Ok, so my wife reminds me that I am not perfect (sometimes) and that on rare occasions during an intense design process when changes and revisions are flying back and forth between clients and salespeople, I have overlooked a few details (like picking up milk while I’m in town, ha ha). However, I remember one project where I had designed a corner mounted dimensional cabinet sign that forced everyone in fabrication to pay a little closer attention to detail. 

 

It was a visually interesting design that tip-toed around the city’s sign code restriction on the distance it could project from the wall. In order to maintain the integrity of the design I was forced to settle for less-than-optimum wrench room for anyone to reach very deep inside the cabinet. All service connections had to be located near the outside edge of the cabinet in one central place somewhere near the access panel. I was asked by the Lead Fabricator to let them determine where the service access panel and power supply connections should be located for easiest access in the field, and I agreed (a common practice in most shops). For my previous writing about wrench room, visit http://sdgmag.com/article/designing-monuments-electronics.

 

The sign install would have been fast and easy, but unfortunately the project manager for this job (me) was out of the office on the day the sign was finished and installed. Because of a simple miscommunication, the power supply was mounted in the wrong place. And before it was all said and done, the sign required an in-field rewire to move the power supply and wiring harnesses. The combined efforts of attempting the install, removing the sign, fixing the problem and starting all over again added three hours to an estimated two-hour install job. 

 

We (the shop crew and management) took steps to ensure future jobs don’t suffer the same fate. We are all human and these are the lessons we learn in design/fab/install on a daily basis. It reminds us how important it is to have a couple sets of eyes review the drawings and the finished sign before it goes into the field for install.

 

I’d like to make a point: Architecturally speaking!

In addition to the challenges faced inside the cabinet from a lack of wrench room, there are some equally challenging considerations to make when designing decorative aluminum architectural elements for monument or pylon signs. 

 

We’ve all seen those magnificent monuments that feature large spirals, fans, crowns and tons of creative dimensional features. Some designers, myself included, like to add visual interest with dimensional elements that might form a point, curve or spire on the sign. Whenever an architectural element like this has to be fabricated, the designer should take time to consider the fabrication challenges of such an element. One of the biggest oversights I see new designers make is not considering how their masterpiece will be fabricated and how it will be “blindly” attached (without visible fasteners) to the monument or display. 

 

Some architectural elements are as simple as a routed piece of .250 aluminum bolted to the cabinet, but in most cases the necessity of using heavy plate aluminum prohibits it from being curved or shaped very easily. As you can see in Illustration A, most dimensional fabrication includes some sort of internal framework with an aluminum skin. That means your “pointy” architectural element will have a “return” on it rather than being cut from a single piece of flat aluminum. As in this example, the elements’ “point” could be fabricated using 1" square tube plus the aluminum skin (.125 x 2 sides), which would give you a finished return depth of 1.25" Any size internal frame stock could work; it’s up to you and your fabricator as to what will work best for the design. The finished “point” will have clean routed edges with the face and back skins chemically bonded (glued) to the 1" x 1" internal frame for a smooth finish. This is just one example of how to fabricate a pointed element. With the help of your production manager, you can learn more about your shops capabilities in custom fabrication. As always, walk through the fabrication steps before you design it, and don’t be afraid to get feedback from your production manager early in the process. Of course, for some of you I understand this will be a one-person conversation.

 

Space is tight, so build in a little wiggle room

Let’s say your design begins with the customer requesting a recessed lighting feature that will provide a soft down-glow on the front face of the monument sign. The light has to be enclosed into the top cap and still be easily serviceable should the ballast need replacement. (See Illustration B) In this example, I mentally walked through the process on how the fabricators would build this top cap. Working within the design I created, I considered the first step of laying out the framework using 1" x 2" rectangle tube. Once the frame is completed (and before the aluminum skin is applied) it’s easy to mount the florescent light in place using aluminum clips. The challenge is getting to it after it’s been assembled and it’s in the field.

 

With this design, if a service call is required in the field, the light assembly can be accessed (through the top) and removed in a couple of easy steps. If for some reason the front clips need to be repositioned to accommodate a larger light, the light fixture can be removed exposing the front clips. With the light unit out of the way, the front clips can then be bent back just enough to get a long screwdriver in to remove them for repositioning. 

 

Taking the time to design flexible brackets, planning your internal framing, designing elements that are buildable, calculating wrench room, providing accurate scale dimensioning and having a true working knowledge about your designs (that you can defend) will help you gain respect in the eyes of your project managers, fabricators and installers, and perhaps even your boss. The few extra minutes you spend in the beginning of the design process will pay off with big dividends when your designs are estimated, built and installed without issue.