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Month: October 2021

Graphic Overlays: Visual and Functional Options

Hallmark Nameplate is capable of producing the highest quality graphic overlays, and are committed to quality from initial conception to the completion and testing of your product. By using state-of-the-art equipment and collaborating with a talented engineering and design team, there’s no doubt that you’re entrusting your time, energy, and finances with the best business for the job, however big or small.

When it comes to graphic overlays, there are extensive options, such as screen versus digital printing. This is similar to nameplate production with the exception that they require further processing for features like embossing, trans-colored display windows, or selective texturing. While these features do add time to the start-to-finish time spent on your project, they allow for a vast amount of functionality.

Check out the options you have when designing your one-of-a-kind graphic overlay:

Window Panel Options

Transparent windows are almost self-explanatory and are used in a variety of military, commercial, and industrial applications. Overlays with transparent windows are most often found on various types of testing equipment, switch plates, monitoring equipment, and many hand-held devices where information needs to be visible. Imagine a graphic overlay with transparent windows on a piece of medical equipment, in a hospital or an ambulance, that displays information such as a temperature or heart rate. This is a great example of selective texturing and may be just what you’re looking for if you’re operating a similar piece of equipment.
Selective texturing is a way of customizing the gloss level of a graphic overlay in certain areas, while at the same time leaving other areas unprinted. Normally, this is done in order to match the gloss levels of the substrate, and leave open areas for LED or clear windows. However, it can also be used to create decorative effects. While transparent windows allow for the whole graphic overlay to be covered, with some sections transparent for light to shine through, selective texturing leaves open, completely unprinted space within the overlay.

Embossed Area Options

Pad embossing is unique in that it raises the entire key above the surface of an overlay. It covers an entire key or button, which greatly elevates functionality by adding dimension and depth to otherwise two-dimensional surfaces.

While pad and dome embossing create elevations for keys above the surface of a graphic overlay, perimeter embossing raises the surface of just the outside edges of a key, which creates what feels like an indentation or depression below the substrate.

Dome embossing creates a tactile dome or textured raised area above a key that, unlike pad embossing, is not a flat key placed above an overlay. Based on what your needs are for the functionality of your graphic overlay, we can create a special shape, size, force, or other parameters.

Resistance Options

Abrasion resistance is the ability of a fabric or material to resist surface wear caused by flat rubbing contact with another material. Of course, if you’re looking for a graphic overlay for machinery or tools that require a lot of contact with hands or repeated movements, this is a concern for you.

Chemical resistance, similarly, is the ability of a material to resist surface wear caused by contact with certain chemicals. The resistance of a material or a surface can be determined in compliance with ISO 2812.

In order to create the best graphic overlay possible to suit your needs, we suggest answering the following questions:

  • What type of environment will the overlay be used in? Dry, wet, hot, cold, chemical, UV, etc.?
  • What type of surface will it be mounted to?
  • Is there a window? Does it need to be trans-colored?
  • Is there embossing required? If so, which type?
  • Is selective texturing required?

Having concrete answers for all of these questions will help the creative process. Because of the additional features and processing, graphic overlays are more labor-intensive and have a larger production time than simpler nameplates. However, once we’ve worked through the engineering and design process, we always work to produce high-quality, color-consistent order fulfillment that will not just meet your expectations but exceed them. If you are concerned about graphic design or engineering concerns, rest assured that we offer these services to support your needs, can print digitally, and offer ISO 9001:2000 Registered quality assurance.

If you’re looking to start your next graphic overlay project and are seeking a partnership with a business that won’t disappoint, contact Hallmark Nameplate today!

Chemical resistance in graphic overlays

We produce only the finest quality nameplates, graphic overlays, and electronic assemblies. Our team is trained on the highest standards of quality control, as evidenced by our ISO 9001: 2008 certification.

Many of our clients manufacture products for use in hospitals, aircraft, and military facilities where they may come into contact with chemicals. Our graphic overlays are chemically resistant in select materials, meaning a long-lasting product and better value.

For us, quality comes down to processes in our production facility combined with materials designed to withstand the pressures of everyday use. Our graphic overlays come in a variety of materials. During our quote and design process, we’ll recommend materials based on your plans for use. If you need chemically resistant graphic overlays for your product, contact us today for high quality chemical resistance built to withstand even the toughest conditions.

Why Should Overlays be Chemical Resistant?

Graphic overlays are typically used on the control panels of everything from ATM machines to window air conditioners and are especially useful when a visually pleasing appearance is wanted between the user and the machine. The overlays are often exposed to a lot of different environments and elements that can corrode the material and make it impossible to read the designs. To counter this, some overlays are made to be resistant to chemicals and other environmental factors. Here is an overview of graphic overlays and the need to make them chemical resistant.

