This is topic You know you're a signmaker when... in forum Old Archives at The Letterville BullBoard.


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Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
 
... you stack some of your colorful son's playcups together from lightest to darkest. You only notice you're doing this after stalling because you genuinely are not sure on the right order of two particular colors. Your son doesn't know what's wrong with you because you're holding his cups in midair with a look of confusion on your face. [Confused] LOL!

Got one to share?
 
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
 
thats called..anal retentive.....you know your a signperson when your at the beach, a fantastic lookin gal walks by in a 2 piece, and the same time a 40 ft SCARAAB with an awesome graphic paint job goes blastin thur the water.......and your mouth drops open and your eyes follow the BOAT instead of the 2 piece..and you keep muttering AWESOME MAN....AWESOME!!!!!!!
 
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
 
Yo, Joe...

Now I consider myself to be a sign painter but that two piece will always garner the first look before the boat.... except if I was with Dana... Then I wouldn't need to look at any other woman... especially if I know what is good for me...

You know your a sign painter when you can look at kitchen utensils and figure 43 different ways you could use them around your shop.

I got a bunch more but that was the first one I thought of... went through that just yesterday... LOL! [Smile]

Have a great one!
 
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
 
....your spouse has to do the driving because you spend too much time looking at signs instead of the road.
 
Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
 
When you make a little pitstop before going out to a restaurant for dinner, to take some measurements and a digital photo of a job site that happens to be on the way.

You know you are a die-hard signmaker when your selection of the restaurant factors in the location of that job!
 
Posted by John Thompson (Member # 2750) on :
 
....when everytime you go out of town to visit, you look in the people who you are visitings phonebook to see how many signshops are in their town and then you write 'em all down and on the way out you want to go look at all of them. Makes my wife mad as heck!!!!
 
Posted by Troy Haas (Member # 472) on :
 
You go to an amusement park and the kids get mad because you spend more time looking at the signs than you do standing in line for the rides, and your wife gets mad because when you get the film developed from the trip there are more pictures of "signs" than the kids...
 
Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
 
... you go to sit down and you can't. Your pockets are too full of pencils, stabilos, and exactos, and there's ALWAYS a squeegee in your back pocket! (if not two)

... you are always prepared to open packages at any given time and location. You after all are carrying that exacto knife!

... your vehicle is always packed and ready for vinyl removal and installations. Even on days and weekends off. It pays to be prepared, right?!?

... your own shop signs are never finished, actually never done up to start with. Even your phone number on your truck is wrong and a year old. (sad but true) So you tell everyone that you have no sign on your yard because you wish your personal property to be more anonymous. And you haven't made up an excuse for your wrong phone number yet as no one's asked about it.

... you want to change your graphics on your vehicle weekly with all these great and wonderful new ideas, but never do.

... you log on to this bb first thing in the morning with your coffee. Your excuse is you need more time to wake up and get with it.

... a healing heat gun burn on your leg somewhere is a pretty regular thing.

... everyone comments you smell good, kind of like cookies. (thanks roger LOL)
 
Posted by John Thompson (Member # 2750) on :
 
...when you go out somewhere and somebody says "Whats that on your butt?" and you look and you've got a big wad of vinyl stuck to your #ss..........
 
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
 
When you sit down and enjoy a good book and catch yourself weeding. (This was on this bullboard a few years back and not my own)
 
Posted by Chuck Peterson (Member # 70) on :
 
You're telling someone about a good restaurant and you can't remember the name but you can describe every detail of the signage, except, of course, what it says.
 
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
 
LEWIS
TYSON
When youe the only one in the room who notices that the two color fight logo actually says LEWIS TYSON IS ON

Also Donna,
quote:
And you haven't made up an excuse for your wrong phone number yet as no one's asked about it.

Their asking allright, just not asking you! lol
 
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
 
...when you're trying to scrape the paint out from under your fingernails during a sermon.

...when you inevitably end up in the paint and tools section of every compartment store even if you came to buy underware.

...when you uuuh and aaah over a certain sign and nobody understands what the heck you're all exited about.
 
Posted by John Cordova (Member # 220) on :
 
...when like Doug and the Lewis/Tyson thing, you get excited about how Fed Ex has an arrow designed into their logo between the e and the x . And your the only one who has noticed. My wife thinks I'm weird 'cuz I catch that stuff.

Or when someone asks what kind of paint your are going to use and you say "One Shot" and they look at you funny and you look back at them like, "hey, bonehead! Everyone knows what One Shot is!" Well, don't they?
 
Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
 
hahahahaa... John! And I thought I was the only one who picked up on the arrow!!!

I do grab every chance to point it out to people!

[Wink]
 
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
 
You know you're a signmaker when:

you try to enter the locked front door of a business that is open and someone points out that you should read the paper sign taped to the window that says: Please use the other door!

(After all if its a paper sign it can't be worth looking at, right?) [Smile]
 
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
 
When your wife who could care less about signs in general looks at every sign going
down the road and comments on every good and bad one. hahahaha

it's like dried old one-shot it rubs off.
 
Posted by Ivan D. Otero (Member # 1924) on :
 
When you drive parallel to a tow truck or dump truck doing 60 mph so you can checkout the lettering, and give it a minute critique at the light!
 
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
 
...you don't mind waiting in the waiting room because after looking at all the signs, you still have to touch the good ones, as well as looking at the back, the edges & any installation hardware. (dis-assembling them if needed)
 
Posted by Bob Burns (Member # 268) on :
 
You know you'rea signmaker...
when you've just completed a window at a BEAUTY SALON,and the shade of MAUVE they chose doesn't look like "they thought it would".and they won't pay you!
WHAT I'VE LEARNED:

1.DON'T EVER DO BEAUTY SALONS
2.DON'T EVER DO MAUVE
 
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
 
.....when you pay more attention to the signs inside a Red Lobster restaurant than you do the Shrimp Scampi sizzling in front of you.
 
Posted by John Thompson (Member # 2750) on :
 
...when every time your vinyl cutting machine is cutting vinyl you find yourself on this messageboard and also if you don't have a computer handy, you have 5 or 6 of your distributors catalogs handy so you can read through them for the 1000th time knowing you already know exactly whats in there. [Razz]
 
Posted by vinylman777 (Member # 1074) on :
 
I may be in trouble......
what if you do every one of these things????
I need a life.... [Roll Eyes]
 
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
 
Thanks for the laugh Troy!
That's what I remember most about going to Disney World when I was young. My father drove my mother and I CRAZY. All he did was take pictures of the signs. We finally told him - have fun - we'll meet you at the hotel later. That was 25 years ago and when I cleaned out his house/studio, he still had all of the slides/negatives/photos from that trip. Anybody want them? [Cool] [Cool]

I have to admit that I did the same thing when I was at Universal Studios in LA. They have some very cool signs. Wish I would have had time to get in touch with their sign shop and go see it.
 
Posted by Robin (Member # 1710) on :
 
Or when you're mistaken for a blind person for touching the signs in the local hospital

Or your fiance~ wants a pre-nup that says his screwdrivers will never look like your's (paint stirers)

Or the local PTO assumes you can't bake (correct but still ****es you off) so maybe you can make each child something & you make 2" by 4" magnetic signs sprayed black with krylon & put each kids name on in flourscent puff paint

Or you're using the jig saw with safty glasses, the timer goes off for the mashed potatos & you're caught mashing them with safty glasses on!
 
Posted by Bill Preston (Member # 1314) on :
 
[Eek!] [Razz]

You know you are not much of a sign maker if you are easily distracted.

Whilst hand lettering in reverse the inside of a store window--the brush and mahlstick thing-- and a pretty young thing strolls by and you become so engrossed in her progress that you run a streak of color clear across the glass.

That's moi-- never could concentrate on what I was supposed to be doing-- got some fond memories, though.
 
Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
 
hahahhaaa.... I'm absolutely roaring at your last one Robin. Firstly for the smashing potatos with safety glasses on ... but also for the timer.
hah! I too learned that a timer is a valuable tool when trying to cook and work at the same time! That ... and a smoke alarm!

[ June 12, 2002, 02:20 PM: Message edited by: Janette Balogh ]
 
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
 
You're sitting in the restroom, heeding the call of nature, and you notice the hardware holding up those restroom partitions. Your mind starts thinking of ways that you could adapt those hardware pieces to install signs.

For those who haven't had this experience, check out that hardware next time you heed the call.
 
Posted by Bob Darnell (Member # 27) on :
 
I couldn't think of any that haven't already been said... until I came home and had to bring in our blue box. (recycling bin)

You know you're a signmaker when labelling things with a permanent marker like everyone else just won't cut it. [Smile]

 -
 
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
 
You know those canvas drawstring bags they give you in high school for your gym clothes? Yup...my dad hand-lettered ZANETTI on mine. My husband uses it for his golf shoes now.

