Sometimes working a sign project is a bit like working on an enormous jigsaw puzzle. It’s about taking the pieces involved and trying to make them all fit together. Such was the case for Sign Specialists Corporation when it recently completed its first solar monument signage project for their client Cushman & Wakefield.
一个标识项目的完成，就如同制作一个庞大的拼图。它需要全面考虑涉及到的所有组件，并努力使他们完美的匹配。作为一家专业的标识公司，与客户高纬物业（Cushman & Wakefield）在首个太阳能座式标牌项目上达成了完美契合。
The Santa, Ana, California-based sign shop provides interior and exterior signs to over 1,200 office complexes comprising nearly 5,000 commercial and industrial buildings and their parking structures. “From high-value channel lettering and monument signs, to innovative and stimulating ADA-compliant interior sign systems, we try to help our customers to aggressively compete in this challenging world,” says sales executive Sean Baldwin.
加利福尼亚总部的圣安娜标识公司，提供了超过1200个办公室内、外部信号复合物，组成了近5000个商业广告群、工业建筑群以及停车场群。销售经理肖恩•鲍尔温说道：“通过高价值通道和座式标识，来创新和刺激ADA室内标识系统,目的是为了帮助客户积极迎接这个世界的挑战。”
The sign was commissioned by Cushman & Wakefield and built by Sign Specialists Corporation of Santa Ana, California.
白天标识效果----受托于高纬物业（Cushman & Wakefield），由加利福尼亚圣安娜的标识专家公司建造的。
Now for Something Completely Different 吐陈纳新：将玻璃板材和绿色概念应用到座式标识中
Baldwin reports that with this particular project the client was looking for a unique sign for a commercial office building that they manage in Glendale, California. “Downtown Glendale is a very active area and the street that this building is located on cuts right through town. There is a courtyard with a fountain and they wanted to install a monument sign on the other side of it. They had a couple of vendors coming in proposing different ideas and design concepts,” he says.
鲍尔温在报告中说到，客户曾经想要为他们商业办公室寻找一个独特的标识，这个办公室位于加利福尼亚的格兰岱尔市。“坐落于市中心的格兰岱尔市是一个非常有活力的地区，建筑物建造在街道上而这些街道正好穿过城镇。他们想要在带喷泉天井的另一边，安装一个座式标识，并且已经有好几个供应商提出了不同的建议和设计理念。”
He says that his first thought when he saw the location was that he didn’t want to create a big monument wall blocking people’s view of the street. He had an idea that maybe the addition of glass panels would help keep flow there.
在他第一次看到这个位置的时候，他是不想建造座式标识的，因为这样会遮挡人们的视野。于是他有了一个想法，通过利用透明玻璃材料来保持原来的视野范围。
“Our objective was to create a sign that looked nice from the street, but also had an aesthetic appeal from the courtyard as well,” Baldwin says. “The glass panels were proposed, so when sitting on the patio area, you are not looking at the back of a large ‘wall’ created by the sign. The client also really wanted to brand the sign with the logo for the property, so we really wanted to make the logo the center of the sign.”
“我们的目的是创造一个标识，要求它看起来既要与街道相得益彰，同时也要突出庭院美的韵味，”鲍尔温告诉我们。“安装透明玻璃材料的目的是，就算你坐在天井里，你也可以看到纪念碑墙背面的标识。有的客户甚至想要在标识上刻上自己的商标，以表示所有权，所以我们也萌生了在标识正中心设计商标的念头。”
“Our objective was to create a sign that looked nice from the street, but also had an aesthetic appeal from the courtyard as well,” says Baldwin.
鲍尔温这么说：“我们的目标是，制造的标识既要与街上景物相得益彰，又要突出庭院美的韵味。”
“In addition,” he continues, “I was looking at design elements that provided more of a ‘green’ feel, so I pitched the idea of an illuminated sign made with aluminum and glass, and fueled entirely by solar power.”
“除此之外，”他补充道，“我在设计原理里新加入了绿色的概念，用铝和玻璃作为发光标识的材料，并借助太阳能来作为补给能源。”
In the early construction stages of the process the fabricated aluminum frame is prepared at the shop.
