Inspiration to make quality signs

[john1]

Hey everyone, I hope everyone had a safe and great Holiday!

I have been looking through my most recent issue of Sign & Digital Graphics mag and i have found great inspiration to turn around the quality of my work. Lately i have been realizing that, i want to really put out quality designs that truly ads value to my customers instead of just saying it adds value to say it.

I really really love how imagination corporation (Dan), House of Signs, Joe Diaz and Letterhead Fonts put together their designs. Everything from the colors, gradients used, shapes used, fonts used and overall design is just outstanding. I really love the 1800's style of fonts too.

Now as of right now, Locally, there is NOBODY who really puts out good work that another shop can't easily duplicate. I mean i respect all my competitors and they do good work but nothing out of the ordinary. My friend yesterday told me while i was discussing this inspiration i had, he pretty much said "don't forget where you came from", which i totally understand because the little jobs i do now do add up and have paid my bills from the start but i would like to take it to another level to distinguish myself and my business.

I'd love to do quality designs that people can see a customers vehicle and say "Hey, That one guy John must have done that".

I plan on purchasing some premium quality fonts from the merchants here as well as letterhead fonts and get to brainstorming on making some great designs.

Does anyone have anymore inspirational suggestions on creating the quality that these guys offer?

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

 

[mikey-Oh]

go for it john! i'm no master, but it seems everything's an amalgamation of all i have seen and experienced in life. you know in yrself what is good. it's just a matter of pushing the concept that far. seems like it takes quite a bit of time, devoting to the concept and execution. though, i imagine, as with all things it gets easier with time.

go for it!

 

[SignManiac]

Exceptional design is no accident. There are some basic principles that must first be learned and some inherent eye for what looks good is a huge plus. Read as much as you can from the many great available books out there and keep your eyes open for the good stuff others are doing. Analyze everything.

 

[grampa dan]

Thanks for the kind words about my work.

The key to doing great work on a regular and consistent basis is to do simply that. Start with your own signs, truck, business cards, website and especially your showroom.

I will be issuing another CHALLENGE for the next year shortly. The CHALLENGE is simple. Do one project this year for yourself. Do a sign that looks like the work you want to do in the future. Put it on display in your shop. If you want to get into dimensional signs then do a DIMENSIONAL sign. If you want to do gold wrk, then DO SOME GOLD. It doesn't have to be huge - just exceptional.

Start it TODAY. work on it regularly, a few minutes each day. Before you know it you will have a sample. If you display it, you will sell similar work - I GUARANTEE IT!

As you do more samples (over time) and display them and start selling more of this type work the word will get out that you are the guy for this type work.

Last year my goal was to do 12 sample dimensional signs for our shop. I only managed to complete 11 and a half. Maybe I'll finish that last one in the next few days to reach my goal. What I do know is that my samples did exactly what I had hoped. They increased our skills. They brought us some awesome work of like kind. one of these projects will continue for two - three years and could involve many hundreds of thousands of dollars of work. A couple of the sample signs won national and international awards. One award included a trip to Las Vegas.

Do I have any more time than anyone else??? I don't believe so. But I did manage to invest my available time (a few minutes at a time) over the last year to complete the samples that took me down the road a distance towards my goal. In the next year I hope to do even better.

I urge you to do the same.

-grampa dan

 

[jiarby]

Good advice, Dan! The secret is in the doing!

 

[CentralSigns]

Grandpa Dan your stuff really rocks, definitely an inspiration to us all. When I see work like yours, I feel the same as the OP. Keep it up.

 

[James Burke]

+1 for Dan's advice. I'm surprised why more people don't seem to care about investing this way. Forget about the stock market....better returns are available with your own God-given talent.

 

[Farmboy]

Well said Dan. Always seems easier to find excuses than the time. Gonna start makin time.

 

[Travis Stanley]

Dave Smith is someone that comes to mind to me. His work is very unique and Inspiring I spend a lot of time on his website. Along with Dan S. And many others on this fourm. davidadriansmith.com

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

John 1 .... go for it ... and re read advice above

 

[hightop]

Grampa Dan - It seems to me that your advice applies to almost anyone in any line of work. Think I'll read your post again...and then again...and once more after that!

 

[john1]

Great advice everybody!

After getting a call today from a lady who wanted something small like "hunter on board" for her husbands truck in 12", i told her $30 minimum and she said "well this place here said they would do it for $25" i am SO done with doing invaluable jobs like that. Yes it pays the bills VERY VERY slowly but i am ready to take things up a notch.

Then she has the nerve to ask "Do you have a shop or do you do this out of your house" lol

 

[CentralSigns]

Great advice everybody!

After getting a call today from a lady who wanted something small like "hunter on board" for her husbands truck in 12", i told her $30 minimum and she said "well this place here said they would do it for $25" i am SO done with doing invaluable jobs like that. Yes it pays the bills VERY VERY slowly but i am ready to take things up a notch.

