Rick
Certified Enneadecagon Designer
So many of us have been in this business for years and years.
I think at some point, this can work against us.
This has been on my mind for a while, some of my angst
coming from sign and design forums, most from running work
using various vendors all over the US. it's probably a man thing...
Like a pi$$ing contest but...
If I'm going to be involved in a pissing contest, I want to know the rules
Are we being judges on distance, volume, spray width, or PMS Yellow
color matching.
So my biggest pet peeve:
"I've been doing this for 'X' amount of years."
Anyone doing this longer than 15 years has had to adjust to a
few things that had most shops re-thinking how they produce
signs... LED and print technology being the main changes.
20 years ago, it was rare that any of us were using large format printers
and no one was using LED's - How many adjustments to the process
have we had to make to compete.
25-30 years ago: it was rarer still that we were using computers. we had
to rethink everything about how to make signs.
30-35 Years - No computer, just hand skills, rub on letters and cameras.
At some point, we either adjust, hire someone who knows the new
technologies, or rely on the skills you know and muddle through the
machinery and new tech. I understand that it's hard to keep up.
-------------------
2 incidences happened this week that has me say enough!
I designed a sign that had push-thru letters. In my drawing I call out
that the push-thru letters be mechanically fastened inside the cabinet.
There are a number of reasons for it, but the biggest is have the option of
repainting the sign years later without compromising the structure and
lettering. The next, this particular vendor glues his letters to the backer... I
usually like to hog out the letters so the backer and letter(s) are a single unit.
The sign gets crated, sent to the place for install, on the way to getting the sign
to the property, the sign installer takes the sign out, puts it on a truck, and straps
it down, leaving a huge rub mark on the sign. They put the sign up, and now
we have to either rub the mark off (it won't rub out because it's a matte finish)
or repaint. Problem is, the fabricator glued the letters down with Lords and VHB.
There is no way that sign is being repainted. So I ask the old man why he
glued it...
He responds...
"I've always glued them down, I've been doing this for 60 years!"
Thats not an answer, it's a cop out. Now he has to cut faces, paint them
and fit new faces over the push through lettering... that is if they saved the file.
The sign shop who jacked up the sign... got the same thing, they had to tell me
they have been doing this for 35 years.
I'm not impressed....
-------------------
The other incident was billboards that needed some adjustments in the design.
The fabricator and the installer sat down and hammered out the changes so
an engineer can do his detail work. I make the new drawings, send it out to
them and the engineer, when it's time to coordinate the install, the fabricator
builds to the wrong drawing.
I get yelled at from the fabricator for changing the drawing to HIS specifications.
In his profanity laced tirade, he sayS "I've been doing this for 40 years"
I'm not impressed...
-------------------
Thats this week. I get the "I've been doing this" thing on a monthly basis.
Some of us oldies suck at this, we can't do a layout to save our lives, and have
no clue about the sign business except for what their little niche is. And even
then. Some even have degrees in design and art and still can't make a decent sign.
I used to have newbie-syndrome... like my work was never good enough.
The fact is, I was a better designer at 18 than I am now. I didn't know any
better, I was idealistic, and had less to worry about. I didn't know enough
to give up, and I could afford to give a darn...
Newbies beware... your mentors may not know it all.
Many being self taught, you may be shown poor habits and outdated attitudes.
I know cuz I've doing this for... oh, I better not.
I think at some point, this can work against us.
This has been on my mind for a while, some of my angst
coming from sign and design forums, most from running work
using various vendors all over the US. it's probably a man thing...
Like a pi$$ing contest but...
If I'm going to be involved in a pissing contest, I want to know the rules
Are we being judges on distance, volume, spray width, or PMS Yellow
color matching.
So my biggest pet peeve:
"I've been doing this for 'X' amount of years."
Anyone doing this longer than 15 years has had to adjust to a
few things that had most shops re-thinking how they produce
signs... LED and print technology being the main changes.
20 years ago, it was rare that any of us were using large format printers
and no one was using LED's - How many adjustments to the process
have we had to make to compete.
25-30 years ago: it was rarer still that we were using computers. we had
to rethink everything about how to make signs.
30-35 Years - No computer, just hand skills, rub on letters and cameras.
At some point, we either adjust, hire someone who knows the new
technologies, or rely on the skills you know and muddle through the
machinery and new tech. I understand that it's hard to keep up.
-------------------
2 incidences happened this week that has me say enough!
I designed a sign that had push-thru letters. In my drawing I call out
that the push-thru letters be mechanically fastened inside the cabinet.
There are a number of reasons for it, but the biggest is have the option of
repainting the sign years later without compromising the structure and
lettering. The next, this particular vendor glues his letters to the backer... I
usually like to hog out the letters so the backer and letter(s) are a single unit.
The sign gets crated, sent to the place for install, on the way to getting the sign
to the property, the sign installer takes the sign out, puts it on a truck, and straps
it down, leaving a huge rub mark on the sign. They put the sign up, and now
we have to either rub the mark off (it won't rub out because it's a matte finish)
or repaint. Problem is, the fabricator glued the letters down with Lords and VHB.
There is no way that sign is being repainted. So I ask the old man why he
glued it...
He responds...
"I've always glued them down, I've been doing this for 60 years!"
Thats not an answer, it's a cop out. Now he has to cut faces, paint them
and fit new faces over the push through lettering... that is if they saved the file.
The sign shop who jacked up the sign... got the same thing, they had to tell me
they have been doing this for 35 years.
I'm not impressed....
-------------------
The other incident was billboards that needed some adjustments in the design.
The fabricator and the installer sat down and hammered out the changes so
an engineer can do his detail work. I make the new drawings, send it out to
them and the engineer, when it's time to coordinate the install, the fabricator
builds to the wrong drawing.
I get yelled at from the fabricator for changing the drawing to HIS specifications.
In his profanity laced tirade, he sayS "I've been doing this for 40 years"
I'm not impressed...
-------------------
Thats this week. I get the "I've been doing this" thing on a monthly basis.
Some of us oldies suck at this, we can't do a layout to save our lives, and have
no clue about the sign business except for what their little niche is. And even
then. Some even have degrees in design and art and still can't make a decent sign.
I used to have newbie-syndrome... like my work was never good enough.
The fact is, I was a better designer at 18 than I am now. I didn't know any
better, I was idealistic, and had less to worry about. I didn't know enough
to give up, and I could afford to give a darn...
Newbies beware... your mentors may not know it all.
Many being self taught, you may be shown poor habits and outdated attitudes.
I know cuz I've doing this for... oh, I better not.
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