Push Through 3D Signage in Dubai: Acrylic Pushed Through Metal
Push through signage puts two materials in one panel. A metal or composite face is cut with the shape of each letter, and a block of acrylic is pushed through from behind so it stands slightly proud of the surface. Push through 3D signage in Dubai is what you see on most premium office directories and hotel entrances.
Letter height: Up to 30 cm · Location: Indoor · Installation: Supply and install
An estimator replies with a firm, VAT-inclusive price and a production date.From your file to the finished job.
Six steps happen between the brief and the finished job. Here they are, in the order they happen on our floor in Dubai South.
The Face Is Cut First
Letters are machined out of the front panel to a tolerance of a fraction of a millimetre. The acrylic has to pass through snugly with no visible gap, so the cut has to be exact before anything else happens.
Acrylic Is Cut to the Same Shape, Slightly Larger
Each letter is cut from solid acrylic a touch oversize so it wedges into the opening. This is what holds it and what stops light leaking around the edges.
It Sits Proud by a Few Millimetres
The acrylic stands above the metal face just enough to catch a shadow line around every character. That tiny step is most of the effect, and it is why the sign reads as dimensional even though the panel is flat.
Light Comes From Behind the Panel
A lit box behind pushes light through the acrylic only. The metal face stays dark, so at night you see glowing letters on a solid panel with no light spill anywhere else.
By Day It Is a Metal Sign
Switched off, the panel reads as brushed metal with clear raised lettering. It is one of the few sign types that looks equally deliberate lit and unlit, which is why it suits buildings that are seen at all hours.
Assembled as One Panel
The whole thing arrives as a single unit and goes onto standoffs or a hidden frame, so installation is one lift instead of letter by letter.
A limitation to plan around. Fine serifs, thin script and very small text are difficult to push through, because the acrylic piece becomes fragile and the cut can distort. Below a certain size we would use an applied vinyl or an etched face.
Related: 3D acrylic signage, indoor directory signage, and illuminated signage.
What you get.
- Letter height
- Up to 30 cm · 30–60 cm · 60–100 cm · Over 1 m
- Location
- Indoor · Outdoor
- Installation
- Supply and install · Supply only
- Turnaround
- Typically 7–14 working days after artwork approval
- Proof
- A digital proof before anything prints
- Delivery
- All seven emirates, or collect from Dubai South
What every order includes
- A free prepress check on your file
- A digital proof before anything prints
- One VAT-inclusive quote with a production date
- Delivery to all seven emirates, or collection from Dubai South
Setting up your file.
- 01Send the logo as a vectorLetters and shapes are cut from your outlines, so we need AI, EPS, SVG or PDF, not a screenshot or a JPEG.
- 02Measure the real spaceWidth, height and a straight-on photo of the wall or fascia. The tape measure often disagrees with the drawing.
- 03Send names as textFor plates and directories, send names and titles in a document, so nothing is retyped from an image.
- 04Tell us about power and the wallFor lit signs, where the nearest power point is. For every sign, what the wall is made of.
Quick answers.
Either. It is designed to work both ways.
A few millimetres. Enough to catch a shadow.
Not below a certain size. We would etch instead.