Hand-lettered birthday banners, large glass lettered christmas ornaments - I took those kind of things for granted. It's a shame my daughter won't have them.
 
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
 
You know your a signmaker when you come home, your wife ahs bought your
son a new Hotwheels speed shop and you have to redo the whole thing
because all the stickers aren't on straight.
 
Posted by coop (Member # 504) on :
 
...when you will pile in a truck, and drive 18 hours (each way), just to spend 48 hours with some crazy folks who happen to call themselves "letterheads", And feel GOOD about it!
 
Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :
 
great post donna!
here's mine...

you know when...

you rush through the aisle of the grocery store to get a head of lettuce, a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and you become distracted from your objective when a new logo or package design catches your eye.

bob darnell, your "YouKnowWhen..." is classic, us signfolks have the best looking trash can lettering around. hahaha

everyone above has great observations!

nice

[ June 12, 2002, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: Mark Fair Signs ]
 
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
 
You know you're a real signmaker when...

You switch cellular services so you can get 3,000 more off peak minutes (my plan has roughly 66.5 hours of off peak time...) so you can call people. Not your family... other Letterheads. LOL!

I just called one tonight at his shop at 10:30 and he was still at it. Which reminds me of another one...

You know you're a real signmaker when...

You work 30 extra hours so you can go one real long week end away...

so you can drive parallel to a truck doing 70 M.P.H. to check out the lettering...

Eat at restaurants because they have a cool sign but the food sucks but you stop there again on the way back because the sign was cool...

Shoot 3 rolls of film on the wife and kids and 12 of signs and trucks... and get those developed first because you only had enough cas to do 13 rolls...

Call the shop to return phone calls on the machine... and try not to let the customers know you actually snuck out of town under the cover of darkness...

Right, Bubba?

Yawl have a great one!
 
Posted by Robin (Member # 1710) on :
 
Well, here's another one Janet or maybe a warning to Donna....
Ya know you're a sign maker when you hear your 9 year old yell..... "Mom, We used the flourscent hairspray you use on posters in our hair, its blue now."...And you know the only blue you have is krylon!....the "we" was the little fella that stayed over...."his mom's a sign painter" just didn't cut it for an explanation.

(hair spray gets it out)The Semi driver' wife that pulled in as the chaos was unrolling gave me that tip! God works in mysterious ways!

The mashed potato incident was him & his teenage buddies who are never surprised when they walk in here anymore....

The pto was 2nd grade
Donna you have a long way to go
 
Posted by Mikes Mischeif (Member # 1744) on :
 
...when you won't put your hands in the map pockets, glove box, or ash tray of your truck because you keep extra e-xacto knife and razor blades there...just in case.

...you empty the windex liquid into a beer mug to use the spray bottle for application fluid.

...every button on the computer, stereo and door knob has a color one shot inprint of your thumb.
 
Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
 
You know you're gonna be a signmaker when you print out your first flyer from your first computer.

Look honey, I'm a designer!
 
Posted by Cheryl Lucas (Member # 1656) on :
 
Ya know you're a signmaker when all of your coffee table books are sign related... [Smile]

Cher
 
Posted by Jonathan Androsky (Member # 2806) on :
 
You know you're a signpainter when most of your shoes have little slits on top of the toes from those times when you THOUGHT you dropped a Stabilo and tried to keep the point from breaking ... only it wasn't a Stabilo.
 
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
 
The last thing I needed was another cooler but I just couldn't toss my dad's...

 -
 
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
 
Hold on to that one , hun.....!!

When you go to a newly opened museum near Dallas and all you can look at it all the interior signage, and peering behind all the displays to see how it's mounted.......(makes the guards keep an eye on you)

When you go out to eat with another Letterhead and realize they are trying to vacuum around your feet because while you are still yakking about signs and stuff they closed an hour ago!!

(Happened this week) [Wink]
 
Posted by Talisman (Member # 1869) on :
 
when....

Gift wrapping for your Godchild looks like this...

 -

Plotter paper wrapping...
Scrap vinyl color stripe...
Vinyl names...
Inside is a TONKA truck with the original decals removed and new "custom" vehicle graphics added. Flames included! [Cool] [Cool] [Cool]

Doing Martha Stewart proud! (wrapping with neat corners and ends was never my strong suit [Eek!] )Joe
 


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