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the many faces of sign writing
Hi, as a non-signwriter I’m just trying to get a feel for the many facets of sign writing.
Below is a (very short) list of those which spring to my mind, please add any you can think of.
Cut vinyl
NeonThanks for your time, Peter.
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10 Replies
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If you do signage , you sell brand awareness , information , image and regognition , the ultimate aim is to increse your customers sales , turnover and profit – expand on that.
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Hi Rodney, thanks for a swift response (perhaps one of the shortest I’ve seen you post 😉 )
If I understand your point correctly, it is that as sign writer I should be thinking beyond the fabrication of a sign, but also consider and be aware of the marketing ethic which requires its production in the first place.
I guess with larger clients this would already be largely under control by them. While smaller firms and businesses would probably expect some guidance.
Am I even close to understanding what you meant?
Regards PeterC
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that sounds about right.
Sign people are a rare breed, they need to have a lot of skills including artistic flair, good diy, creativity, problem solving etc, etc. Also they need to be able to sell the right product at the right price to the right customer at the right time, which can be either luck or because of a “feel” for the market place and / or the economy. These are a few of the skills required but like Rodney says, it’s all about increasing your customers business and market presence.
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A new shop opening up
Tradesmen everywhere
Time is of the essenceThe ‘chippy’ might leave a few unfilled punched holes he should have filled and painted
The ‘spark’ has a few sockets and light fixtures to finish off
The painters? Well they’ve just got back from the boozer after finishing a job that looked like it was painted with a yard broom.
Customer resigns himself to thinking ‘Well tradesmen, What do I expect’
But now it comes to his sign!
This is the image, presentation, advertising and the appertiser he hopes will draw in the crowds
He is not going to be as forgiving to us if we fail to deliver
John
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Yes – I mean that the list is sort of endless as to the various aspects of signage and if you look at a broader picture , you realise that you can’t quantify it or define signage by a list of processes or products.
You can choose 2 paths as a signage guy – plug and play as in take an order and execute it , perhaps shift a few letters around etc – or you can work with a client , suggest ideas , onsell other products and generally give them the benefit of your experience and creativity – after all we are supposedly experts in the field and even the massive co coming to you won’t object if you can suggest a better or more effective way.Sometimes a client won’t listen , we engraved a tone of items and did a whole lot of signage/banners etc for a promotion , the co ordering it absolutely refused to even hear me out – “JUST DO IT” they said when I began saying “Can I make a suggestion…”.
It had something to do with a secret ingredient in the new and improved product they were launching and they chose to call it
Pen/5 and insisted we use the font supplied which was sort of reverse slanted upper case – most people who saw the signage and the TV ads where the product was promoted read it as PENIS – I tried to tell ’em……………….. -
John.
I absolutely love what you’ve written here. If you don’t mind, I’d like to use it as a small sign in my office…Lee
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Hi everyone,
thanks for the feedback, I appreciate the points you make in your replies and feel
reasonably confident that I have many of the skills and a fair amount of flair to make
the transition from my current employment into signwriting.Coming from a Large format digital print enviroment where I am involved in all stages
of production of internal signage, wall graphics, banner stands and popup displays ie:
meeting clients
coming up with concepts
producing artwork
printing the graphics
laminating and finishing the graphics
installation of wall mounted panels etcAll well and good, but it doesn’t make me a signwriter? Because I still lack a basic
awarness of the many processes/products/experiance available to someone working
as a signwriter.
Knowledge which Rodney (rightly points out), I will need if I hope to be able to
suggest ideas and onsell other products to assist the client reach an effective solution
for their needs.So initially I find myself asking/wondering how many different processes members of
this forum can suggest, so that I might use such a list as a starting point for my research
into Sign production.Oh yeah John could I use it as small sign for my office too, if indeed I do take the plunge
for myself?Thanks all, I don’t expect to turn into a professional straight away but with your help and
indulgence I might be able to set off in the right direction for myself.Thanks PeterC
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Leeroy and Peter C:
I’m flattered!
It was just a thought but yeah go ahead,… modify whatever.
John
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without wishing to appear pedantic someone who applies vinyl to substrates is a sign-maker irrespective of how much design skill they use. some one who paints signs by hand using a brush is a signwriter. to confuse matters even more in the US they call signwriters, sign-painters.
it might seem a bit navel to some but it’s a strict definition.
and while i am being analy retentive, i heard a great comment once from the guy who wrote the difinitive treatise on traditional signwriting, Bill Stewart he said
” i dont understand all this talk about computer aided design, design is a function of the brain. Before computers nobody called it pencil aided design”just had to pass that on sorry for interupting
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Major facet of all signage whether digital, vinyl, brush or chalk: DESIGN!
Without good design you can’t expect signage to be as effective as with good design, so that means it’s somewhat wasted.
Design = layout, colour/s, weights, priorities, location, anticipated audience, expected sighting timeframe, etc plus customer’s budget.
That’s why a shop front might be different from a business card & different from a billboard & different from a newspaper advert which all promote the same business.
An understanding of these design processes is not easy to gain quickly, nor is the ability to spot the PITA customer. (Pain In The Ar$e – they need a 200% surcharge built into the bill to accommodate the headache you will shortly have to endure…)
Good luck!
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