Using Yellow for Channel Letter Faces

Using Yellow for Channel Letter Faces

 Our next item in the “acrylic color” series is the color yellow. The color yellow has some interesting qualities for channel letter use.

 First, yellow is a primary color, and is one of the most noticeable of all the colors. It is often the first color to draw the eye when a consumer is shown a color set.

 Being the lightest hue of the spectrum, the color psychology of yellow is uplifting and illuminating, offering hope, happiness, cheerfulness and fun.

So the color yellow does have potential positive qualities which will carry over to signage. But it also has some limitations and issues.

For example, yellow is less appropriate for men’s products, particularly for expensive items. Men tend to see bright yellow as a childish color.

Yellow also can have illumination issues. For example, one potential problem is the susceptibility of some yellow shades for hot spots (or tiger striping.)

A hot spot is a letter face area that is conspicuously brighter than an adjacent area, and it can sometimes be accompanied by the LED modules being physically visible behind the acrylic. Darker yellow shades are more prone to this problem.

The solution is to place a diffuser film on the interior of the yellow letter face. This “second surface” spreads the illumination more evenly.

Brighter yellow shades usually do not have this issue. The white LED light blends more easily with the lighter yellow shade so the actual modules are typically not visible.