项目初期建设阶段，焊接的铝制框架就已经做好了在商店展示的准备。
Here Comes the Sun 新鲜事物：利用免费的太阳能光能来照亮夜空
Baldwin adds another reason for utilizing solar power would be the cost savings involved. “It is was important for the client to have the sign lit during hours of darkness,” he says, “but they had just spent a lot of money redoing the entire courtyard, and to bring in electric power would require the added issue of trenching and more construction costs.”
鲍尔温补充了利用光能的另一个原因，可以节约成本。“在黑夜中拥有一个可以发光的标识对客户来说是很重要的，”他说：“如果利用以往电能的方式就意味着要花费很多钱，同时也会带来更多更深入的问题，如后期维修、保养等等。”
Night appearance.标识夜晚效果
“Cushman & Wakefield also liked the fact that solar signs can cost, on average, 75 percent less to operate and could provide years of virtually maintenance-free service. They loved the concepts that we presented, and we were awarded the project.”
“高纬物业很喜欢利用太阳光能这个想法，平均核算下来，差不多有百分之七十五的太阳能光能可以被利用起来并发挥实质性的作用。他们认可我们提出的这一概念，我们也因此受到鼓励与肯定。”
Making All the Pieces Fit 在摸索中前进：太阳能标识我们迈出的第一步
The next piece in this solar puzzle was how to make it all work together. This was the sign shop’s first project involving solar and Cushman & Wakefield wanted the sign to be self-contained with no unattractive poles with solar panels next to the sign like many solar sign projects are done today.
光能项目下一步需要做的是怎么让所有的零部件一起运行起来。当下最关键的，也是高纬物业最看重的，就是标识可以实现自我感应。就像安装了太阳能板的路灯一样，到了夜晚便可以自动发光。同样的道理，我们在标识内部置入了太阳能面板，面板内有圆洞来储蓄太阳光，夜晚便可自己发光，希望可以达到与其他成熟的太阳能项目一样的效果。
“This was our first foray into solar signage and we were in uncharted territory when we began the project, Baldwin says. “I started calling solar companies and most of them didn’t know how to help us. I did find a supplier—Mister Solar—and they were able to provide us with standard-sized solar panels and some spec sheets. I then turned to Jeff Sherman, our VP of Operations, to make this all work.”
“当我们开始这个项目的时候，是我们第一次尝试制作太阳能标识，这完全是一个未知的领域，鲍尔温说：“我把从事太阳能行业的一些人聚集在一起，集思广益，不过他们并没有足够的专业知识来帮助我们。辗转间我找到了一个供应商-Mister Solar公司，他们能够提供给我们太阳能板的标准尺寸和一些小的板材。然后我求助于杰夫谢尔曼，我们的业务副总裁，来保证这些顺利运作。
The Puzzling Process 内外兼顾：内部结构与外部展现形式完美结合
“It was my job to take all these parts and piece them together,” Sherman says. “We needed to produce a completely green sign using aluminum, glass and solar. The solar company had supplied the technical sheets on the standard-sized panels that we would be using and that was about as much as they were able to help us. We were also under design constraints by the client where we had to conceal the solar batteries and mount the panels as a part of the sign.”
“使所有的零部件运作起来是我的工作，”谢尔曼这么说道，“我们需要用铝，玻璃以及太阳能生产一个完全绿色纯净的标识。太阳能公司可以给我们提供标准尺寸的面板，对于别人帮助我们的地方我们要物尽其用。与此同时我们也受到了来自客户方面的设计约束，为了把这个产品更好的呈现，一定要把太阳能电池和吸收面板做一个很好的处理，与标识项目完美的结合在一起。 ”
Sherman explains they had to find a way to use the panels at the exact size that they were provided in the area they had to work with. He came up with the idea for an aluminum-framed structure with all electronic components stored within the body of sign.
谢尔曼说道：“他们必须寻找一种方式，可以用一个更精确的尺寸把这个太阳能面板嵌入到标识中去。他提出一个想法，制造一个铝框架结构，然后将所有的电子组件融入到标识内部。
A peek inside shows some of the wiring that was used.
内部连接结构。
“The sign is 20 feet long and 10 feet tall and was built in two halves,” he says. “The upper section contains the solar panels, which are mounted and recessed in the roof of the sign. The solar batteries are housed in the body of the sign. It’s a fully self-contained unit.”
