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How did you start in the sign trade?
Just been thinking about a thing or two and got wondering how most people learnt their trade. Myself I trained in graphic design and then landed a job at Benson signs in Liverpool and became an apprentice sign maker and went on from there. Have most people been apprentices or have you taken a course of some sort or have you been self taught? It would be interesting to know 😀
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33 Replies
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I started age 18 at a local firm doing odd jobs, then cajoled the designer into letting me on the old Gerber 4b plotter with its plug in font system!! From there it was all self taught!!
Recently my experience has been boosted through the completion of a NVQ Signmaking certificate (as approved by BSGA) and a Digital Media Degree specialising in Digital Dynamic Signage.
However most of the vital skills I have are a combination of practice, logic and the ongoing learning process of knowing what is available, what is possible, and actively following where technology is taking us…
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I took a couple of courses on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in college. I didn’t do much with it except stuff for my own personal use. I used to take a lot of surf/snowboarding pictures so I would use photoshop to put sequences together. My brother-in-law told me about a job at a theme park he works at so I applied. I guess I was what they were looking for because I have been here two years and couldn’t be happier. I learned just about everything from reading magazines, looking at websites like this one and trial and error. I bought my own Graphtec plotter for home use the start of this year. I’ve only had a few jobs with that, but I’m not really promoting that work yet. Even still, it’s half-way paid off with just one of those jobs. 😀
-Marek -
Well for me ,it was a total change of direction…I had been in the pub game for a long time but at the beginning of this year i had had enough of it and decided that a change was as good as a rest. One day i was driving and thought to myself “What the hell am i going to do?”…I noticed there was a hell of a lot of signs around and i thought ” I can do that”….so i did a bit of research.bought a plotter and in april this year i walked into a new industry….
So i have no formal training at all and a basic knowledge of the essential software and a plotter…..
I learn something new everyday and find the industry both stimulating and therapeutic, what could be better??
Iain
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Ahh the old Gerber 4b I used to use one of those 😀 I remember being the only member of staff who wasnt afraid to use the “new” technology 😀 All the other staff were proper signwriters, I used to really admire their skill!
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On a similar topic, a lot gave there answers here.
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … highlight=
Peter -
I left school, and was going to join the Marines, got through all the first part of the selection process and was waiting for a placement for the next part training at Lymington, anyway my mum said i needed to get a job while i was waiting, A job came up in a local sign firm, i applied got the full time job, which i was going to jack in when i heard from the marines, they took quite a while getting back to me and in the mean time i had got used to the money and ending up saying in the sign trade, which i have doning for twenty years..
Simon
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That was an interesting thread Peter, one that was posted just before I joined and it seems that an awful lot of signmakers sort of “fell” into the trade by accident and decided they liked it. I was sort of curious as to how many actually left school wanting to be a signmaker, not many I bet 😀
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Jem,
I expect it is much the same now as it was then most children (apart from the fortunate ones who’s parents or relatives are in the sign business) never come across sign making they seem oblivious where it comes, road signs, information signs, vehicles the list is endless so unless they get educated where will the future sign makers come from 🙄Lynn
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We had we Jessie, the world turned upside down and documentary making was no longer on the cards, with a screaming baby. 😮
Wanting to keep on the image side of things I wanted to see if I could make a living making postcards from my own photos while I developed a tv studio so that when Jessie was old enough I would be able to jump back in the game.
Stahls Pacific pointed me towards a sublimation printer for cards, new technology at the time, and sent me a t-shirt with a photo of a swan on it. It blew me away, had to have one. Got our first Epson 3000 and started producing one of souvenirs and promotional things.
People kept coming back, it was all good. Then more people came wanting signs, which at that time we didn’t do, because the only other company around here that did them was run by a dirkhead and really rubbed people up the wrong way. Anyway Stahls advised us to buy a PC60 and a copy of Inspire and another steep learning curve faced us.
So we are completely self taught, admittedly with great holes in our understanding of things, but we do our best. We are both from a background of the film and tv industry where attention to detail is important and quality is, or used to be, king.
We are honest and upfront with folk. If we are asked to do something that we can’t do we tell them, and invariably we get the design job and the OK to sub it out to someone who can. We get a far smaller slice of the pie but the customer gets what they want.
That’s the longest bit of blah blah that I’ve done for a while. I’m off for a lie down. :lol1:Scoz.
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I started doing minor shopfitting then one company asked me to install some signs and I went from there. I learnt a lot from the boards especially
vinyl application and just practice from there. with the boards help I have now a succsesfull business. Thankyou and I hope in the future I can help some of you.