How are graphic overlays made?

Graphic overlays typically have 3 substrates. The bottom substrate is the adhesive backing that is used to attach to overlay to the face of the control panel. The middle substrate contains the designs and colors that you look at to see which areas you need to press down on the overlay to activate the control panel to perform different procedures. The top substrate is typically made of polyester or polycarbonate material that you can see through to see the designs. It also protects the graphics from getting damaged under normal conditions. The layers are pressed together and the overlay is cut into shape using a precision die-cutting machine.

What type of things can harm an overlay?

There are many environmental and manufacturing conditions that can damage the protective cover on the overlay and the graphics. Things like ultraviolet rays coming from the sun, grease, chemicals, and usage can cause damage that will reduce the lifespan of an overlay and render it useless earlier than expected. The surface of the overlay in stressful situations needs to have an added protective coating to help to minimize unnecessary damage. The protective coating will dramatically slow down the rate at which an overlay will deteriorate over time under normal and extreme conditions.

What type of protective coating is used?

A hard coat is typically used. Hard coats are made out of resin that when it hardens protects against chemicals, scratches, and abrasions. The hard coat is used when the overlay is going to be used in harsh environments or when the control panel is expected to have heavy use. There are a number of different hard coats that can be used depending on the application of the overlay. The decision on which one to use is based on several factors including what you want the final product to look like, any electronic requirements that have to be taken into account, and how durable the film has to be for the environment the overlay will be used in.

Polyester is more resistant to chemical exposure and damage than polycarbonate and will usually last for roughly 1 million actuations (when someone is pressing down on the overlay) or more under normal circumstances, and a hard coat is usually added if abrasive substances are going to come into contact with the overlay. Polycarbonate, on the other hand, is a softer material that will normally withstand someone actuating the overlay around 100,000 times. Hard coats are often added to polycarbonate to protect it against chemicals.

Which is better: polyester or polycarbonate?

The decision between using polyester or polycarbonate comes down to cost, durability, and appearance. If the control panel has a high volume of usage, polyester is a good choice because of its durability. The less durable polycarbonate is good for low volume usage since it isn’t going to be used as much and doesn’t need to be as durable as polyester. However, if appearance is a big issue, polycarbonate is best to use since it is transparent and the designs and colors of an overlay stand out better than when polyester is used.

If you want to learn more about which products and hard coatings you should use for your overlays, you should contact us. We have the expertise based on years of knowledge and experience to help you decide which type of graphic overlay material and hard coat would be best to use to meet your needs and requirements.

How Graphic Overlays Keep Your Brand Consistent

Regardless of whether you own or operate a business, or what kind of business you have, one of the best investments of your time, money, and other resources, is your brand. It’s a fact that until recently has been ignored by all but the most astute of marketers. And even by those who will tell you that they are conscious of their brand and its potential for helping their business grow and maintain its viability as a marketplace contender. There is often little attention paid to the finer points of brand management. This includes, but is not limited to the consistency of the consistency of its presentation.

Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

It’s been said in many different ways, but it’s all the same: the most important element of branding is consistency, consistency, and consistency. Or said another way, it matters little if you have a brand identity if you have a different look to that brand every time a client or customer sees it. As your visual identity is created to effectively identify you and make you stand out from the multitudes, all of your work is for naught if you neglect how the visuals of your brand are presented.

The good news in this is that not only is it easy to create a visual brand, but it is just as easy to maintain it. How? With graphic overlays. Simply put, by creating a style guide and establishing boundaries and understandings with a consensus to follow it, you give your internal clients all of the tools they need to carry out an effective branding program, with the support of customizable graphic overlays.

Finding Your Voice

It might seem so elementary, especially to those who have never been responsible for maintaining a brand’s identity, but certain tools such as graphic overlays can contribute to a huge degree in the maintenance of a brand. Otherwise, as it might be easy to say that certain factors will be maintained in the presentation of a brand, but carrying it out is an entirely different and difficult matter. For example, even among some of the strongest brands in the world, there are slip-ups: incorrect typefaces, different shades of color, unbalanced design elements, and much more. Fortunately, with graphic overlays, these issues can be virtually eliminated.

Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer

It’s been said that some people march to the beat of a different drummer. That might be fine in encouraging people to be different, but when it comes to brand identification, it can prove disastrous. And when you consider the amounts of time and money that are spent developing these identities it is easy to understand the concerns with even slight variances of these designs. Furthermore, with graphic overlays that are distributed for use among all users, it should be of little trouble in keeping a brand’s identity uniform.

Keeping the font of a brand is one element that is often missed, especially in these times of dramatic expansion of social media and other branches of the media. This is true even if there is little emphasis on any particular given part of a brand such as with typefaces, logo, and others.