Then she has the nerve to ask "Do you have a shop or do you do this out of your house" lol

I get so frustrated with that kind of attitude. They want a Monet for the cost of a kid with crayons. Cheap bass tarts. I hate that. Thats why we all aspire to be unique and to be respected for our price and priducts.

 

[round man]

I found out a very long time ago I do my best work and put the extra energy in work that pays better than the going rate,..guess I am just too dumb and honest but I've found that I really go that extra mile if that extra dollar is in it for me. It's alot easier to get inspiration doing work for top dollar wages than it is to try and justify the effort for less than average wages,...sometimes it just works out better to be the higher bidder for everyone involved including the client. If a client is willing to go that extra effort then I tend to try and earn it. Thats why I tell folks I can do them a $10 sign and or a $10,000 sign and then ask what thier budget is and go from there,....putting as much effort as the budget will allow,...Then again I don't turn down the average run of the mill bread and butter sign work either,....its all in what the customer wants to pay for,..ya ain't gonna drive a new cadillac out of the car lot for the price of a used volkswagen,....

 

[Jillbeans]

First of all, you need to learn the bare bones rules of layout.
Just knowing these will make even a NO PARKING sign look better than something puked out by a guy with a plotter.

Try to make every sign (when the customer allows you to do so, as they should) as if it were your own sign.
Pay attention to detail. Don't try to cheat a look with special effects or fills.
If a sign looks like crap in black and white, no amount of tarting up will ever save it.
Even if you are doing a wrap, it should be legible.
Use quality materials and don't try to save 50¢ on a $500 job.
Think of a generous cook, they don't scrimp on ingredients.

I like to think that my work stands out above most of the other signs in my area.
People come to me for a reason, because I take the time to figure out what they need and give them what they want, not just what they think they want, what looks best for their image and not just red hellvetica stretched to fit.
I do have my own style, but I adapt it to what suits the job at hand.
I try to do my best.

I don't constantly challenge myself to learn new things, I do what I love and stick with it.
But that doesn't mean I am complacent or think I can't do any better.
I look at stuff I thought was good when I did it 20 years ago and cringe, although it is still better than some of the things I see which people have settled for.
Never stop learning or trying to improve.
But again, learn the "rules" so to speak.
Don't crowd your margins, never use too many fonts in one layout, no all-caps on decorative fonts, use good contrast, only highlight one item because if you highlight everything, nothing stands out; etc etc.
Love.....Jill

 

[SignManiac]

Dan is right about having showpieces of the work you want to sell. I'm not even a retail shop and I have a 12'h. x 30'w. gallery wall of my work accumulated over the years. When a new client comes to see me for the first time, they know after a few seconds that I'm no ordinary sign shop. I call it instant credibility. I've sold myself even before I open my mouth. You only get to make one first impression, make damn sure it's a good one.

 

[john1]

Thanks everyone for the kind words, Heck, This tutorial alone is a big help and similar to what Jill was talking about

http://www.letterheadfonts.com/tutorials/basiclayout/index.php

 

[Jillbeans]

Yup and even similar to my writing style.
Gotta love Chuck.

I posted this example on another forum this week and hate to double dip.
But here is a before and after.
The before is what someone who buys a plotter and learns a few effects spits out and calls a layout.
The after is a logo I designed for them.
Which one makes their company look more professional?

 

[ChiknNutz]

Yup and even similar to my writing style.
Gotta love Chuck.

I posted this example on another forum this week and hate to double dip.
But here is a before and after.
The before is what someone who buys a plotter and learns a few effects spits out and calls a layout.
The after is a logo I designed for them.
Which one makes their company look more professional?

Excellent Jill.

I gotta say, I was in the same boat as the OP with the same frustrations when we had our sign business. Most everyone local to us produced the same boring crap. We tried hard to do really nice stuff when given the chance, but it seemed that so many only cared about the bottom line and so we were left with only being able to do so much.

I had the same ideas as Dan who said to make some showcase pcs. Well, we just never got around to doing them, though I constantly harped on everyone that we needed to do them...to show the kind of work that we were capable of and WANTED to do. Well, that is all history now for us, but I still get inspired to do the high-end work when I see a handcrafted dimensional sign or gold-leaf. I firmly believe that what Dan said is true and it will bring you more work. So take it from someone that DIDN'T follow that advice, but knows he should have.

 

[john1]

Yup and even similar to my writing style.
Gotta love Chuck.

I posted this example on another forum this week and hate to double dip.
But here is a before and after.
The before is what someone who buys a plotter and learns a few effects spits out and calls a layout.
The after is a logo I designed for them.
Which one makes their company look more professional?

That looks excellent Jill, If you don't mind, Can you PM me and tell me how you upsell customers on getting this done as well as how much you get for work like this (logo design like this and lettering)

I'm afraid as Chris said, People only care about the bottom line which is price it seems and it's hard to push them away from that.

Although, My Father told me last night to sell the BEST sign first then make the basic sign which is plain jane seem less valuable which is 100% true