“标识结构是20英尺长、10英尺高的，被设计成了两个部分”他说，“上半部分的太阳能面板被安装和嵌入进了标识的顶部，太阳能电池封装在标识内部。这完全是一个独立的部分。”
The sign’s solar panels are mounted on top. 在标识顶部安装太阳能面板。
Let There be Light 注重细节：找到合适的光源来使之大放异彩
Sherman says the next step was to map out how long they would need to illuminate the sign.
谢尔曼说：“接下来要做的是解决标识发光时间长短的问题。”
“We figured we could get about five hours of battery life each night,” Sherman says. “We would need about 205 watts for five hours of lighting and we had to find the right LEDs that we could would work with and give us the deep illumination that was needed. Then the next step was to figure out all the wiring that would be involved. It was an education for us every step of the process. There was no blueprint how to do this.”
“我们计算了一下，电池每晚可以供电五个小时，”谢尔曼说道，“五个小时大约需要消耗205瓦的电量，最关键的是要找到合适的LED光源与之相匹配才能保证接下来工作顺利进行。接下来的步骤是计算所需要的所有线路。我们初次涉及这个未知的领域，所以每上一个台阶对我们来说都意义非凡。”
Working Within Guidelines 展望未来：严格遵循城市规则并初步规划未来
The 20 feet long and 10 feet tall solar sign also sits about six inches from a public walkway and they needed to work within city guidelines.
大约20英尺长、10英尺高的太阳能标识同时也被放置在6英寸的公众通道内，他们以城市指示牌的方式运作。
Once the solar panels and core elements are fitted, the sign is readied for shipment to the site.
太阳能电池板和芯元件装配完成，标识准备装运到现场。
“We had to tread lightly with the city of Glendale in addition to what the customer wanted,” Sherman says. “We understand the sign permitting process for getting signage approved by a city, and we have pulled sign permits for years. Over that time we have encountered every imaginable situation to obtain an approved sign permit, and this project was even more complex.”
“我们必须谨慎的对待格兰岱尔市顾客的期望，”谢尔曼说。“我们理解为了获取标识要经过城市批准这个过程，虽然我们已经持有标识许可证好几年了，在以前获得许可证过程中我们也曾遇到很多种情况，不过现在这个过程好像更为复杂。”
Baldwin points out that the entire project took about nine months from concept to completion and that they tried to put a lot of thought into every aspect of the job. “The logo is right in the center to help branding and it lights up nicely at night in both the front and back,” he says. With this project under the company’s belt, Baldwin hopes it will open up new avenues.
鲍尔温指出，这个项目从概念提出到完成结束花了大约九个月，他们投入了大量的人力物力财力，在工作的各个方面。鲍尔温说：“我们把商标嵌在标识的正中央，这样标识会体现的更加品牌化，另外夜晚的光线也恰到好处的投射在了标识的正反面，他期望这个项目可以在公司的领导下，开创一个崭新的局面。”
“We are a soup to nuts sign shop and with the demand for alternative energy sources continuing to rise, I’m hoping this solar project will provide new revenue opportunities for us going forward,” Baldwin says. “Solar-powered signage systems are ideal solutions that are greener and cheaper alternatives to using electric power. All we have here in Southern California is the sun, and if we can help these property management companies harness that power, so be it. I plan on taking this concept and running with it.”
我们标识公司自始至终从生产，加工，安装，服务都是一条龙系列的，另外随着社会对替代能源的需求日益上升，所以我期望这个太阳能项目在接下来的工作中可以给我们提供一个新的收益机会，”鲍尔温说，“太阳能标识系统绿色的和价格较低的特性使它成为电能替代品的不二之选。因为我们在南加州，所以我们拥有最多的就是太阳能资源，我们可以帮助物业管理公司利用这种资源。如果真的可以实现的话，那我一定会向他们提出这个概念并使之运行。”
As for Sherman, it was all about completing the puzzle and making it all work.
至于谢尔曼的任务，就是让所有的零部件都火力全开的运行起来。
“It truly was a puzzle trying to put all the pieces together,” Sherman says. “This is what you have, here is the space you have to work with, here is how much wattage you have and over here is what the customer wants and the codes the city requires. For us pull this all together and to create this sustainable sign was a pretty impressive feat.”
谢尔曼说：“这真的就像拼拼图一样，这些就如你手里所有的的拼图碎片，你需要处理什么样的情况，你拥有多大的能量，顾客的需求是什么，以及城市需要的是什么，把这几者完美结合起来，在这个基础上创造出来的可持续发展的标识，一定是一个多方互利的作品。” |
