![]() Black light fluorescent paints were first developed by Fluor-S-Art Co. in the 1930s. | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Paint and pigments production |
Predecessor | Switzer Brothers, Inc. |
Founded | 1946Berkeley, California, United States | in
Founders | Robert and Joseph Switzer |
Headquarters | Cleveland , Ohio, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Steve Jackson, President [1] |
Products | Fluorescent paints |
Website | www |
The Day-Glo Color Corp. (also styled as DayGlo) is a privately held [2] American paint and pigments manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Joseph and Robert Switzer and is currently owned by RPM International. It specializes in fluorescent paint and pigments, such as those used in safety applications, artwork and signage. It invented black-light fluorescent and daylight fluorescent paints and nondestructive testing methods using fluorescent dyes.
Robert and Joseph Switzer of Berkeley, California began investigating fluorescence in the 1930s using a black light to identify naturally occurring fluorescent compounds. [3] By mixing these compounds with shellac, they invented the first black light fluorescent paints. [4] Joseph used these paints in his amateur magic show and sold magic kits based on the black light fluorescent costumes they created. [4]
The brothers established the Fluor-S-Art Co. in 1934 to develop and sell black light paints for advertising purposes. [4] [5] They later partnered with Continental Lithograph (a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Pictures) of Cleveland, Ohio, to develop fluorescent paints for movie posters and advertising displays. [6] In 1936, they moved the company to Cleveland, a center of the paint industry. [7]
In 1938, they invented Zyglo and Magnaglo, two flaw-detection processes using fluorescent dyes. The dyes are suspended in fluids which emphasize defects in parts (by penetrant action in the case of Zyglo and by the attraction of magnetic particles in the case of Magnaglo), both allowing the defects to be detected by inspecting the parts under black light. [6] After a dispute with Continental Lithograph over the rights to Zyglo and Magnaglo, the brothers established the independent Switzer Brothers, Inc. in 1946 to continue developing and marketing new uses for fluorescent materials. [6] The company changed its name to Day-Glo Color Corp. in 1969. [7]
In the 1940s, the company began developing a new class of pigments that fluoresced in daylight by converting ultraviolet light to visible light, resulting in brighter colors than other types of pigments. These daylight fluorescing pigments are also known as DayGlo. [4]
During World War II, DayGlo products were used extensively by the U.S. military where high visibility was required. U.S. ground troops in North Africa used daylight fluorescent fabric panels to identify themselves and prevent friendly fire bombings, and DayGlo paints were used on aircraft to prevent midair collisions. Navy air carriers used DayGlo's black light fluorescent paints to allow planes to land at night, an advantage enemy pilots did not have. [5] Military equipment manufacturers, particularly those of aircraft parts, employed DayGlo's Zyglo and Magnaglo processes to identify defects in fabricated metal parts. [6]
After the war, advertisers used daylight fluorescent paints to make their products more visible to consumers. Tide detergent became known for its fluorescent packaging beginning in 1959, but other products such as clothing, posters and hula hoops also used fluorescent colors. [5] [6] Daylight fluorescent pigments were also used in safety products such as construction cones, street signs and safety vests due to their high visibility. [4]
DayGlo pigments were popularized in the 1960s by their extensive use in psychedelic art, such as the album artwork for Cream's 1967 album, Disraeli Gears . [8] [9] [10] In February 1969, the company changed its name from Switzer Brothers, Inc. to DayGlo Color Corp. [2]
In September 1985, the Nalco Chemical Company of Oak Brook purchased Day-Glo Color for approximately $40 million. [11] They then sold it to RPM International in 1991 for an undisclosed price.
In 2012, Day-Glo Color Corp. was recognized as a National Historic Chemical Landmark for its development of daylight fluorescent pigments. [12]
The company has manufacturing plants in Twinsburg, Ohio; Cudahy, California; [1] and Houthalen, Belgium. [13] [14]
For its annual DayGlo Show, Day-Glo donates its paint to artists in Northeast Ohio who use it to create original two- and three-dimensional art that is displayed in a gallery lighted with UV light (black light). [14]
Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted with water, or modified with acrylic gels, mediums, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor, a gouache, or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media and are meant for canvases.
Paint is a liquid pigment that, after applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image, known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are either oil-based or water-based, and each has distinct characteristics.
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575–585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the RGB color model, used to create colors on television and computer screens, yellow is a secondary color made by combining red and green at equal intensity. Carotenoids give the characteristic yellow color to autumn leaves, corn, canaries, daffodils, and lemons, as well as egg yolks, buttercups, and bananas. They absorb light energy and protect plants from photo damage in some cases. Sunlight has a slight yellowish hue when the Sun is near the horizon, due to atmospheric scattering of shorter wavelengths.
