Designing and Installing Signs

Running a marina can be a complex endeavour at the best of times, and of the many concerns you'll have to deal with ensuring the safety of your patrons, employees and sailors is one of the most important. Even a small marina is loaded with drowning hazards, flammable fuel stores and potentially nasty falls, and placing proper warning signs besides dangerous areas and safety equipment (such as life rings and medical equipment) is vital from both an ethical and legal standpoint.

The signs you use shouldn't just be clear and easily visible -- they also have to be durable enough to stand the test of time and remain legible for years to come. This makes aluminium an excellent choice of material for your new signs, as this unique metal is used by practically all good sign making services, and has a number of advantages that make it ideal for crafting marina signage.

Why should I choose aluminium signs for my marina?

Durability

Marinas are inherently exposed locations, and you'll need to ensure that your signs are capable of standing up to savage winds and rains blowing in from the sea, as well as the occasional bump from poorly-piloted watercraft. Aluminium signs are very robust, especially when compared with signs made from vinyl or acrylic plastics, and are more than capable of weathering storms both literal and figurative without blowing away or becoming too damaged to be easily legible.

Long-lasting

Unless you want to go to the expense of replacing your signs every year, you'll also have to ensure that the durability of your signs last the test of time. Aluminium signs do not rust (unlike steel signs), and do not perish and fade when expose to sunlight for long periods (unlike many plastic signs), so you rest assured that your signs, once fitted, will not need to be replaced for many years to come.

Versatile design options

When it comes to actually printing the requisite warnings and information on your aluminium signs, you have a number of options to choose from. Vinyl decals are a cheap and relatively durable option, but you can also have information screen-printed onto aluminium signs, or even have lettering and designs etched into the surface of your signs using manual or laser etching. This last option is particularly durable, and is ideal for signs that will be placed close to the waterline (such as depth warning markers) which could be made illegible by constant exposure to saltwater.

Affordable

Despite all of these advantages, aluminium signs are generally very affordable. Aluminium can even be cheaper than many plastic options when it comes to larger signs, due to the limitations of many plastic forming processes.