That's a pretty broad brush you are painting sign shop designers with, my friend.
We are not all ignorant, non-compliant, can't-design-to-save-our-life fools that are portrayed above. Maybe it's the quality of the shops you go into??? Or maybe they hired you because they are aware of their designer's limitations. While there are certainly some of those "can't design" designers in our area, the majority of the other sign shops I deal with here have designers that are more than up to the task of doing the job correctly.
While we can't all be you or Philip or Joe Diaz on the design scale, there are a lot of of us out here that DO follow the codes... and DO provide eye-catching graphics (in a good way) that promote our clients' businesses. So yeah... I can get where the "if you don't like sign shops..." comment came from (even though I know it's not an accurate one - and you will always be my favorite circle designer).
So most people do not know what I do, I design sign packages for larger multi property clients most in the US, some all over the world, and they go out to bid, we have all the colors called out, materials, method of construction, we have the signs located and a message schedule... in most instances, the shop has to copy and paste, size up and output. Occasionally they need to be engineered and typeset. They usually go out to bid by a project manager from a construction company and it's our job to make sure the process is followed. It's an open bid, so naturally we get bottom feeder sign shops, we also get larger shops. Since we are usually the "gatekeeper" to the rebranding projects, we have to review all submittals and occasionally the Client will work directly with the shop to add additional signs. I get more mistakes and poor workmanship than I get designers doing it correctly, While I do enjoy whipping my red pen and correcting the shops (and charging my hourly rate) it makes me cringe thinking what is happening on the site 3000 miles away. I have work because quite a few shops are not knowledgable about codes and basic sign construction - even though they carry around a contractors license. I'm going to a job we did in the next few weeks to take pictures where the sign shop used attachments on the face of panels instead of the hidden attachments I drew out. Little things that drive me crazy... or they substitute typefaces or maybe ignore the typeface altogether if they don't have it, nothing aligned correctly, poor kerning... it's all the time....
Now on your comment about designing like me, Phillip, or Joe.... gosh first I'm not really in their league most of the time because in my line of work, I'm a turd polisher like most sign designers who occasionally gets to design. I don't want sign shops to be be all that "great" for 2 reasons, it's not needed all the time, and it makes my work look that much better
. I believe Clients choose bad design, we don't have to give it to them unless they ask for it... Just don't post it on a companies website. I been to 2 shops this monthk and the quality of work is so poor but I realized the owners don't care, they want to sell signs... they want a person who can run the machines and Onyx and hopefully design on whatever spirograph design software they have.
So yesterday I may have been a little sore from a client I have had for 10 years... they are finally designing on their own - they have 5 designers - yes, 5!!!! and I get a package where they want me to get the permit package ready for the monument, they accidentally sent me the while package... again, multiple typefaces, bad leading and kerning, non-compliant typeface sizes - a mess - this after 10 years of me redlining their cr@p - drives me loco - so maybe I was a put out by that and it spilled out in my posts.... sowwy.... I love you too
By the way, circles are so 2016!