Thanks
Dave -
quote hammy:I started doing minor shopfittingI’m glad I re-read this as I thought you said shoplifting at first 😕
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I started at 17, at a small sign place in the backstreets of sunny Wellingborough. The Gerber 4b was pretty new at the time and they had just got one. What I enjoyed the most (and still do) was the sheer variety of the work that came in. That was a lot of years ago……put it this way; Rob Lambie was still at school and everyone thought George Michael was straight!
Aye, them was the good old days….
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I’m sorry did I say shop fitting 😳
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Hi all, yet another newbie, any way I am one of those who sort of fell into the trade. cut a long story short our family business has been building ambulances for the local authority for around 5/6 years now, our local sign man would supply all the vinyl lettering etc but didn,t want the job of fitting. ( or maybe the old man didn,t want to pay him) ha ha. Guess who landed the job? so now I have had a few years fitting allsorts to various ambulances and some fire service vehicles. Last year said sign man decided to retire and sold his business to another local lad we carried on using him but he kept letting us down, with six ambulances in the workshop waiting I made a decision to buy a cutter via allen flynn( great help to me spent ages with me showing me the basics) and get the job done myself this is where it all started, still early day’s yet but all seems to be going well excellent second income at the moment who knows where it will go from here. Discovered this site last week and its been a great help look forward to seeing some of the demo’s etc. regards Mark
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quote JEM:That was an interesting thread Peter, one that was posted just before I joined and it seems that an awful lot of signmakers sort of “fell” into the trade by accident and decided they liked it. I was sort of curious as to how many actually left school wanting to be a signmaker, not many I bet 😀Actually JEM, I did want to be something to do with signs from about 15, but didn’t really realise it then.
I had all these graphic software programs on my commodore C64, and would make up all these signs like keep out, no smoking etc, and paste them all around my house.
When I got into computers, I was always the guy that did the demo on the graphic software on the Amiga, Atari and Amstrad computers. It always interested me, but my father always felt there was no money in it and kept being negative and discouraging.
So when I did ‘fall into the profession’ some years later, it felt like, and still feels like, it is where I was supposed to be.
Only last week, my father said that he was amazed at the ‘talent’ I have for what I do, and wished now that he had of encouraged me when I was younger.
No skin off my nose tho, as I have tried a few things in my working like, and they all add up to experience and understanding which is always a valued assett when talking to clients about what they want in their sign needs.
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I am self taught ( and still learning all the time).I enjoy the industry, the creativeness, the satisfaction of creating design and delivering it to the customer..I enjoy the making side of the business but not so much the fitting..whether it’s just down to experience or not liking ladders too much im not sure..most jobs i tend to find need fitting although I do sometimes find the customers know someone who will fit anyway…
Im based in south yorkshire..ive asked local fitters from other companies but there always a bit busy with their own work (fair enough)..but i would seriously consider paying someone for fitting( when the jobs arise) in this area if there are any bods out there interested in doing this.Or perhaps giving me a hand..so we both get something from it..
Also..whilst im on a roll..does it really matter too much that I didnt start life as a signmaker ie no formal qualifications..but have the apptitude/attitude/willingness to make this work…and getting repeat business..thanks
Jon
😀
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I think that it doesnt matter wether you are self taught or not as long as you have a certain creative flair or an eye for what looks right. As technology changes we all have to keep learning. What I was taught as an apprentice has now got very little to do with signmaking today except for instinctively knowing when something is crooked or doesnt look right 😀
Another question for you all, how many of you feel the need to go up and feel signs when you’re out shopping? I just cant help going over and having a pick to see if its vinyl or digital print 😮
My kids just pretend that they don’t know me or try and drag me away before I do any damage :lol1: -
quote :how many of you feel the need to go up and feel signs when you’re out shopping?defiantly especially pull & pop ups
chris
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even the mrs spots lazy sign people that have just done raster to vector rather than digitize it.
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quote mrsticker:quote :how many of you feel the need to go up and feel signs when you’re out shopping?
defiantly especially pull & pop ups
chris
Must confess I am guilty of this, and also checking out how some signs are designed, what materials were used and how they are installed.
Even my kids will report new signs when they are in transit or out shopping with the wife, so dad can ‘check it out’ later 😳
The wife just looks to the sky and mumbles something like ‘why me!’ oe ‘give me strength’
I tell her us artists types are always looking to improve our craft 😳 I am not sure she believes me cause she always gags at the comment… Cheeky sod 😮
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:lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
At least Im not the only one!!
We should start a new self help group……..sign pickaholics -
As you’ll have read in the thread that Peter linked to I fell into the industry and am self taught (god how do you spell that?)
And I also look at all the signs with my wife saying “I’m not with you”, then later she’ll say “That’s a smart sign” 😮 I just can’t win.
