Silver linings

Think of a silver aluminium sign and chances are you’ll visualise one for a professional such as a dentist, accountant or solicitor. Black lettering on a plain background. No colour, basic information, and no engraving for which you’d need brass or deeper metal.

Sadly that misses an opportunity to be creative in printing on silver aluminium. At Selene our signs are printed using a digital printer, which reproduces a design exactly as we have drawn it up on our screen. This means any colour or design can be absorbed by the silver aluminium, with sometimes spectacular effects.

It’s difficult to capture in a photograph, as the signs are so reflective there’s a risk you’ll see the photographer and camera staring back too! But here we show one of our first designs using this finish – the Blue Lotus – which comes up a treat. 

The silver lends itself to many of our maritime or coastal designs – fish, ship and shells. Although our navy background is popular, try our graduated aqua background and be stunned by the shimmering effect the silver base gives it. Here’s what a recent customer had to say about her choice of a seahorse: “Beautiful colours look great – love it, perfect for my beach house in Spain. The locals have commented how pretty it is.”

Another design transformed by the silver surface is our moon design. “Absolutely stunning – I’m delighted,” says another customer, who ordered a crescent moon as a gift.

There are some subjects that lend themselves to printing on silver – the skull design, cars, the Rocket engine – anything with metal details, then cut out and placed on a dark background. We’re keen to explore new ideas with this finish so put your thinking caps on and make some suggestions. We can even produce a gold effect, by incorporating semi opaque yellow elements into the design, so we’re now on standby for a call from the White House!