GLOSSARY

[kurtkraler]

Painted Sign
A historic sign type that is hand painted directly onto the surface of a building. Usually painted on the sidewalls where there are fewer windows and architectural ornament, creating a flat, uninterrupted surface to paint on. New signs were often painted on top of old signs, producing several layers of paint that eventually eroded to produce ghost signs.

Ghost Sign
A painted sign that has been abandoned for a number of years, producing a ghostly, weathered effect that offers a trace of the sign (or signs) that were once there.

Projecting Sign
A historic double-sided sign type that is mounted perpendicular to a building facade in order to draw the attention of pedestrians walking below. The early 20th Century City Beautiful Movement saw the widespread removal of projecting signs in an effort to visually declutter city streets. Projecting signs traditionally have visible supporting structures like cable guy wires and cross bracing.

Blade Sign
A type of projecting sign that comes in a range of scales from small signs with a single logo to full building height signs that are often accompanied by a marquee sign at the base. Blade signs usually have an integral structural system that is concealed within the sign itself.

Marquee
A large box that is placed over the main entrance to a building, usually arenas, theatres, casinos, and strip clubs. They are backlit with interchangeable letters that can be updated to announce performers or events, often with flashing or chase lighting around the perimeter of the sign.

Billboard
A large panel that is illuminated and can be seen over vast distances. The infrastructure often displays a consecutive series of signs for a fixed period of time each.

LED Screens
A programmable digital panel that uses an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as pixels for an animated video display in varying resolutions. The screens have an incredible wide range of signage applications, from advertising cryptocurrencies at convenience stores to covering entire building facades, like in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square.

Neon Sign
Continuous glass tubes that are filled with gases that emit a bright glow when electrified. Neon gas provides a characteristic reddish-orange glow and is only one of the five noble gases that are used. Argon, krypton, xenon, and helium gases produce a range of colours along with coloured glass tubes and phosphor-coated glass.

Illuminated Box Sign
A metal box with a translucent acrylic display panel that is backlit by fluorescent, neon or LED lights. The lettering and graphics are printed on the acrylic panel with a combination of opaque and translucent sections.

Channel Letter
Individual letters that are extruded from the building facade and the front face is a flat translucent acrylic panel that is back-lit.

Pin Letters
A set of letters that are mounted to a building facade with long screws that give the sign a floating appearance. They are usually cast, molded, cut out, or fabricated from metal.

Dimensional Lettering
A set of letters that are mounted flush to a building facade and are made of acrylic or metal. Letters can be produced with a flat face for a contemporary style or a historic, prismatic look where the center of each letter stroke is raised.

Chase Lighting
A string of light bulbs that are animated to turn on and off in rapid succession to give the appearance that the lights are moving along a line. Often associated with theatre marquee signs, chase lighting is an early electric sign technology that has been made easier with computerized lighting consoles.

Fascia Sign
A sign that is attached to the face of the building. On commercial buildings, most fascia bands stretch the width of a storefront and are usually located directly above the ground floor.

Vertical Flag Signs
Tall, narrow banners mounted perpendicular to a building facade. This is the preferred sign type for signs above the ground floor on buildings in heritage conservation districts in Toronto.

First-Party Signs
A sign used to identify a business or service located on the property.

Third-Party Signs
A sign used to advertise a business or service which is not located on or available at the property. Billboards are the most common third-party sign.

[matt]

Need definitions for:

Sheet-vinyl
Vinyl graphics and letters that are applied to a sheet of translucent acrylic and backlit with an electric light source (refer to lightbox.

Parapet Signs
A sign mounted to the parapet or top edge of the building facade.

Beehive and mill saw trade signs (used in wayne's story, caption of photo)
This refers to signs that are shaped like beehives and mill saws in the photo. DO NOT INCLUDE IN GLOSSARY - PERHAPS CLARIFY IN CAPTION.

Illuminated-lamp signs
Text painted on to the exterior of a street-lamp, creating a back-lit effect. Also attached to a building over-hanging a sidewalk.

Wire-screen signs
A large metal mesh panel that individual letters could be attached to and easily replaced. Usually attached to building facades and rooftops, the porosity of the sign allowed natural light to still reach the building's windows behind the sign.

Square-cut
A style of integrated stone carving that produces flat-faced lettering which appears to be extruded into the stone face (ie. photo of "MASSEY MUSIC HALL" above the Massey Hall entrance)

V-cut
A style of integrated stone carving that produces grooved lettering with a single line down the center of each stroke (ie. photo of "THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE" above the Victoria College entrance)

Perimeter fins
CONFIRM WHICH ARTICLE THIS IS MENTIONED.

[matt]

Ombre Effect

A dramatic gradient that blends hues of the same colour and gradually transitions from light to dark.

[matt]

Chyron

A caption or quote that is superimposed on a sign or a screen.

[matt]

Soffit
An architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of a construction element like a roof overhang or a cantilever.

Canopy mounted
A sign attached to the front face of a building structure that provides shelter from the elements, generally located in front of a storefront.