In this LaserMaker STEAM course, students will design and make a custom city road sign using simple shapes, text tools, rounded corners, shallow engraving, and cutting. The project is inspired by popular “check-in” road signs often shared on social media, where a place name or message becomes part of a city’s visual identity.

Through this activity, students learn how a flat sign can communicate location, emotion, and design style. They will build the sign from rectangles, rounded corners, text, triangle direction icons, and layer-based processing settings in LaserMaker.

1. Course Overview

The finished project is a small custom road sign made from dual-color board. Students will create the sign outline, add directional text and a large message, draw triangle icons, and then use different layers for engraving and cutting.

A key learning point in this lesson is the use of an intaglio-and-relief style effect. When two engraved areas overlap, the overlapping part is left unengraved. This contrast between engraved and unengraved areas helps create clear lettering and graphic effects on the sign surface.

2. Learning Objectives

3. Real-World Context

Custom road signs are often used in public spaces, cafés, exhibitions, school events, photo zones, workshops, and creative displays. A simple sign can show direction, identify a location, or express a message that encourages people to take photos and share their experience.

In a classroom or makerspace, this project can be adapted into school club signs, classroom location signs, city-themed displays, event signs, directional labels, or personalised desk and door signs.

4. Materials List

Prepare the following materials before starting the road sign project.

5. Lesson Procedure

5.1 Sketch the Exterior Shape

Open LaserMaker and select the Rectangle tool from the drawing tools on the left. In the drawing area, draw the first rectangle with a length of 120mm and a width of 40mm. Then draw a second rectangle with a length of 120mm and a width of 12mm. Move the second rectangle to the bottom so it overlaps with the first rectangle.

Select the rectangle and choose the Rounded Corners tool from the drawing tools. Set the rounded corner radius to 5mm, then click the rectangle corners to round them.

Select the first rectangle, press Ctrl + C to copy it, then press Ctrl + V to paste it. This creates a third rectangle that will be used later for the cutting layer.

5.2 Add Text and Directional Symbols

Select the Text tool from the drawing tools. Enter the text “南 兴洲路68号 北”. Set the font to Alibaba PuhuiTi 2.0 Semibold and set the font size to 21.

Use the Text tool again and enter the main message “我在东莞很想你”. Set the font to Alibaba PuhuiTi 2.0 Semibold and set the font size to 42.

From the Basic Shapes area, select the Equilateral Triangle shape and drag it into the drawing area. Resize it to 6mm. Use the rotation control and set the value to -90 degrees to create the first direction triangle.

Click the first triangle, press Ctrl + C to copy it, and press Ctrl + V to paste it. Rotate the copied triangle by 180 degrees to create the second direction triangle.

5.3 Assign Engraving and Cutting Layers

Select all content inside the first rectangle. In the layer panel at the lower left, change the outline colour to yellow. This yellow layer will be used for shallow engraving.

This project uses both intaglio and relief effects. When two engraving layers overlap, the overlapping area is not engraved. In this project, the overlapping part between the main rectangle and the lower rectangle remains unengraved, while the surrounding engraved area creates contrast.

Select the third rectangle and move it so that it overlaps with the first rectangle. With the third rectangle selected, change its outline colour to black in the layer panel. This black layer will be used for cutting the final sign outline.

5.4 Set Laser Process Parameters

In the processing panel, double-click the yellow layer. Set the material to dual-color board, the thickness to 1.5mm, and the process to shallow engraving. Then double-click the black layer and set the material to dual-color board, the thickness to 1.5mm, and the process to cutting.

6. Test, Adjust, and Reflect

Before making the final road sign, students should check the design layout, layer order, text readability, triangle direction symbols, and engraving contrast. A small test on the same dual-color board can help confirm whether the shallow engraving effect is clear.

7. Finished Project

After engraving and cutting, remove the finished road sign from the material sheet. Check the surface contrast, cut edge, and readability of the text.

8. Extension Challenge

Once students understand the workflow, they can create their own road sign designs. They can change the city name, classroom name, school club name, direction words, message text, icon shape, colour board, or sign size.

9. Summary

In this custom city road sign project, students practise using LaserMaker tools such as rectangles, rounded corners, text, basic shapes, rotation, copy and paste, layer colour assignment, shallow engraving, and cutting.

The project also introduces an important engraving concept: when two engraved regions overlap, the overlapping area can remain unengraved, creating an intaglio-and-relief contrast. By experimenting with shape overlap, text layout, and process order, students can create clear and expressive laser-made signs for many classroom and community uses.