Cast Plaque vs Engraved Time Capsule - Which to Choose?

Cast Aluminum Plaque 8x10" for 
Hyde Park Baptist High School 2009

Outdoor Quality Cast Plaques in Bronze or Aluminum - or Do You Want Engraving Personalizes the Time Capsule Container

See Examples & Discussion Below

Two examples from our customers in 2009 show an 8x10" cast aluminum plaque for Hyde Park Baptist High School and a 12x9" engraved time capsule lid for Middle Tennessee State University. Hyde Park also ordered a 9x6x15" time capsule with a small preservation kit.

It's nice to have an engraved time capsule. Our engraving process is actually a very high quality marking that lasts forever. When you engrave a time capsule, you place a message on the time capsule that not only identifies it, but it also can show a lasting message. See more examples at our Laser Engraving Gallery.

Engraved lid for 12x9x12" Time Capsule 
for MTSU veterans in 2009

A cast plaque marker (made of cast bronze or cast aluminum) is one way to mark the spot of your time capsule placement. It helps assure that the time capsule is not lost or forgotten over time. What wording works best for a plaque will vary, but in general, the simpler the better. See more examples at our Plaques Gallery. Look at both the Cast Aluminum and the Cast Bronze.

Popular wording for a time capsule marker includes the name of the organization, the phrase 'time capsule' and the date of placement. A suggested date of opening is also often placed on the plaque. It's nice to put a simple logo or small iconic picture on the plaque if you have the room.

In my opinion, to choose an exact opening date can be too restrictive on that future organization. I recommend paying attention to what day of the week that the future date will be on, if you decide to do that. Lately we have had two customers who had to remake their plaques because of a change of dedication date, so don't make that too restrictive either. Don't know if it will be the 13th of August? Just make it August. Not sure about August? The year is fine.

In popular usage, the engraving on a time capsule is more of a message, while the cast plaque marker is simply identification.

If you have any problems fitting your information onto a plaque, we can help you. The art and fit requirements are more restrictive for plaques than for engraving. Cast bronze and cast aluminum are just that - visualize the pouring of the metal into a form.

To get an idea of spacing and wording for a cast plaque, here's a simple trick to try yourself:

• Put your message on your favorite word processing software. 
• Now, format the font character setting to 'Expand' by 3 points. 
• Make your font size at least 36 points. 
• Double space the paragraph settings.

It may not be perfect, but it will give you an idea of how to adjust for printing vs. casting.

You can visit our main site at Future Packaging and Preservation. There are lots of examples and you can purchase what you want there.