Mine was for a friend. His name is Paul Townsend and he is a bible translator for Wycliffe. He and his wife go and live for years among indigenous peoples and actually CREATE written versions of their languages. He has worked better than ten years doing this for the Itziel(I-she-el) people in central America, as well as translating the entire new testament of the bible into this brand new written language.
Our company had the privilege of making over 2000 language tiles with the letterforms of the language as a teaching tool, so that these folk could learn to read ands write their own language!
It didn't really dawn on me how awesome it was til we were halfway through with it.
It was fun and interesting as well as inspiring to know we were a part of giving written communication to an entire subculture!
What's your cool story?
Barry
[ October 20, 2002, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: Tasmus ]
Posted by Troy Haas (Member # 472) on :
The panel for the "1st Annual Letterville Panel Swap". I am feeling REAL Creative.
I have not put my personal intrest on the other post as I want who ever got my name to use their own creativity and have fun without any intrusions.
Posted by bronzeo (Member # 1408) on :
Barry, I can't compete with your story, but wanted to give the bump up so all could have the chance to read and think about your project. Cool job. Jack
Posted by Tasmus (Member # 445) on :
bump....c'mon somebody's gotta wanna talk about this one....
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Here is one of four wall signs that I had to restore on a building in an "Historical District"that was being converted into lofts. The requirement was to EXACTLY match the original colors...that were painted on the building about 70 years ago! FUN! Especially when you are up at the 10th floor! Six of the colors were probably lead and tin based...took a little over a day to match them all!
Heheheheheeee...more fun than cutting vinyl! Posted by Bob Burns (Member # 268) on :
About 30 years ago, I"body" painted a voluptuous......use your imagination!!!!!!! Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Barry,
Your project is the “ringer”. I don’t know if anyone can top it.
Among my most enjoyable and interesting projects were two occasions I got to do volunteer work in Brooklyn at the headquarters of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have also gotten to work on many volunteer sign projects for Quick Build Kingdom Halls, including some sandblasted Granite signs with 23K Gold leaf on the lettering.
In February and March, 1987, I was called to Brooklyn Bethel for temporary construction. I worked in the Restorations Department, teaching sign making techniques. The Watchtower Society was restoring a purchased hotel, the Bossert, that at one time, had been the headquarters of the Brooklyn Dodgers. We worked on a glue chipped glass/Gold leaf sign for the main entry.
In June, 1989, I was again accepted for a temporary construction assignment at Brooklyn Bethel. One of the projects I worked on was applying Angel Gild to the sign at the Standish Hotel. The design and sandblasting had already been done by the art staff at Bethel. The hotels had been purchased for housing for the volunteer staff working at Bethel helping to print Bibles and Bible literature in many languages.
I flew up to New York in my small airplane. On the way, the pressure difference caused all my Angel Gild chemicals to leak out of their containers. I had empty bottles and a saturated box when I got there. We made a quick trip to Art Essentials in Manhattan to restock the chemicals and were thus able to get the job done.
While I was up there, the Tianamen Square Massacre occurred in China, a real perspective adjuster. Compared to what people were enduring in Peking, my losing $140.00 worth of Gold was nothing.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Hey Barry, Are they by chance the same people (just translated differently) as the Itzá or Itzí?
Posted by Tasmus (Member # 445) on :
Couldn't say---I don't think so though....I seem to remember an "L" distinctly bein' in there....
B
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
About a year ago, a client gave me a dream job, my task was to create logos for a flag football league that he was forming. The team names were all unique and off the wall (the Dead Squirrels, Gnawing Vermin, Clabbored Milk, etc.)There were 10 teams that had to have unique looks as well as different color schemes, the official league logo that was used on all promotional items, posters, brochures, uniforms, etc. They had a big ceremony during the Super Bowl halftime and unveiled the teams and announced which players were drafted to each team, the Players were presented with the official uniform, cap and practice shirt. The client has since franchised the league and has marketed the program including the team names and logos. the first image is the final poster for the inagural season, the second poster includes 2 teams (the Dainty Flowers, and the Beefsteak Tomatoes) which were moved to be expansion teams for the upcoming season. hopefully you can make out the teams, but if you can't here is the list: the Hamsters, Fightin' Sporks, Parakeets, the Bed-Wetters, Garden Slugs, Gnawing Vermin, Clabbored Milk, the Dead Squirils. the expansion teams: the Dainty Flowers, the Beefsteak Tomatoes. Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Barry, I was wondering if they were the same ethnic group because the Itzá are a subgroup of the Maya people. Theirs was the first true written language in the Americas but most of their manuscripts, except for what is carved in stone, were destroyed during the conquest of Central America. Just a bit of trivia.
