Retroreflective Article Comprising Retroreflective Elements comprising Primary Reflective Layers and Secondary Reflective Layers

A retroreflective article comprising:

• a binder layer containing reflective particles;
• and,
• a plurality of retroreflective elements spaced over a length and breadth of a front side of the binder layer, each retroreflective element comprising a transparent microsphere partially embedded in the binder layer so as to exhibit an embedded surface area of the transparent microsphere;
• wherein the article is configured so that at least some of the retroreflective elements comprise a primary reflective layer that is embedded between the transparent microsphere and the binder layer and that covers a portion of the embedded surface area of the transparent microsphere that is less than the entirety of the embedded surface area of the transparent microsphere, and wherein the article is configured so that portions of the reflective-particle-containing binder layer that are adjacent to portions of the embedded surface area of the transparent microsphere that are not covered by a primary reflective layer, provide a secondary reflective layer of the retroreflective element;
• and,
• wherein the primary reflective layers are nonuniform primary reflective layers configured so that the percent area coverage of embedded surface areas of transparent microspheres by the primary reflective layers exhibits a coefficient of variation greater than 0.05.