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I am certainly glad I am in my area because I do this kind of work all the time. I live in a small metro area, and I have a reputation for design and quality work. The big union shops that do their own fabrication charge considerably more (I know because I owned and operated two of them over...

Some recently completed signs. All of these signs were outsourced with minimal in-house production.

Tim, I do signs like this all the time. The frame would be built by a local welding shop, then sent over to a paint shop for powder coating. The dimensional elements would be outsourced (routed PVC with acrylic polyurethane finish). I would probably also route the lettering in the bottom...

The most economical coating will be acrylic polyurethane (biggest performance:cost ratio). If you do not have spray capability (equipment, booth), a high quality exterior latex works well (I use Manor Hall). I would recommend an alkyd "stain-blocking" primer on wood. Details can be painted on...

Absolutely. A small fabrication shop with a couple of printers and laminators, a MIG welder and a plastic tarp spray booth cannot compete with a large automated production facility. Shipping costs have gone down drastically because more and more companies are outsourcing key components. You...

When out-sourcing production, not only do you save in production costs and overhead, but you are also cutting out the sign shop supplier. Production factories can negotiate direct deals with materials manufacturers, and do not need the services of a repackager or local sign supply business.

One of the features my company offers that is a huge selling point is that we outsource our production. Two major sign companies that made everything in house have had to close, and the other major company is switching to outsourcing and looking to downsize their physical plant. Our customers...

Commercial sign shop printing has been commoditized to the point that most small shops will be better off outsourcing the production of these products. The big production houses are set up to handle volume and are able to offer prices considerably lower than a small shop that does not use high...

I hope you are using a latex printer. If you are using a solvent printer I would be very concerned about solvent and gas vapors. A properly designed commercial system will include both souce capture and ambiant air filtration with external ventilation. Where I live, manufacturing of this type...

I think we agree on how to handle copyright issues, but I disagree that the law is not on the creator's side. Copyright protections are automatically bestowed on the creator (you don't have to do anything, but it is a good idea to keep records of when the art was created and by whom (work for...

You can disagree with me all you want, but the law is the law. Any rights (copyright law actually extends a bundle of rights to the creator, including reproduction rights; display distribution and performance rights; and the creation of derivative work) not transferred explicity, in writing...

Uh, no. The rights belong to the creator unless expressly transferred to the client. Just paying the invoice for a sign job does not automatically transfer the rights. In most cases, a small business client will want all rights for the art, so I negotiate a price and expressly say on the...

I hate this stuff. One little speck of dust and the whole effect is ruined. I do what "Reveal 1" does, get the masking off asap using whatever technique needed, then slide the little counter pieces around until positioned correctly. If you let it sit, you run the risk of forming lines around...

I have up-to-date iPhones and iPads, but this is what I use most of the time for taking notes and field surveys. Very fast, extremely effective, and cheap as hell!

If I can do better, I tell the client, and give him/her an estimate. If I like the design the client brought in, I tell the client to get reproduction rights from the creator and quote just the production. I also ask for the creator's contact info to avoid any mis-understandings. It's the...

Very cool! Nice work keeping it readable; I see too many flashy pieces that look impressive but the message gets lost in a tangle of armour plate and flames. Every once in a while I churn out something like this, but local clients will not pay anywhere near what it costs to produce. I just...

It was the same as it is today. Trucks, cranes, employees, plastic faces, neon plants, billboard locations, paint, brushes, substrates, screen printing. There were plenty of technical issues keeping the vehicles and equipment running. All were topics at the paint store, the coffee shop, or...

Gregory Graphics still does this. It is tricky because they need to roll the product for shipping, which can cause considerable installation issues (it is not the same as rolling printed graphics, which are typically one piece. My experience from back in the day was to order the vinyl cut but...

I have seen this when graphics were applied on surfaces "waxed" with products containing hydrophillic silicone. I would imagine, this being a car wash, that some zealous employee cleaned and "waxed" the sign using the car wash's "final rinse 'n shine" product, which typically contain products...

Hey, I'm not saying I could not do it by myself, but that I would rather not. There is nothing sad about it. It's market economics. I just sub it out, mark it up, and go on to the next project. Don't like climbing ladders.