If I was working for a sign company that openly desired to hire inexperienced (in other words: cheaper) designers, and try to push more of the "thinking" onto other people I'd be working on my resume and a "plan b." I would put zero trust into an operation willing to go on the cheap with one of the most important jobs in the operation.
Design is what creates the look of any sign. Good looking, effective signs do not exist without someone who at least had a clue to make the sign look that way. Good design doesn't happen by accident. Sign designers are not all equal either. Some are really good at it. A decent number are competent in their jobs. And then there's a bunch who suck. I'm sad to say there is a greater number of ugly, eye-sore looking signs littering our landscapes than attractive signs beautifying it. Anyone running a sign company who thinks it's a good idea to cut corners on their design dept, and just churn and burn "product" out of their doors probably is producing a lot of ugly signs. I would even go so far as to say a bunch of the guys who run corner cutting sign companies probably wouldn't know the difference between an ugly sign and a great looking one. Either they're visually tone deaf or, worse, they just don't care.
But there's a larger, far more sinister issue facing all sign companies nation-wide: the creeping, growing trend of anti-signs city ordinances. I feel like many sign companies are totally unaware of this problem. Just like good looking sign designs, those suffocating sign codes don't happen by accident either. They're usually the result of growing public anger that builds into a backlash against ugly signs. Once the anger reaches a point where city councilpersons are willing to take action on it then it's usually too late for any local sign company to defend themselves on the issue. In my opinion sign companies and local businesses have a civic responsibility in regards to the signs they install on the commercial landscape. If they don't take the responsibility seriously and choose to just churn out as much trashy looking clutter as possible they'll speed up the time it takes to get to that day of reckoning.
A big thing that compounds this sign ordinance issue is the look of upscale cities and suburbs. Most of those places already have very restrictive ordinances in place, some even more restrictive than others. You'll see street signs banned completely in some suburbs. LED message centers may be on the hit list in other places. Edmond, OK banned them. Any town aspiring to improve its position may feel inclined to adopt those same kinds of severe sign codes. So, yeah, the ethic of designing and installing signs done on the cheap, that look cheap, might be good for short term gain. It's lousy for long term strategy.
