During a recent visit to Middleton Place, an historic site in Charleston, South Carolina, I spotted an outdoor interpretive sign that’s so nicely crafted that it’s withstood several years of weathering outdoors. The wooden frame supports a one-inch thick plywood panel (two thinner panels secured together) whose edges are sealed and entire surface painted black (black is Middleton’s standard color for sign posts). The interpretive sign is printed on a 1/16″ thick sheet of vinyl (or a similar synthetic material) and glued onto the face of the panel. The top edge of the sign is protected from rain by a copper cap. One corner of the vinyl has turned up over time, but otherwise, the sign seems to be in perfect condition, despite the heat and humidity of summer in the Lowcountry.
Engaging Places
Strategies and ideas to connect people with historic places
Engaging Places 
Hi Max, Have you ever had signs fabricated using iZone, Folio or Fossil ‘systems?’ I did a large project of some two dozen outdoor interpretive signs at Westminster Burial Grounds in Baltimore (best known as the resting place of Edgar Allan Poe) done with iZone. Not very green, as someone later told me, but they still look great some six years later. Best, Dean
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Thanks, Dean! I’ve never worked with those products, so thanks for sharing them. I’m sure other readers will be checking out these sign systems for their historic sites.
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