Hi And Merry Xmas From Sunny Manchester…

[Jill Marie Welsh]

Hi Nathan.
I can’t help you much with vynull application, as I am not very good at it.
But I am sure that many here could be of help.
If you are serious about getting into the sign trade,
don’t put the cart before the horse.
First things first.
Get your hands on a copy of Mike Steven’s Mastering Layout.
There are several threads here that tell you where.
Read it. Make it be your watchword.
Subscribe to SignCraft, an American sign trade magazine.
Learn about colors and layouts and alphabets.
Visit websites like http://www.letterheadfonts.com
Talk to other signfolk.
They can help you research what plotter to buy and the types of vynull to run through it.
My old man always said, if you’re going to do something, do it right, or don’t do it at all.
And lastly, don’t expect to be a millionaire anytime soon.
Love….Jill
PS
I give you credit for being brave enough to face the Wrath of Jill! 😉

[Nathan]

Hi Jill

Forgot to mention I’ve been using Photoshop (for web design) for quite a bit now and would consider myself proficient in it. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve purchased the Corel Graphics suite and have had my head buried in the 600+ page plus guide as I’ve never really used a vector program before. I also have a copy of Mike Steven’s Mastering Layout on order from amazon and have also been visiting letterheadfonts along with signs101. Heard a lot of good things about the Graphtec plotter and support but I’ll look more in to this in the New Year.

Regards
Nathan

[Bill Dewison]

Hi and welcome Nathan 😀

Blimey, Salford’s about 10 minutes away from here (Well it is if you drive at speed :D) What specifically are you thinking of doing? Starting up from home, a unit, a shop or?? There’s plenty of advice available on the boards for helping you startup, but you’re welcome to come over to my place in the New Year, have a gander at the bits and bats I use. I run a small sign shop in Leigh.

Ask away though, 101 questions may sound like alot, but you’d be surprised just how many questions you will ask once you get started. Great time of year as well to start your planning etc. I did it at a similar time of year, took a couple of months before I was up and running though. Hope you enjoy the boards anyway.

Btw, watch out for that Carrie, she appears mighty friendly at first, but without an avatar, she goes on and on and on and on and on! Its like being stuck in traffic on Regents Road, you know you want to move away quickly, but you just can’t! 😉

Cheers, Dewi

[Robert Lambie]

hi nathan, welcome to the boards mate.
thank you for taking the time to say hello, im sure you will fit in just dandy! 😉
newbie or not, we want your questions, its what makes this place tick…
dont be afraid how stupid “you may think” your question is, we want to know!
you may have noticed by now how helpful, nutty, funny most are on here.. :lol1: jump in the waters great 😛

[Shane Drew]

Hi Nathan, and welcome.

Buddy, I’d take up Dewi’s offer. Even if you don’t learn anything, but you will I am sure, based on what I have read here over the time I have been associated with the UKSB, I think Dewi would probably know the answers to a lot, if not all of the questions you have floating around your head.

I am not much chop on PS, and I thought I was pretty good on Corel 10 until I started seeing some of Stevo’s posts. Now I have developed an Corel inferiority complax because Stevo is da man! 😀

My only advice would be to go into this industry with your eyes open, which based on you original post, you clearly are.

The graphtec is a good plotter, had one for many years with no problems. I have Rolands now, and I am equally impressed.

Cheers, and all the best for your new endeavour.

[John Childs]

Hello Nathan.

Welcome.

[Nathan]

Dewi – Initially I’m thinking about starting from home and going out to find my customers, I don’t want to start making wrong decisions due to financial pressures. Having said that if the right shop came along I wouldn’t rule it out. Thanks for the invitation across to your shop, I’ll take you up on that, I haven’t visited Leigh for years. Could you let me have some contact details for yourself via pm.

One thing I haven’t got straight in my head yet is how does the one man band go about finding a fitter?

Thanks for the replies guys.
Regards
Nathan

[Shane Drew]

Ideally Nathan, the one man band fits as well.

