fonts are ADA-compliant and letter height must be between 5/8 of an inch to 2 inches high, depending on sign width and height. Room must be left for a pictogram, like the male and female figures on a restroom sign, and the braille dots have required spacing and size and must be domed or rounded.
ADA标识的表面必须是磨砂面或者是喷砂面，以避免反光。标识上的文字和图画必须凸出基板一定的高度，而且必须带有盲文印。只有某些字体具有ADA兼容性，文字的高度只能在5/8英寸到2英寸之间，具体高度可根据标识的长和宽来确定。室内导视必须带有象形图帮助解释，例如，洗手间的标识上要带有男性和女性的人物形象。盲文点必须用圆点恰当地标注在标识上。
But recently, ADA signs have moved from the mundane to the magnificent. Many designers and architects are leaving traditional square or rectangular signs behind and adding different shapes and unique hardware to attach the signs to walls, says Jessica Heldman-Beck, marketing manager at Rowmark. There are new colors and substrates.
Rowmark公司的市场总监Jessica Heldman-Beck说，最近ADA标识从质朴转向了华丽。很多设计师和制作者抛弃了传统的正方形或者长方形的基座，采用一些形状各异的独特的基座将标识粘在墙上。色彩和基座越来越丰富。
Rowmark manufactures the plastic sheets that are used to make ADA signs. Many designers and architects are gravitating toward cast acrylics for their signage, Kachur says. Rowmark has responded to requests from the industry by developing new substrates that are suitable for ADA and tactile sign making.
Rowmark公司生产了很多主要应用于ADA标识的塑料基板，Kachur表示，越来越多的设计师和制作者倾向于亚克力板材。行业内不少人士要求Rowmark公司开发适用于ADA标识和触摸式标识的新板材。
Laser Glow photo luminescent acrylic material allows sign makers to create ADA-compliant safety and egress signage. All of these substrates work with laser and rotary engravers. One of the latest trends in ADA signage is the use of UV-LED printers. It can save companies a lot of time because there is less manual work and fewer steps involved, according to Rowmark.
激光切割的冷光亚克力板材可以应用于安全出口ADA兼容标识，这些材料需要用到激光切割机和旋转式雕刻机。目前在ADA标识生产中最新的趋势是UV-LED打印机的使用。它可以省去很多人工作业，从而节省时间。
GoVivid, Rowmark’s new digital printing division, offers a line of direct to substrate UV-LED digital printers that can produce ADA-compliant signage and printed, dimensional Braille. It can produce raised or textured images and shapes, including Braille. The ink doesn’t absorb into the substrate, so it sits on top of the surface and continually gets higher with continual passes of the printhead. The printer can be used on acrylics, wood, metal, foam board and canvas.
Rowmark公司最新推出的数码打印设备GoVivid，是一套提供基板打印的UV-LED数码打印机系统，它可以加工ADA兼容标识也能提供一般的打印服务，又能直接打印盲文符号。它可以打印浮雕图形也可以雕刻纹理图案，当然也包括盲文。它的墨水不会渗透到基板里，而是吸附在基板表面，随着喷头的的移动和不断喷墨，浮雕图形就形成了。它能适应很多材料，如亚克力板、木板、金属板、发泡板以及帆布等材料。
One of the biggest benefits to this technology is that it can produce ADA-compliant signage “on a mass scale without increasing staff size or using more resources,” Kachur says. “You can also dedicate more energy to the creativity, designs and color of the ADA signs, rather than the effort and time it takes to insert the Braille beads.” Bigelow recognizes that new technologies are making it easier to crank out ADA signs. He still loves the art of it and creating “something that stands out and will be unique.”
Frosted acrylic panel with woodgrain laminate backer and satin aluminum standoffs. Photo courtesy of Signs of Our Times.
磨砂亚克力板加木纹底座与光滑的铝制压铆螺母柱相得益彰。
Kachur说：“这项技术的最大亮点就是，在同样的技术、人员和物资条件下它能生产更高质量的ADA兼容标识。这样，我们就可以把精力放在标识的造型和色彩构成上，而不是思考如何在标识上嵌入盲文符号。”但Bigelow却觉得这项新技术只是让大规模生产ADA标识更简单而已。他还是更喜欢制作ADA标识的传统工艺，并希望自己可以创造出一些新颖独特的东西。
His company recently completed a project for a boutique hotel in Alaska. “Everything had not only the English language but the Inuit language, which was a neat project,” he says. What was interesting is that room numbers in Inuit are 25 characters long or so, he says. It was a challenge to fit the Inuit words on there and still make the signs attractive and unique. The owners of the hotel wanted each ADA-compliant sign to have its own unique pictograph, which was a major challenge, Bigelow adds. When he wants to make a project unique, he uses Chemetel, decorative acrylics or wood laminates.
他的公司最近刚于阿拉斯加州完成一项高级酒店里的项目。他说：“所有的标识不仅仅只有英语，还有当地的因纽特语言，这是一项很精致的项目。”他说，那些房间号码用因纽特文字表达的话需要大约25个字节，在标识上添加25字节后还能让其保持新颖独特是一项很有挑战性的工作。Bigelow补充道，更具挑战性的是，酒店的老板想让每一个标识都带上酒店独特的LOGO。他的项目里很多标识的基板都是采用亚克力和木板的叠层组合。
The project features woodgrain laminate panels with green edge acrylic backers and satin anodized aluminum bars. Photo courtesy of Signs of Our Times.
此项目以木纹板和绿色亚克力板以及电镀铝棒为主。
Signs of Our Times made the decision 10 years ago to get into wholesale ADA sign work because “many sign shops didn’t want to deal with it. They didn’t want to buy equipment,” Bigelow says. “We found our niche to do it. Ninety percent of our clients are other sign shops.” That works out great because Bigelow and his team can focus on the actual work instead of getting the job, sales, installation or trying to get paid. “All the headaches of the business,” he says with a laugh.
Signs of Our Times公司在十年前就决定大规模生产制作ADA标识，Bigelow说：“当时，很多广告公司不愿意在设备上投资，无法生产ADA标识，我们的客户中有90%都是广告公司，这让我们在利基市场大赚了一笔。”Bigelow笑着说：“工作中所有的不愉快都消失了。”他和他的团队可以投入到实际的工作中，而不是想着如何拿订单、生产、销售、安装了，这种模式运行的非常顺畅。
“The biggest fear for most people is the laws,” Bigelow says. “They are fairly straightforward, not that complicated. That’s our biggest hurdle is trying to educate our clients about what is compliant and what is not compliant. We offer good resources on our website.” Bigelow adds that he enjoys focusing on the ADA segment of the sign industry. “There is a vast market for it,” he says. “On the wholesale level there’s a need forservicing other sign shops.”
Bigelow说：“绝大多数人担心的是法律，它们浅显易懂，不是很难，我们最大的障碍就是让我们的客户明白什么是兼容什么是不兼容。在我们的网站上有很多相关的资源来帮助客户理解。”在标识行业里，Bigelow最喜欢ADA标识。他说：“ADA标识在大规模生产上有巨大的市场潜力。”
