Sometimes I get a bit restless And think about iselling everything Trading the markets a bit And doing signs while living the ‘van life ‘ ( or RV life or box truck life ) on the road . I have some experience doing this when I was younger . I thought a saw a plotter for sale new for a few hundred $! Just throw it in the van with some vinyl, stencil mask and paint Along with lettering brushes and a general purpose airbrush Maybe some krylon spray paint - And one could wander eternally while making what is needed From place to place . Maybe I should just set up and try this on a small road trip first . Being ‘on the road’ doesn’t seem as ‘cool’ as it once was . Much like large parts of the west coast are different now . There seem to be large numbers of people without a permanent place to stay now and it ‘ruins it for everyone’ Compared to ‘the old days ‘ Has anyone done this sort of thing ? What did you think about it ?
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
FranCisco Vargas tried the "Life of a Snapper" back around 2000. He did make a few signs, but it was more about the adventure. I think he called himself, The Millennium Signman. And I think his stories were in a sign trade magazine.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Alicia, he partnered with Richard Bustamante and they were the Traveling Millennial Sign Artist. Didn't last very long.
Shon, there is a country filled with sign folks struggling to carve a nitch in their communitites and just getting by. For many of these folks having someone roll into town and snap a couple jobs could cost them their rent for the month. It once was a cool way to live ( I did it ) but I think times have changed. If you could find towns that don't have a sign person that might be a way to go, but then you'd find one and stay. Welcome to the cycle.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
[ February 06, 2022, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Rick Sacks ]
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
double posting takes practice
Posted by Chuck Peterson (Member # 70) on :
I traveled around for about 2 weeks with my sign kit back in the 80's. I didn't paint one sign, but I have good memories of the road.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I did the traveling scene with ladders and kit back in the late sixties. I found places that depended on snappers. I found places where the quality sign painters didn't want to go. I did signs for wrecking yards and used auto parts and farm stands and roadside tobacco. I did some pawn shops and off brand tire stores. Thrift shops too. I did a fleet of logging trucks and some garbage trucks and tow trucks. That was all before every neighborhood had a kid with a vinyl cutter and a hundred dollar program. It takes time now to find the side of town that wants a snapper, and when you solicite work, you always put the customer in charge of dictating the price. Whatta hassle.
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
In the mid seventies my new wife and I traveled the southern states for 7 months in a pickup with a topper. Basic necessities along with sign kit and paints.
Yes we had a blast and saw things and places. Did not make any money but never went hungry for long. It is a very different world now. Rick sums that up well.
If you want to look at as a sort of working vacation, fine, just be careful. And I would never attempt it without packing a hand gun.
Posted by shon lenzo (Member # 1364) on :
Rick- You have perfectly described my time on the road As a snapper . Things were different when it still took considerable skill to paint a single letter well . The first shop I went into as a kid had me paint ‘For Sale’ In a Helvetica bold type font . Those words / letters pretty much cover the various brush strokes required to show of someone can hand letter . It was harder than it looked but I did learn .
[ February 09, 2022, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: shon lenzo ]
Posted by shon lenzo (Member # 1364) on :
Now the original vinyl guys can complain about how tough things were before digital printers !