Magenta is a purplish-red color. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between red and blue. It is one of the four colors of ink used in color printing by an inkjet printer, along with yellow, cyan, and black to make all the other colors. The tone of magenta used in printing, printer's magenta, is redder than the magenta of the RGB (additive) model, the former being closer to rose.
A pigment is a powder used to add color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly insoluble and chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored substances which are soluble or go into solution at some stage in their use. Dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic. Pigments of prehistoric and historic value include ochre, charcoal, and lapis lazuli.
In colorimetry, metamerism is a perceived matching of colors with different (nonmatching) spectral power distributions. Colors that match this way are called metamers.
Black light paint or black light fluorescent paint is luminous paint that glows under a black light. It is based on pigments that respond to light in the ultraviolet segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. The paint may or may not be colorful under ordinary light. Black light paint should not be confused with phosphorescent (glow-in-the-dark) or daylight fluorescent paint.
In chemistry, chromism is a process that induces a change, often reversible, in the colors of compounds. In most cases, chromism is based on a change in the electron states of molecules, especially the π- or d-electron state, so this phenomenon is induced by various external stimuli which can alter the electron density of substances. It is known that there are many natural compounds that have chromism, and many artificial compounds with specific chromism have been synthesized to date. It is usually synonymous with chromotropism, the (reversible) change in color of a substance due to the physical and chemical properties of its ambient surrounding medium, such as temperature and pressure, light, solvent, and presence of ions and electrons.
Painted fish are ornamental aquarium fish which have been artificially coloured to appeal to consumers. This artificial colouring, also known as juicing, is achieved by a number of methods, such as injecting the fish with a hypodermic syringe containing bright fluorescent colour dye, dipping the fish into a dye solution, or feeding the fish dyed food.
Luminous paint is paint that emits visible light through fluorescence, phosphorescence, or radioluminescence.
Robert C. Switzer was an American inventor, businessman and environmentalist. Switzer was co-inventor of the first black light fluorescent paint along with his brother Joseph Switzer and the inventor of the Magnaglo process for nondestructive flaw-detection in machined parts. The brothers founded the Day-Glo Color Corp. in 1946 to develop and manufacture fluorescent paints, pigments and other products.
Rose madder is a red paint made from the pigment madder lake, a traditional lake pigment extracted from the common madder plant Rubia tinctorum.
Automotive paint is paint used on automobiles for both protective and decorative purposes. Water-based acrylic polyurethane enamel paint is currently the most widely used paint for reasons including reducing paint's environmental impact.
Historic paint analysis, or architectural paint research, is the scientific analysis of a broad range of architectural finishes, and is primarily used to determine the color and behavior of surface finishes at any given point in time. This helps us to understand the building's structural history and how its appearance has changed over time.
The Lubrizol Corporation is an American provider of specialty chemicals for the transportation, industrial and consumer markets. These products include additives for engine oils and other transportation-related fluids, additives for industrial lubricants, and additives for gasoline and diesel fuel. In addition, Lubrizol makes ingredients and additives for personal care products, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, specialty materials, including plastics technology, and coatings in the form of specialty resins and additives.
A blacklight poster or black light poster is a poster printed with inks which fluoresce under a blacklight. The inks used contain phosphors which cause them to glow when exposed to ultraviolet light emitted from blacklights.
Lightfastness is a property of a colourant such as dye or pigment that describes its resistance to fading when exposed to light. Dyes and pigments are used for example for dyeing of fabrics, plastics or other materials and manufacturing paints or printing inks.
The conservation and restoration of paintings is carried out by professional painting conservators. Paintings cover a wide range of various mediums, materials, and their supports. Painting types include fine art to decorative and functional objects spanning from acrylics, frescoes, and oil paint on various surfaces, egg tempera on panels and canvas, lacquer painting, water color and more. Knowing the materials of any given painting and its support allows for the proper restoration and conservation practices. All components of a painting will react to its environment differently, and impact the artwork as a whole. These material components along with collections care will determine the longevity of a painting. The first steps to conservation and restoration is preventive conservation followed by active restoration with the artist's intent in mind.
Paint mixing is the practice of mixing components or colors of paint to combine them into a working material and achieve a desired hue. The components that go into paint mixing depend on the function of the product sought to be produced. For example, a painter of portraits or scenery on a canvas may be seeking delicate hues and subtle gradiations, while the painter of a house may be more concerned with durability and consistency of colors in paints presented to customers, and the painter of a bridge or a ship may have the weatherability of the paint as their primary concern.
Plastic colorants are chemical compounds used to color plastic. Those compounds come in a form of dyes and pigments. The type of a colorant is chosen based on the type of a polymeric resin, that needs to be colored. Dyes are usually used with polycarbonates, polystyrene and acrylic polymers. Pigments are better suited for use with polyolefins.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)