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It's Crooked

I

ikarasu

Active Member
James Burke said:
Just happened two weeks ago.....so....

In a dead-serious tone of voice, I tell them that we reserve the option to jack up one side of the the floor (or ground) to make it look more level. Then I proceed with some nonsensical method of shenanigans.

They always get that "Edith Bunker" look on their face trying to imagine how that works.

It's almost as fun as screwing around with telemarketers....


But all silliness aside...there is such a thing as "level" and "optically level"....much like "centered" and "optically centered". Optical illusions can be a real pain in the arse if you're not careful. Uneven ground, weird signboard shapes, and certain typefaces really can make things challenging sometimes.


JB
Click to expand...

We got.contractdd to produce and put up 40 window films at 20 different locations as part of our hospitals advertisement. They were kind of like a cling.. But not a cling. I opted to do most of them overnight so I didn't have to put them on opening doors with hundreds of customers coming through.

There was one place, a bank who wanted us to do it in the daytime... Most banks don't like people working on their windows at night. Anyways...

Went in, introduced myself to the manager...he showed me which window, and I put it up. As I was packing the truck up.... He comes out with a weird look on his face and says it's crooked. I assure him it's not... Go back to the truck to get a tape measure and show him... But it still "looked" crooked to him. It was his building.. So I took it off... Asked him where he though it was level... Once he was happy I put it up, and he said it was perfect now. It was a good half inch off, and I could easily see that... I think he was standing on the wheelchair ramp and looking at it that way. Showed him it was half an inch off... But he said it was perfect, so I left it.

Sure enough when I send all the photos to the owner of the company, and to the hospital.... They both easily notice the one is crooked and want me to go back to fix it. I told them to speak to the manager whos decision it was on where it goes.

I got the nickname "Mr crooked" by the other installers for about a month because of it. It was so bad, but sometimes you cant argue with stupidity.

So id say there is level.. Optically level..and stupidly level.
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
Putting up a large panel sign on the backside of a multi-story building. Owners says it's crooked. Guy I was working with politely explained how the sign was plumb then showed him. After that he showed the owner how his building was settling and sliding down the hill in back of the property. Kodak moment right there.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Was doing an entrance double door for a real estate company. The place was being renovated and the two carpenters doing the work were there. However, this front entrance door was done by the head maintenance guy. I called him out and showed him if I make the graphics lever with the door, it will appear crooked. He said put it on straight to the door frame, not the jamb. Okay, so I did. Got a call from the lady about a day or so later while she was looking in and she said the copy was crooked. I said, I know.... the guy hung the door crooked and told me to make it lever with the door, itself. I don't care, what he told you, I want it straight on there. I tried to explain, but she kept cutting me off and she said just come out and fix it. So the next day, I went out, took everything off and put the new graphics on according to how she wanted it. She was there, waiting for me to make sure I didn't screw up, again. Done and left. Got her stamp of approval. She was happy. About 3 weeks later, I got a call from her to come out and fix the door, it's still crooked. I asked her what happened ?? She said, I don't know, but it's all crooked again, but the other way, now. So, I took more graphics out and before I started, I had her come out again and showed her that the door was rehung straight this time and that must've made all the lettering slide down due to the new pitch. I told her this time, she'd have to pay me, as I already got her approval, before. I explained to her that was what I was trying to tell her, before. Her 2 guys just laughed and when she went back in, said they'd been having so many problems with this lady, too. She only lasted in that place a little under a year, then moved down the block to a new location. She called me again, but I was always too busy to talk to her.
 
StarSign

StarSign

New Member
My favorite is, during the install the customer keeps saying how great it looks and it's just what/where they wanted, looks perfect, good job, thanks for everything. Then as soon as the installers walk out the door the customer is on the phone complaining that it's in the wrong spot, too high/low crooked,too big/small and the wrong color......
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Important lesson to always do the eyeball test... step back and see what it looks like.

So many times buildings, roofs, windows, everything is NOT 100% level.
 
C

clarizeyale

New Member
Texas_Signmaker said:
What about when they say "Hey, ya mispelled somethin"

I tell them "Shhhh! Don't tell anyone"

Then they look puzzled while they try to figure out whats misspelled... hahaha:D
Click to expand...

okay another one.

we had a slightly rushed job to do, I went ahead and printed it, it was installed probably friday? or saturday.. I get a text from my boss on sunday with a photo of the installed vinyl.

I respond with a simple "omg...."

She sends a photo of the proof, I send a photo of the proof too, and she responds again with the illustrator file.

I go on and tell her that I went ahead and printed it, I didn't notice, yada yada. (We're contracted to print for one company and the proof was approved by their client and sent to us by the company.)

She responds with "Idk where that bar came from"

The whole time I'm looking at the giant mispelling of "WECLOME" and the client is upset that there's a printed bar in the middle of their graphic. No one at all noticed the giant mispelling LOL. They wanted it replaced asap because of the bar but decided to just roll with it cuz by the time the reprint was done and installed, their event would be over.

The whole thing was hilarious to me that the actual important thing was unnoticed.

(we have issues sometimes when saving images as tiffs and parts of the image are missing, etc.... so that's where the bar issue comes from :( )
 
JTBoh

JTBoh

I sell signage and signage accessories.
we have "signs" in our email address.

All the time, we get asked "signs with an S"?

I usually go, yea, it better be, otherwise it'd just be igns.
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
clarizeyale said:
okay another one.

we had a slightly rushed job to do, I went ahead and printed it, it was installed probably friday? or saturday.. I get a text from my boss on sunday with a photo of the installed vinyl.

I respond with a simple "omg...."

She sends a photo of the proof, I send a photo of the proof too, and she responds again with the illustrator file.

I go on and tell her that I went ahead and printed it, I didn't notice, yada yada. (We're contracted to print for one company and the proof was approved by their client and sent to us by the company.)

She responds with "Idk where that bar came from"

The whole time I'm looking at the giant mispelling of "WECLOME" and the client is upset that there's a printed bar in the middle of their graphic. No one at all noticed the giant mispelling LOL. They wanted it replaced asap because of the bar but decided to just roll with it cuz by the time the reprint was done and installed, their event would be over.

The whole thing was hilarious to me that the actual important thing was unnoticed.

(we have issues sometimes when saving images as tiffs and parts of the image are missing, etc.... so that's where the bar issue comes from :( )
Click to expand...

I'll admit, it took 3 or 4 looks for me to catch it
 
JTBoh

JTBoh

I sell signage and signage accessories.
JBurton said:
Just got a call back on a sign that has been up 3 months. To be fair the salesman noticed the typo and vectorized it just like the pos-jpg they provided. Evidently he didn't think to bring it to the customers attention at the time... Oh and yes, they used this file for several locations before the one we did. View attachment 140717
Click to expand...

A good salesperson would've sold the customer on the idea that that is how it is spelled.
 
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