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Cast
Plaque
Information

General
Options are available to enhance and personalize a cast plaque through the use of standard or custom emblems as well as custom portraits.

Emblems - Standard
Matthews has over 9,000 standard emblems including many civic and fraternal organizations, religious groups, government agencies, and armed services. These emblems are often available in an assortment of sizes to fit different-sized plaques. They may have flat relief or sculpted bas-relief.

Flat Relief

Bas-relief

Please check with us for availability of a specific emblem.

Emblems - Custom
Virtually any emblem, seal, logo or crest can be cast in one of two ways:

Flat Relief Emblems
Line details are raised the same height as the raised copy. We require camera-ready art or an electronic file to photographically reproduce the emblem (Refer to Artwork guidelines.).

Bas-relief Emblems
Many emblems or logos lend themselves to a multi-level design. We will either sculpt the image in clay from your artwork (photograph, drawing or black & white art) or model it using our computer-aided 3-D model maker.

Portraits
Portraits of people, places or events may be incorporated onto a plaque using a variety of techniques. The best method depends upon many factors including the artwork available, the final appearance, the installation location and budget.

Bas-Relief Portraits
A top-of-the-line reproduction, our sculptors use photographs to model a dimensional, low relief clay sculpture of the subject.

Once the clay sculpture is approved, a sand mold is made and a cast metal version is produced. The cast bas-relief is hand-finished and mechanically attached to the background.

While most commonly associated with portraits, bas-reliefs are particularly effective for depicting buildings, historical vignettes and many logos.

Bas-reliefs are suitable for interior or exterior applications.

Flat Relief Portraits
An economical alternative to a bas-relief, this method begins with a black & white rendering of the subject. Once approved, a photopolymer pattern is produced. A raised image, two-level metal casting is manufactured and applied to the cast plaque.

Flat relief portraits are suitable for exterior and interior applications.

Etched Portraits
This process utilizes a halftone dot pattern acid-etched on .100" thick bronze plate. The etched, recessed dots are infilled with black to contrast with the satin-finished background.

The best photographs for etched portraits have high contrast tones with bright white areas, dense black areas, and minimal grey tones. Photos that are monotone or have muted colors will produce poor halftone etchings. Etched portraits are recommended for interior use only.

Photoceramic Portraits
Matthews' photoceramic portrait uses a standard-sized ceramic blank as its base material. A photograph is scanned at high resolution and a digital transfer is produced and applied to the ceramic. A clear glaze is applied over this transfer, and the ceramic piece is cured in a kiln. The resulting product is an exact color (or black & white) permanent reproduction on a ceramic base.

While this product is suitable for interior or exterior applications, the ceramic base itself is not vandal-resistant.

Metalphoto™ Portraits
Metalphoto uses a photosensitive aluminum sheet, available in either satin aluminum or gold-tone aluminum. The sheet is exposed using a film negative made from a photograph using a UV light source. The copy (or image) is produced in a permanent black image on the plate.

Metalphoto is recommended when the only art available is extremely detailed or the image itself does not have a lot of contrast (old photos, for example). This method can be used in interior and exterior applications.