Steve
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My story’s on the link.
And yes, I am guilty of fondling signs in public.
Love….Jill -
DSI: Was that Deluxe Paint/Photo Paint on the Amiga?
Fondling: Yes, guily, earlier today I looked closely at a banner to see if their was any blocked heads or what machine it was… i know .. sad.
Started: I started Silk Screen, but I was Sign making in a back room of a house about 10 years ago making foamex number mini signs for an estate agent via sign writers who I am with now, which I left and returned.
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quote DaveRowland:DSI: Was that Deluxe Paint/Photo Paint on the Amiga?.
ahhh yes Deluxe Paint…… Brings back the odd memory and a few nightmares…. 😮
Definately way ahead of its time.
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You lot think it’s hard walking past a sign without fondleing it.
I can’t watch anything on TV or at the movies without dissecting it. Camera angles, mike in shot, lighting, did they track or zoom, was it shot on digi-beta or film, etc etc etc.
It almost spoils the viewing pleasure it does.
I too am also guilty of running my hands around some Polyester woven knit. 😕 -
My girlyfriend is a dental nurse; what a pain in the arse! Whenever she sees ANYONE on the telly it’s “They’re dentures, that’s a Maryland Bridge, he’s got a class one overbite.” And she moans at me when I point out the kerning errors in film and tv programme titles! Bloody cheek!
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Let’s not get to Kerning big G, however I am not the best with punctionation and speling
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Hi Jem
I started in the sign game in 1959 as a apprentice signwriter,went to the Brixton School of Building in the decorating dept. to learn signwriting/gilding etc. Worked for a company called Bush Signs who had the Watney mann/Charingtons pub contracts all over London. Then in the mid 60’s 70’s and 80’s worked mostly in the exhibition industry ie: Earls Court and Olimpia, some times when I had to s/w white on black I used to hand cut white vinyl (in those days you could only get stuff called Fablon) and apply to job ,save time on double coating. Often thought to myself at the time “I wish there was a machine that cuts out lettering” and Hay Presto out comes the Spandex 4b which I got in the early 80’s and as we all know it transformed the sign industry overnight . Still do signwriting now and then but it is all vinyl/digital sign making now.
Cheers
Mole (mod-edit) :police3: admin@uksignboards.com -
Well i started about a month ago,
I’m verse with most Graphic Software (Self taught) illustrator is fun.Our local Vinyl supplier wouldn’t deviate from standard clip art, or Text only and this wasn’t meeting our needs. Always late and never what we wanted, it always turned into what he wanted.
So in for a penny in for a pound.
Went out and bought a Plotter (I’m skint now lol).uksignboards has been a life saver for me in building confidence quicker than i could have imagined.
I have to say I’ve learned more tips and tricks in the short time
I’ve been a member than our ex supplier learned in 3 years 🙂I’m enjoying the challenges and feeling good when i finish a job.
Building a reputation already for being a perfectionist…And as sad as it is after only one month I’ve found my self walking up to shop windows and inspecting “how did they do that” lol…
How may layers?
Its it printed?And even ” I could have done better than that” lol…
Maybe a little big headed but i do laugh at my self.But that has to be one of the best ways to learn
after uksignboards….And i do hope that i can also pass on my experiences and help to new members when I’m a bit more confident with a few more jobs under my belt. And hopefully guide the Newbie in the future the right way.
Just like you folks have for me 🙂 -
Good on you Mark S.
I’m glad the boards have been a help to you as they have to me.
One day I’ll even be able to tap into the REAL wealth of knowledge that they have hidden away behind closed doors. 😀
Keep on doing the best you can and always remember you are only as good as your last job.
Scoz -
me ? fell into it !
i got fed p with waiting for people to make me stickers to resell at the race track, or for my car, so i bought a summa d60 and decided to make my own, that was a year ago, then when i lost my job back in march, and couldnt find owt suitable that i wanted to do, i decided to make a go of this lark !
so here i am, no real graphic design experience, though i think i know what looks good or doesnt, little other relevent experience, but i’m having a hell of a blast getting to know all the ropes, and meeting some real cool people along the way,
i think i’m getting there tho, the girlfiend is taking the mick now cos i’ve started to always look at signs, touching them to see if they’re printed or layered, working out how a sign was done, etc, anorak is the term i beleive !! i’m no-where near earning a living yet, but having a good time getting there !
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It’s been a real eye opener reading how everyone got going in this industry.
Drag On its always a good sign (scuse the pun :lol1: ) when you feel the need to touch and, as some people have said, fondle signage when your out and about. Ive even got the kids pointing out stuff and saying “Mum, Mum look at the size of the pixels on that!!!!!” :lol1:
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