For the last decade each spring I would take down our price sign at Giggle Ridge, take them home and sand down the panels. Then we prime them, do a couple coats of paint complete with blends. Then I'd break out the lettering brushes and repaint the lettering all by hand. I've never been that good with a lettering quill and I don't get much practice to improve. That's not likely to change anytime soon. Each year I would think there simply had to be a better way to do these signs. Janis was the hold out as far as going to a digital print.
This year with some new taxes being implemented and a modest price increase due it was time to do the task once more. Before I got to the job however some vandals jumped the fence and destroyed the brochure holders which had been fastened to our largest sign. We decided that instead of replacing it as before we would put up the legend of Giggle Ridge in that space instead. Think pool lettering - and LOTS of it. I decided it was time to rethink how we did our signs.
The signs were full 3D sculpted concrete panels with an aluminum panel to hold the fine print. I had been doing similar signs for customers for years with digital prints and good success. Giggle Ridge was going digital! And I was glad.
I did up the files, this time including our logo (which I had done more than 10 years ago). I took the DVD with the files to a friend's shop and gave it to the guy who reps the file. Then I went into the back to have a little visit with my friend. I didn't visit long for it was almost supper time. I noticed as I walked out the door the signs were coming off the printer, only needing laminating before I picked them tomorrow. I knew the machines were fast these day but I had no idea they were that fast... times have certainly changed while I wasn't looking.
While I have no idea yet of how much my friend is charging me for the prints it reminded me of how this industry had changed. While in my mind the value of the panels hasn't come down I can certainly see how if my friend's shop was charging out by the hour these signs would be extremely cheap compared to what I might have charged over the years of doing them by hand.
The new digital panels were perfect - far different than my shaky hand lettering. The blends were consistent. And while I could not justify to do our intricate logo by hand I could now easily include it on every sign without an additional charge. With the logo in included in the design the signs didn't take any longer to print.
The digital printer was either a license to print money or it was a tool that would take the bottom out of the industry. We all know too well what has happened.
There is still a place for hand lettering in my mind. Most components of the signs we do in our shop are still painted by hand and that is not going to change anytime soon. But I for one like the idea of doing some parts with the digital printer - like these price signs that need to be changed out regularly.
I know that if I were a 'regular' sign maker I would surely have one of these machines, spending the bulk of my time on the part I enjoy most - the design. I know I could do some pretty cool work with them too. But have no fear, I'll stick with my dimensional stuff which I love... and simply buy the occasional digital print when I need it.
-grampa dan
[ May 26, 2010, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
Posted by Jon Butterworth (Member # 227) on :
Ditto Dan!
My business too is what I specialise in ... hand lettering windows banners & tents, walls and Murals with a little vinyl where required ... at my price!
Digital prints and routing are done for me by a friend who has a big shop a few minutes from here. Price and service is excellent. I just mark up 50% plus install and everybody's happy.
I have found with the decline in skilled hand work the demand and price has gone up!
Print and vinyl is now a cut-throat business and I will not even try to compete Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
so every year you would sand, prime, paint, blend, letter... to change a number? I'm sure someone around here would cut you a bunch of sticky numbers you could swap out any time you want. Is the price now printed so you have to reprint the whole thing next year? I like the inconsistent blends.
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Actually I like the imperfect stuff, too...
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
I too like the more imperfect stuff... although Janis prefers my stuff to be perfect. In this case I believe it is a good blend of hand crafted (the background) with modern technology. The square printed vinyl will be trimmed to my hand cut (wiggly) panels.
In years past the theory would be that I would paint over the blue panels to change the price. But it seemed each year there were other changes or additions which necessitated a complete repaint.
That being said I watched the guys in my friend's shop whipping stuff off the printer, laminating it and then sticking it to panels which only were required to be cut to size. It's not the type of work I would want to do for a living... flat signs by the pound.
I'll stick to my dimensional stuff... using technology to do the hard or tedious parts, and then have fun doing the creative stuff by hand.
-grampa dan
Posted by Dennis Kiernan (Member # 12202) on :
I also prefer the obviously hand-made sign because it communicates a human-to-human relationship, or whatever you call it. Course the new one looks snazzier, still . . .
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
Hell is getting cooler.
Posted by Jon Jantz (Member # 6137) on :
quote:Originally posted by Raymond Chapman: Hell is getting cooler.
I don't think Dan is causing it. I heard they have a hole in the furnace fuel tank. <see Oil Leak thread>
BTW- the signs look great Dan... they still have your signature look, so I think it's great if you take another step into the new century!
[ May 27, 2010, 11:35 AM: Message edited by: Jon Jantz ]
Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
Your sign looks great!
There indeed is a place for vinyl. But there always has been. Glad to see you embracing that on something that needs changing out each year.
When I went to college, the typography division of the course led us to logo development. Many logos were output in vinyl but appeared hand done simply because of how they were drawn. The best logos looked far from 'perfect'. They were amazing.
Back in the day when I did rig lettering on a reg basis, EVERY trucker that went paint for a GVW number that eventually needed changing regretted it later.
Technology doesn't always have to scream vinyland. Sometimes we can use it effectively in other ways.
I don't believe this example looks anything like vinyl but it had a major place here in the form of stencils.
While your sign does now look computer generated, it also has a high end professional flair to it. That also accounts for something. I mean, you could have wiggled up those arrows just a tad if you desired a more hand done look. Perhaps I can show you how that's done...
Posted by Dan Antonelli (Member # 86) on :
At first I thought you were talking about buying a Mac Posted by Neil D. Butler (Member # 661) on :
Well that's what I've been saying all along, Digital can be fun, you can design anything that you would never ever do by hand, and produce it on the printers like there's no tomorrow... and you can still make it look like it's hand done... how many people thought that my shop truck was all Airbrushed.. there were many.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
