Search results

Our "authority having jurisdiction" (local building inspector) is now requiring engineer stamped drawing for just about anything we install in our city. They asked for engineering drawings to attach a temnporary banner to an exterior wall (?!). This seems to be a new trend. I've been...

In most towns and cities I would worry more about breaking the law than breaking the bank. You probably won't be able to run any kind of retail business that requires parking for customers nor will you be able to accept or schedule commercial deliveries. Other restrictions will likely apply...

The PPP loan program started accepting applications on 4-3-20. We contacted our accountant on 4-6-20, and submitted to our bank on 4-7-20. We were contacted on 4-10-20 saying the loan application was "in committee". On 4-14-20 we had to make an insignificant adjustment to our basis. Today we...

Of course their is no such thing as "free", and fast is relative. In order to keep healthy margins a business must make a profit, so the costs of delivery must be calculated into the price. This will be a trend going forward, as more and more creatives are outsourcing production. One of the...

If someone orders a 4x8 sign, it is most likely they will want a horizontal orientation. I always confirm. In specifications and on contracts, I go W x H x L. When I go to the store to pick up a piece of plywood, I refer to it as a 4 x 8. To make sense of it in my own mind, I figure a raw...

I have never heard of a piece of paper being referred to as "eleven by eight and a half." Everybody always names the horizontal measurement first (8 1/2 x 11). Why should it be different for signs?

I agree. The people I use (occasionally) for vehicle wrap installation are vetted and insured. More typically we provide the wrap design as part of an overall branding strategy, then work with the client's wrap company to furnish prints and install the wrap.

There are a number of sites that you can download vector graphics from (Brands of the World™ comes to mind), but they are not free. Their use is governed by the licensing agreement of the copyright holder. Today, with reverse image searches, copyright violators are being caught in record...

I find more stuff that I missed on text messages and facebook instant messenger. Neither is as simple to manage as a good email client. They should both be used with caution. Messaging services will lower the resolution of attached images to meet their size restrictions. Better to send a...

$1000.00 for a color-change wrap? That's about what one would pay in my market. Where I live there is a car culture revolving around the Latin-American community, and both guys and gals take great pride in their speed and skill. I've seen two people knock out a complete color-change in under...

I can certainly make money producing stuff myself, it's just that I make MORE money as a designer and find it more profitable for my business to let others do what they excel at. If I can offer competitive pricing and still make a 20% profit at the end of the day on outsourced fabrication and...

In most cases I will prepare either a pencil sketch or a quick computer mock-up and combine that with an estimate. I have a distinct advantage over my competition in that I am handy with a pencil and I have a deep portfolio. Usually, a new client comes to me as a referral or they have seen my...

If they are small and shippable, why not just outsorce the whole project? If they are big and would need to be sent via truck, then shipping will kill you. I get substrate delivered to me for no additional charge (when I order over $100). I cut sign panels using an assortment of saws, knives...

I basically agree with Gino here, but it really depends on how high the sign is. If it is 12' tall, then you could probably get by with two yards of concrete (2.5' x 6' x 4' deep, depending on frostline and soil type) and a 6" (.280) pipe (You'll also need substantial steel reinforcement in the...

No.

Back in the day, it was Egyptian, Thick and Thin, Roman, and Script. Throw in "Casual" (whatever you could whip out fast and still be legible), and "Stunt Roman" (extra fancy Roman) and that was the whole kit. Once in a while you could come up with something novel for a special effect (Convex...

All you need are two fonts each from four classifications of sans serif fonts: Grotesque: Frankling Gothic, Akzidenz-Grotesk Humanist: Gill Sans, Frutiger Geometrical: Futura, Avant Garde Neo-Groteque: Helvetica, Univers I would also throw in: Impact (Neo-Grotesque; a better display font...

High Density Urethane (HDU) or an aluminum "pan" with 1" returns on a 1" frame. If the sign is small enough, it may not matter much. I had 3' x 4' .75" PVC panel warp, but only a bit and it was an inexpensive sign to begin with. That was when I started reinforcing with an aluminum backer or...

For interior graphics vertical seams usually works best. Vertical seams are less discernible and more "logical" to the eye (we are accustomed to seeing vertical seams in wallpaper and paneling, etc.). Horizontal seams work fine too, but it is false logic to think that the fewer seams the...

Yes. It will warp. Route some channels in the back and stiffen it with some aluminum tubing (I braze mine together with a propane torch and "alumaweld" low temperature aluminum brazing rod). If you mount it directly on an exterior wall, make sure you have some play in the screw holes (I use a...