After monkeying around with this dude for about 10 months, I finally get the design approved on this sign and now the customer throws me another curve ball: he wants tapered columns. I tried to talk him out of it as it dumps a whole bunch more time and aggravation into a project that has already trie dmy patience to the limit. Seems his building portico already has tapered columns and he wants the sign to match. Thing is, the sign is about 75 to 100' away from the building anyway.
If I have to use the tapered column, I told him, I would either have to put a spacer between the top edge of the top sign and the column(which would look real tacky)OR, re-design the sign so that the sign follows the shape of the taper (almost as tacky and much more difficult.)
He goes." well, could you cut a groove in the bottom of the column and slide the bottom sign in a ways? I said no...would not work (tacky too)
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
I would "change my price accordingly" and do the tapered columns. If he's happy with the groove......groove it
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
ya,, give to him
charge him good too..
Posted by Bill Lynch (Member # 3815) on :
How about a mounting bracket that matches the taper and is square to the sign?
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
No Groove Out of the question The wall thickness of these archtectural columns (8''X8'Permacast)is only .5625'' The space needed to take up is about .875''. Plus I'm not so sure I would like the looks of that.
There will be 4 pieces of aluminum rectangluar tubing running through the cores of the signs horizontally (this sign will be 3'' thick HDU sandblasted). You can see one or two between the post and the sign at the top. If I painted those where they are exposed, and spaced the posts a little further apart, the top ones would obviously be more prominent but would that look too bad? Maybe embellish that somehow? Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
No I just don't like it. I like the signs butted up to the posts myself.
I still don't get the "2922 JEFFERSON STREET". It just clutters the sign and I don't see the need. I tried to talk them into just "2922". Nothing doin'. Then...tried "jefferson st." huh uh....gotta spell it out.
"George, are we there yet?" "Where?" "The optometry place." "I don't know....the nice lady said to turn on jefferson street" "Oh....there's a sign.....pull up a little closer" "Is this it?" "I don't know....the letters are smaller than the ones on the street sign back there" "The sign back there said it was jefferson street." "Let me have my glasses" "You don't have any glasses yet" "Oh.... yeah" "Lessee...."I'll pull up closer....yep...says jefferson street...."2922 jefferson street?" "Yep......We must be there"
At least there aren't 2 or 3 phone numbers on it.
[ December 06, 2005, 09:12 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
Posted by Jason Davie (Member # 2172) on :
Wayne your tooo funny, by the way the tapered columns look like cr@p, theres gotta be a way around this dilema...
Jason D
[ December 06, 2005, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: Jason Davie ]
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
How about this?
Then cgarge him 'big time' for the changes!
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Si's on to something, also make the bottom sign a bit smaller
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
IJAFS
Get paid (well) to make the guy happy.
You'll make it look nice.
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
Hey Wayne, just read the tag line you have on your post!
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Thanks Tony,
quote:Then get busy to find out how to do it"
That's exactly what I'm doing with this post...
quote:Any ideas would be appreciated.
But just because it CAN be done, doen't mean it SHOULD be done.
My only other alternative would be to deterimine the exact vertical orientation of the signs on the posts. Then get a set of calipers and take several measurements along the length. Then re-design, re-shape the sides (contacting the posts) to follow the contour.
But I', still open to suggestion...except Si's Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Another possible solution: Mount the signs exactly as you've shown, but use 4 tapered shims between the column and the sign to close up that visible gap. Finish off using a paintable caulking material, which is then painted to match column and posts. This would probably involve a couple of trips to the site after initial installation, but it might be the least problematic way to go. Bill additional for the extra time/trips involved, since it's really a "change to order" that he's requested.
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
Wayne, just kidding with you! If you want to butt the signs to the posts I think I would leave the blasted part of the sign (green) the way it is and taper the outsides of the panels "to fit" the posts. I don't think it would hurt the looks at all, as the taper is not too radical. It will take some effort, but the result will be what you are looking for.
Posted by Ryan Long (Member # 5881) on :
Architecturally speaking (that's what I got me one of them thar degrees in), I hate it when columns don't have anything on top of them -- classical columns like that should have something (like a pediment) bearing on and spanning across them, that's their entire purpose.
Anyway, no offense, just a pet peeve of mine in general. I think it's a pretty good looking sign and I would explain to the guy that the sign panel itself has parallel edges and to affix it to something with tapered edges is just dumb and looks crappy.
At least he didn't request a design technique the Greeks used in their columns called "entasis". Pefectly cylindrical vertical columns tend to look like the edges are concave, it's an optical illusion. So, to counteract that, they made the columns slightly convex (so they bulged out), this had the net effect of making the columns LOOK like they were perfectly straight.
There's your triva for the day, guys Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
I agree with Si's solution, except I wouldn't separate the sign and posts by that much. I'd paint the brackets a dark color too so they disappeared.
I would separate the sign from the column by a couple of inches and let it 'float'. I prefer the columns and signs to work together, but not as one piece. This is what works for me.
-grampa dan
Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :
So, why don't you just taper the OUTside part and keep the inside part vertical? It would still look tapered, no?
me Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :
This is the one he did.
Cool, no?
Posted by Jason Davie (Member # 2172) on :
There it is Rosemary's got it !!!!
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Nice looking sign Rosemary. Thanks
I didn't think of painting the "tenons" dark. I can sleep easy on that solution. I think may rout the edges with a cove bit too. Maybe an ogee.
Have been away from the shop all day (remodeling our kitchen) Left my cell number on the door and sold two truck jobs today as well.
Thanks to EVERYONE for the suggestions and modifications to the design. Thank you everyone for the help.
![[Bash]](graemlins/bash.gif)
I tried to talk him out of it as it dumps a whole bunch more time and aggravation into a project that has already trie dmy patience to the limit. Seems his building portico already has tapered columns and he wants the sign to match. Thing is, the sign is about 75 to 100' away from the building anyway.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I said no...would not work (tacky too)![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[I Don t Know]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
At least there aren't 2 or 3 phone numbers on it.
![[Rolling On The Floor]](graemlins/rolf.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Left my cell number on the door and sold two truck jobs today as well.