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I think the best ones I've seen are the ones offered by SignCraft Magazine. Most of the shops I've worked in just had a bare bones one without much to check off, if they had that. Some just scribble a note and hide it in their pocket until the job is due.
------------------ "If it isn't fun, why do it?" Signmike@aol.com
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I use a dog-eared yellow legal pad (made from recycled materials, of course) and a black Flair tip pen. This is usually mounted on a clip-board, when I take the time to scrounge one up. Next, I try to remember to put the customer's name, date ordered and date due at the top; along with the customer's phone number. I then hang this from a finishing nail I've pounded into the back wall with a crescent wrench.(If I didn't bother with the clip board, I just impale the sheet of legal paper on the nail). Sometimes I forget to hang it and leave it on my desk for a few days, where it becomes covered with phone messages, phone numbers, and thumbnail sketches... or by the computer, where it ends up covered with cryptic URLs and coffee rings. From this stage, I print out a layout of the sign design and attach that to same clip board, detailing the colors used and estimated yardage of vinyl and quartage of One Shot required for the job. If it's a complex job, on another sheet I'll figure my material costs as well as labor costs and mark up. Unfortunately, I tend to scribble and abbreviate everything, so when the customer reorders the job a year later, all I'm left with are alien hyroglyphics. Sometimes, if it's a vinyl color I don't usually stock, I'll cut a sample piece and stick it on the sheet. Guess I'll be ordering those work order forms from "SignCraft" myself...hmmmmmm.
------------------ Tim Whitcher Quality Signs & Design 107 E Adrian St Blissfield, MI 49228 qualitysigns@cass.net
Posts: 1546 | From: Adrian, MI | Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Hi Carol...you've got a friend here. Write down all the information you want on your work order as it pertains to your shop. Take a blank piece of paper and sketch it out. Once you get it the way you want it...go into Corel Draw and reproduce it and then print it out and make a few copies and try it for a week or so. If it works, your problem is solved. If it needs modifying, go back into Corel and re-work it until you are happy. We did this about 12 years ago and every two or three years we may or may not make a change. You'll know when it's right.....
------------------ Louis A. Lazarus Milt's Sign Service, Inc. 20 So. Linden Ave. #5B 650-588-0490 fontking1a@aol.com
Posts: 560 | From: El Granada, CA | Registered: Apr 1999
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