Almost every commercial sign we build is primarily acrylic, aluminium or aluminium composite panel. They are not interchangeable, and choosing wrongly either costs you money or costs you service life.
Acrylic
Best for: interior lettering, illuminated sign faces, edge-lit and halo-lit work, and anything where a polished edge is part of the look.
Cast acrylic routs cleanly, flame-polishes to a genuinely glass-like edge and holds colour well under UV. It is available opaque, translucent, clear, frosted and mirrored, which makes it the most versatile material in the shop.
Insist on cast rather than extruded. Extruded acrylic is cheaper but polishes poorly, is more prone to stress-cracking around fixings, and yellows faster.
Limitations: vulnerable to impact and long-term UV in fully exposed exterior positions. Excellent under a canopy; less good on an unprotected south-facing wall.
Aluminium
Best for: exterior letters and cabinets, structural components, and anything that has to last twenty years outdoors.
Aluminium is the exterior workhorse. It does not rust, takes a durable powder or wet-spray finish, and can be formed, welded and machined. Fabricated aluminium construction gives you real depth without the weight or cost of solid stock.
Flat-cut aluminium is the economical route for dimensional letters. Fabricated construction is what you want for channel letters and anything hollow.
Limitations: more expensive than acrylic for interior work where its durability is wasted, and heavier — which affects the fixing detail on lightweight substrates.
Aluminium composite panel
Best for: large flat areas — fascias, cladding, hoarding, tenant panels and monument faces.
Two thin aluminium skins bonded to a core. The result stays genuinely flat across a wide span where thin solid aluminium would ripple, weighs about half as much, and takes print and vinyl beautifully.
Insist on rout-and-return fabrication rather than flat sheet: V-grooving the back and folding the edges produces a cassette panel with a clean return and hidden fixings, which looks dramatically better than a flat sheet screwed to a frame.
Limitations: not translucent, so it cannot be a backlit face. Standard sheet sizes mean large areas need a deliberate panelised joint pattern.
Quick reference
- Interior reception lettering: cast acrylic.
- Exterior channel letters: fabricated aluminium can, acrylic face.
- Storefront fascia panel: ACP, rout-and-return.
- Illuminated cabinet face: acrylic or polycarbonate.
- Building identification letters: flat-cut or fabricated aluminium.
- Construction hoarding: ACP.
- Halo-lit interior letters: either — acrylic for budget, metal for permanence.
What actually drives the price
Material is rarely the dominant cost. Labour, complexity and finishing usually are. A simple aluminium letter can be cheaper than a complex acrylic build-up with laminated colours and a polished edge.
This is worth knowing because it means "cheaper material" does not reliably mean "cheaper sign". Ask for options priced against each other rather than assuming — we are happy to quote two constructions side by side so you can see where the money actually goes.