By using graphic overlays, you can let your company choices be your guide, whether the final selection be larger logos, different fonts of type or practically anything else.

Changing Your Brand

Maintaining the success of your brand is only one part of the equation that is made easier by the use of a graphic overlay. Did you ever try to change your logo or other elements of your brand and for some time afterward have to continually correct the use others made of your brand. These kinds of problems are also virtually eliminated when you use graphic overlays to make sure that everyone is on the same page when a brand, regardless of the extent, is changed.

Just as is the case with so many other parts of the branding game, when you employ the services of a professional and experienced firm in the creation and maintenance of your brand, you can virtually assure yourself that any transition will be a smooth one.

Why Your Environment Affects Graphic Overlays

Selecting a graphic overlay can be a difficult decision to make. After all, you not only have to make choices in terms of the traditional elements of design (size, shape, color, etc.), but there are other issues that practically no one considers. Making matters worse, these unforeseen issues can create a disaster from what was originally a creative as well as a strategic victory. This article will outline the major environmental factors that can affect graphic overlays.

Robust Materials

There can be little doubt that when materials for a project are selected, a multitude of factors are taken into consideration. Not only that, but those who make these decisions are, more often than not, well versed in the requirements of the job they perform. Instead, if there is a weak link in the process it’s the client, whether they be internal or external to the designer, who will often insist on sacrificing the quality needed for a graphic overlay to survive even standard usage, much less that which might be out of the ordinary for environmental factors. Despite other concerns, the sturdiness of the materials used should be a prime consideration for anyone who is involved in the selection for a project. Environmental issues should play as much, if not more of a concern in the project than other elements.

An astute graphic designer can play an important part in the selection of graphic overlays that can endure the test of not only foreseen circumstances such as time and production but others such as the environment, which often play just as much a part in the life of graphic overlays as any other.

Color

What good does it do to create a quality graphic overlay if in a short period of time it goes from being bright and dynamic to being faded and drab? This is most often due to a lack of quality in the paper or other support materials, not to mention the ink used, but it’s also important to remember the part the environment plays. Further, the environment that a graphic overlay must endure is often not limited only to the conditions it is exposed to in the out of doors. In fact, even before the graphic overlay ever sees the light of day it must survive indoors as well, and often for long, and even longer, periods of time. Ordinary shelf and transit time should play an important part in the decision to select one type of graphic overlay or another. Otherwise, a lot of money and time can and will be wasted.

Take Heart

It is at this point that many people might be tempted to throw up their arms and proclaim, “What’s the use?!” The good news is that despite all of these seemly negative factors involved in the creation of graphic overlays, thanks largely to the development of materials and technology, a lot can be done to either minimize or nearly eliminate the impact of the environment on these products.

Costs are obviously one of the most serious factors to consider when you select graphic overlays, but there can be many more. As nearly anyone who has ever played a part in any sort of a campaign can testify, there are timing considerations that literally make or break the effectiveness of the purpose behind a project. Ask anyone who has ever been faced with being asked to accept a graphics job for a political campaign the day after the election.

This is where the work of an independent consultant can pay for itself many times over. When you hire a firm whose members understand the impact that environmental factors can play in different parts of a final project, including graphic overlays, you are literally minimizing the chances that there can be serious losses from these influences. Choosing your consultants wisely can pay hefty dividends in terms of money and time, especially when they are experienced enough to understand all of the possible factors that can be involved in graphic overlays and other parts of a visual campaign.

Graphic Overlays for Your Equipment

It would be difficult, indeed foolhardy, to build machinery that didn’t include some kind of copy or design on it. Just imagine if the last piece of machinery you handled or operated didn’t have some kind of information emblazoned on it. Would you know how to operate it? Or if you did, would you know how to operate it efficiently and safely? If there was some kind of problem with it, would you readily know who to contact for a solution?

Obviously, copy of machinery can provide a lot of information that can be invaluable in the use of that equipment. The trouble, however, is determining the best way to include that information that is efficient, effective, and economical. Some companies resort to imprinting their information on the cast for the machinery, but that is not only expensive, but is also time-consuming, often difficult to read, and most often not the most attractive option.

Fortunately, thanks to today’s technology, there is the option of graphic overlays provided by Hallmark Nameplate. For more than X years, Hallmark Nameplate has been providing custom quality graphic overlays for machinery in a wide range of industries. Whether the intent of the information included is for safety purposes, instructions, marketing, or any other, Hallmark’s reputation has been unequaled in the industry since it’s beginning.

If you are an equipment maker, you have many options when it comes to the development of your products. Obviously, when those products are designed and manufactured, you want to use materials that are best suited for the application of the equipment. If you use anything less than the most appropriate materials, you can rest assured that there will be problems, often very expensive problems, when that machinery enters the marketplace. This goes for every part of a machine, whether it’s a part that touches a product or one that supports that creation process. Obviously, the same level of attention should be paid to printed information on that machinery.