[ October 22, 2002, 01:32 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
I have been fortunate to have two unusual signs projects that stand out in my mind! One was a 4,600 sq. ft. sign at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama of thier logo on asphalt. The other was a 20,000 gallon water tank, painted to look like a Coors Light Beer can at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY. They can bee seen on my web site. Go to the Race Track page.
I am in the process of trying to get the job of painting graphics and logos for Harley Davidison on thier new helicopter that will celbrate their 50th anniversary next year. Looks like a very cool job!
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
Si, awesome job!!! I would have had to wear horse blinds..........no way I could go up that high!!!!!
Posted by Greg Sandor (Member # 3351) on :
Tony, Since you're bidding design for HD: The Men Behind the Hog: Insight from the Harley-Davidson stylists http://signweb.com/design/cont/harley.html Posted by Tasmus (Member # 445) on :
WHOA! Tony I saw that TALLEDEGA job & the article you did about it....
Hat's off to you man!
THAT's WHAT I CALL LARGE FORMAT!!!!
Great work.
barry
Posted by jon peterman (Member # 528) on :
I did a 14 foot shish kabob for a health club just after the Boise meet. the restaurant has since closed and the sculpture is for sale so if anyone needs a 14 ft schtick let me know. tripod Posted by Jeff Ogden (Member # 3184) on :
While visiting friends in Hoboken, N.J.in 1968 I stumbled onto a building full of fiberglas animals, cartoon and storybook characters, you name it. It was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float warehouse. Seven months out of the year a crew run by a madman designs and builds these incredible floats. Like noah's arc with animated giraffs, lions, and a moose, sticking their heads out. They asked me to paint the colors on these things, so I did one and loved every minute of it, and for the next 3 years every September I went to Hoboken and for three months I painted floats. "Used 3 to 6" brushes and silkscreen ink thinned down for the colors. They said they showed up better for the color TV cameras. I didn't argue with them. I kept up the old floats and did two or three new ones every year.Did a whole pirate ship about 40 feet long one year. Never should have left except didn't like that part of the country, so moved on...
Posted by Deb Fowler (Member # 1039) on :
One of the most memorable projects entailed a car owned by a poet who traveled around the country to read his poetry. I don't remember his name and I was 15 years old when he came to our art class and read the poetry. He invited us to come to the mall where his car was on display and he read poetry that week. It was one of the first "free-reign" projects that I ever embarked on with paint outside of class or home. Not as easy at first, since we had to understand his poetry to transfer the words into whimsical scenery to tell the story. Our class worked together and it looked great considering that there wasn't a verbal plan except for the poetry. A lot of soft blends to make the continuos artwork wrap around the car and tell it's stories.What a great guy to give young-ins like us this challenge!
[ October 23, 2002, 08:29 PM: Message edited by: Deb Fowler ]
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
Greg, thanks for passing along that website! I was very interesting!
Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
Mine was the Fenway Park job for the Boston Red Sox, which I did two years in a row with Bob Rochon. The job entailed painting four-foot high letters on an asphalt-rubber surface just behind home plate. Details of the job are available in an article in Signs of the Times; I'd tell you which issue but I don't have one here.
Posted by Dana Bowers (Member # 780) on :
Back in my sign-shop days... I got to do a couple fun things.
One was painting the silhouette of a cutting horse and calf on the floor when you first walk into the barn at a huge horse training facility.
The other one was for a very old store in Walker, MN. The original flooring was being covered, but there was a spot where the owners stood behind the counter. The linoleum was warn thru to the wood underneath.
I lettered some plexi, layered it with another sheet of plexi; the flooring guys inlayed that over the worn spot in the floor, in the new wood floor layer. The spot showed thru the plexi and you could read about the people that stood there all those years. That was kinda cool.
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Especially when you are up at the 10th floor!
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