From experince, finding a fitter is the least of your problems. Finding one you can trust is your first priority 🙄

shane

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Nathan,

Welcome to the group – make yourself at home.

I’m a one-man band up in Leyland, working from home producing both cut and printed graphics. If you’re ever passing J28 on the M6 give me a shout and come and have a look at the setup.

Those little voices you sometimes hear in your head are the echos from the others on the group – “I’ve told you before I’ve got an avatar” 😮

Mark

[Peter Normington]

Hi Nathan and welcome to the best, nuttiest, happiest, most critical forum in the world! 😛
Have fun and best wishes with your new venture. BTW we are a two man band, we design, cut, weed, fit, climb ladders, saw wood and alli, and still find time to make coffee, Probably better than Dewis by all accounts 😉
Peter & Lynn

[Andy Gorman]

Welcome Nathan.

Find a fitter? You woman! Do it yourself. That’s the best part of the job!
Seriously, I love going out and about and risking my life on a daily basis. It takes careful scheduling to make sure the phone is covered when you’re out and about, but so far I’ve managed it. I would imagine it would be more of a necessity if you were running from ‘proper’ premises as these tend to get more drop in custom. Dewi will tell you all about that. I work from home (well, a workshop behind the house) and it’s great. There are dedicated sub contract sign fitters in most yellow pages for the jobs you can’t handle alone.

[Nicola McIntosh]

welcome nathan not much more i can say, except enjoy the place & the nutters are fab!! 😛

and all the best in getting started!! 😀 😀

Nik

[Carrie Brown]

Hi Nathan 😀

Welcome to the boards, dont believe everything you hear from Dewi about me 😛 Its him you need to watch .. he’s an absolute fruitcake!! 😉

Don’t forget your avatar, always nice to see who we are chatting with and adds a touch more ……. I was going to say intamacy, but thats not it is it, ummmm oh Im sure you know what I mean?

Carrie & Stephen :welcome:

[Bill Dewison]

quote Nathan:

Dewi – Initially I’m thinking about starting from home and going out to find my customers, I don’t want to start making wrong decisions due to financial pressures. Having said that if the right shop came along I wouldn’t rule it out. Thanks for the invitation across to your shop, I’ll take you up on that, I haven’t visited Leigh for years. Could you let me have some contact details for yourself via pm.

One thing I haven’t got straight in my head yet is how does the one man band go about finding a fitter?

Thanks for the replies guys.
Regards
Nathan

No worries mate, details be PMed across later 😀 There’s a few prominent shops available in Salford atm, I was talking to a geezer who works around there just this morning. Shops aren’t ideal for everyone, but its a great way to start out as the customers come to you if you make your shop stand out! 😀

Finding a fitter is a pain! I have 3 fitters and they’re all busy atm, so I’m struggling to get work out, but if you find a good fitter, stick hold and don’t let go. Try your local joiners, sparkies… offer them a reasonable rate for the job rather than an hourly rate, I pay between £40 – £100 depending on the size of the job. I have paid more the odd time, but only when there were electrics involved or I’ve needed the job doing at night (hard to fit a town centre sign during the day).

Wish you all the luck for starting out Nathan, any help I can offer at all, don’t hesitate to gimme a call or whizz down this way 😀 Just remember, I gave you prior warning about my coffee! :lol1:

Cheers, Dewi

[Nathan]

Thanks for all the welcoming messages…

Dewi- I can’t reply to your pm for some reason but thanks for the contact details. I’ll give you a call in the New Year to arrange a time to come across and once again many thanks for giving me this opportunity.

Regards
Nathan

[Signs & Wonders]

Hello Nathan

Welcome to the site. As you have probably already gathered we’re a pretty friendly bunch. As a Salford lad myself, it was good to see your post. If you get setup I’ll pop in for a brew next time I visit my folks – same applies if you’re Yorkshire way.

All the best

Tony