It’s easy to understand the importance of this printed information when your mission is to provide the best, most complete machinery solutions to your customers. As mentioned previously, the printed data on your machinery should accomplish a variety of purposes. These data give your customer and their operators the most complete and reliable information about how that machinery should be operated safely and efficiently. It also provides them with information about what to be aware of in that machine’s operation. And in the event there is a problem, with good graphics information, the maker of the equipment can be identified without having to run to a file to find out the solution to a problem.

All of this, however, is dependent on good graphic overlays that are created and applied in the most efficient manner. This necessitates a maker like Hallmark Nameplate, which has many years of experience with creating graphic overlays that present information in the most attractive and efficient ways possible. By working with the designers and technical specialists at Hallmark Nameplate, you can be assured that you will receive graphic overlays that are not only created to fit your machinery but do so in a way that is most beneficial to the purposes you need to fulfill.

At Hallmark Nameplate, you can bring us as little as an idea or as much as full specs, and we will work with you to create a graphic overlay for your equipment that will accomplish all of your purposes. This will not only save your customers considerable amounts of time and money but also make their workplace one that is both safer and more attractive.

At Hallmark Nameplate, we know that you have many options when it comes to the creation of the graphic overlays that you place on your equipment. We also realize that you have many purposes in using those graphic overlays. No other maker besides Hallmark Nameplate has the experience and know-how to make those goals into reality. Why not contact Hallmark Nameplate today to see how we can help you make your graphic overlays accomplish everything you want for them to do for you and your customers? We take great pride in fulfilling all of our customers’ objectives. Why not yours too?

WARNING: You Need Graphic Overlays

It would be foolhardy to manufacture practically anything without some kind of identifying feature.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s as simple as a small sticker or as complex as an imprint. It doesn’t matter as long as a product is identified, instructions are clear, and warnings are spelled out.  What is just as important, however, is that this information is included in a manner that is clearly seen, easy to apply and remove, and is durable throughout their use.

Quick, if you think you are immune from it, think of the last time you sat in a room by yourself and didn’t see some kind of graphic promotional material.  This is the value of printed materials.

The best part of all this is the fact that as technology has improved, so has the ability to provide better and better materials to users everywhere.   That’s always been true of graphics, to one extent or another, but today it is truer than ever. Whereas in years past there were things such as stickers that replaced pressed metals on equipment, today there are overlays that are revolutionizing what was possible in the past.  And not only are these overlays more colorful and durable, but they are also far less expensive than they ever were.

The advantages of graphic overlays are numerous.  These include their durability in even the harshest of environments.  Let’s face it. It’s difficult, if not virtually impossible, to create a sticker, sign, or anything else that will endure most environments, including heat, cold, humidity, and whatever else you care to throw at it.  After all, colors run and fade. Paper and adhesives lose their durability. But with graphic overlays, you can project any image you desire on nearly any surface in a manner that will not only stand the test of time, but will do so in a manner that will keep its color fastness and impression.  Further, graphic overlays will withstand even the harshest environments that include UV rays and other factors that other methods will not tolerate. Not only that, but they will protect whatever surface you choose to apply them to.

Graphic overlays are also resistant to factors such as rough handling that they might encounter in handling and even the roughest shipping environments.  And even if a product is allowed to sit on a shelf in the brightest lighting, graphic overlays are one labeling method that will hold their color over time until they are called for.  This will not only allow them to be used in different environments, but they will stand the test of time without having to be reapplied due to use and wear.

Graphic overlays are useful in different environments when color can make all the difference in the world.  For example, it’s not uncommon to expect machinery that is in operation to need to be shut down quickly and unexpectedly, especially in the case of an emergency.  For instance, such as this, graphic overlays can literally make the difference between safety and catastrophic events, death, and injury. If an emergency occurs, for example, it is much easier for a workman to locate a STOP switch or button with a colorful graphic overlay as opposed to a staid and possibly worn out sticker or paint job.

As anyone who has any experience in the printing industry knows, there are easier and perhaps even cheaper ways to create excellent graphics for these type of uses.  But when it comes to colorfastness, durability, and many others. There are few products that will outlast and outshine graphic overlays, and that’s not all. You can add visually enhancement touches such as die cuts and embossing, and even overstamping to graphic overlays, which will increase their impact dramatically.

The first key in getting graphic overlays that will make a real difference in your business or that of your clients is to talk to a pro in the business such as Hallmark Nameplate.  Hallmark Nameplate has been in the business of creating graphic overlays for more than 55+ years and has a staff of experienced professionals who are able to work with you throughout the creative process in order to deliver a final product that is beyond your expectations.