Coroplast - AKA: Yard signs
You see them nearly everywhere, whether you realize it or not. Those little signs telling you who to vote for, when a local garage sale is happening, and cool kickboxing lessons you might not have thought to sign up for until that rad sign told you all about it.
What are yard signs made of? And why is it important?
Depending on the type of job you have in mind, it means all the difference!
Coroplast is a rigid, corrugated plastic sheet that we lay vinyl on top of with your design. Basically, it’s a weather-proof sign with hollow tubes inside that fit the metal stakes that go into the ground, with a custom sticker on top. The tubes help keep the shape of the sign structurally sound, while staying water-proof to make sure your birthday bash invitation doesn’t turn to mush when it rains. The special vinyl types we use are outfitted to withstand all weather, allowing you the full customizable scale your event needs.
What are my options?
There are 2 vinyl options for coroplast signs: die-cut vinyl, and printed vinyl.
Die-Cut Vinyl: Adhesive, single-color vinyl is cut on our machines from vector images in Adobe Illustrator. This means any one-toned lettering or shapes you want on your sign will be pre-cut for us to peel the background from, and lay down the design by hand. This option is best for those who need a quick sign advertising a room temporarily for rent, or a one-time yard sale. The designs for die-cut are generally restricted to one color, since each component of different colors would have to be hand-laid for proportion and/or overlap, and can’t be guaranteed to follow the initial design exactly because of it. The only vinyl attached to the coroplast in this option is the colored vinyl pieces itself.
Printed: A panel of white adhesive vinyl is fed into our printer, and is injected with CYMK ink of your custom design. So long as the file is high resolution and exported in CYMK, we’re able to print good quality rasterized (JPEG) images. Vector artwork is still highly encouraged for the cleanest output. All finalized artwork given to us must include bleed (where the colors overlap the actual measurements in the file), otherwise we will include bleed and can’t guarantee exact color-matching because of export.
So what can I do with a coroplast sign?
It doesn’t have to be solely used for yard signs, or even just for outside use! Some projects we’ve done using coroplast were for professional analytical reports (exported in PDF/PNG format for the crisp scaling look) used in business meetings. One was even for a presentation to a scientific committee on a biologist’s newest findings! Even though the committee would be reviewing the information indoors, the structure of the coroplast helped ensure the sign didn’t get easily damaged or break while in transit to the meeting. Other coroplast signs we’ve done have been for long-term indoor use, such as birthday celebration signs, or festive holiday decor.
Coroplast signs are a cheap, lightweight solution to temporary and short-term projects. The only limitation is your imagination!
H- Stakes
Okay, but how does it stay in the ground?
Aluminum H-shaped stakes are available when you put in your yard sign order with us. You’ll plant the stakes wherever you want your sign to be, and slide the interior tubes into the two points sticking up from the ground. It’s that easy!
After the signs are finished being in use, you can extend the life of your H-shaped stakes by brushing away any dirt from the prods that went into the ground, and keeping them dry and out of direct sunlight until the next use.
For a more permanent fixture, real estate frames are an option for when you have a designated area, and intend to swap out the inserted coroplast signage seasonally or per event. They are large, metal frames driven into the ground to withstand winds and weather. Your project production time will take longer with these types of displays, but we will install the coroplast insert into your frame for you.
Still unsure if coroplast is right for your project? This is your sign!
Send us an e-mail or give us a call, and we’ll get you one step closer to your perfect signage.