The very first "real" sign I made was:

[Patrick46]

Hell, to this day I still would love to own my own sign company.....I love the IDEA of being able to 'work for yourself'

Don't kid yourself!

....being a 'signguy', and owning your own business is 2 COMPLETELY SEPERATE JOBS!!!


http://www.e-myth.com/




(sorry for hyjacking a fun thread. More great stories please!!)

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

My first signs were sho cards when I was in high school. I had to walk home thru downtown past a big nightclub/strip joint. I saw a guy putting a crudely lettered (with markers) sho card in the window and stepped in the door and announced that I could do a better job. He wrote me out copy for a card announcing Bill Haley and the Comets for an upcoming show. The next day I secreted out of art class a few bottles of tempera paint and some brushes. A few days later I took my card to him and he loved it - I had my first repeat biz customer. A furniture store across the street hailed me one day to do paper banners for their windows. Again, I secreted out a large stock of tempera from art class - ya hafta realize I was raised by a single parent and we were POOR. These signs were crude I later realized, but I was on my way. I'll never forget stopping into the nightclub to drop off a card one day and seeing a naked woman on the stage - my first live sighting of real boobies - and the race was on to see as many more of them as I could in my life.

A redneck asked me to letter his old pickup later on for his handyman biz. The only paint I could find were some rusted quart cans in the garage. I couldn't understand why I had such a hard time making the paint stick... it wasn't until a few years later I realized the difference between oil base and latex paint! A few days after I did the truck, I saw it go by with the lettering peeling off in huge swaths. I hid out from that guy for months. Later on, I met the town's one arm signpainter and he took me under his single wing (poor taste, I know). He let me fill in letters he cut in on a wall sign and gave me some real brushes and nearly spent cans of one shot. My tempera thieving days were over. When I bought my first new Ford pickup in 1978 he made me a pattern for Signs by Arlo and I lettered my truck - it was the finest job I had done at that point. I had a very hard time delivering the same quality to paying customers. When I got married, my wife had 2 years of college to go. When we got an apartment in her college town a sign shop hired me and I began learning for real at a rapid pace under the tutelage of 3 master painters. I progressed very quickly and a year later went out on my own - where I remained for the next 35 years. I was the 3rd sign shop in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to buy a Gerber Signmaker 4b... it might have been the 3. I prospered greatly during the boom in Texas during the 80's and actually had 3 new houses in ten years. It was the best of times. Signs have provided me a great life on my terms and times of great prosperity. The gradual vinyl invasion saw my income drop year by year as one hack after another got into vinyl and gave their work away - but we've all heard that story a million times. I'm enjoying a very early retirement now due to medical disability you can't even tell I have. Right now, I have two Gold Wings to pinstripe and am setting up my garage for pinstriping full time. Still doing what I love - along with the occasional hand lettered signs again. I see great potential for the return of hand lettering and am set to take advantage of it. With an income already in place, I can definitely choose only the jobs I want to take.

 

[TwoNine]

My first signs were sho cards when I was in high school. I had to walk home thru downtown past a big nightclub/strip joint. I saw a guy putting a crudely lettered (with markers) sho card in the window and stepped in the door and announced that I could do a better job. He wrote me out copy for a card announcing Bill Haley and the Comets for an upcoming show. The next day I secreted out of art class a few bottles of tempera paint and some brushes. A few days later I took my card to him and he loved it - I had my first repeat biz customer. A furniture store across the street hailed me one day to do paper banners for their windows. Again, I secreted out a large stock of tempera from art class - ya hafta realize I was raised by a single parent and we were POOR. These signs were crude I later realized, but I was on my way. I'll never forget stopping into the nightclub to drop off a card one day and seeing a naked woman on the stage - my first live sighting of real boobies - and the race was on to see as many more of them as I could in my life.

A redneck asked me to letter his old pickup later on for his handyman biz. The only paint I could find were some rusted quart cans in the garage. I couldn't understand why I had such a hard time making the paint stick... it wasn't until a few years later I realized the difference between oil base and latex paint! A few days after I did the truck, I saw it go by with the lettering peeling off in huge swaths. I hid out from that guy for months. Later on, I met the town's one arm signpainter and he took me under his single wing (poor taste, I know). He let me fill in letters he cut in on a wall sign and gave me some real brushes and nearly spent cans of one shot. My tempera thieving days were over. When I bought my first new Ford pickup in 1978 he made me a pattern for Signs by Arlo and I lettered my truck - it was the finest job I had done at that point. I had a very hard time delivering the same quality to paying customers. When I got married, my wife had 2 years of college to go. When we got an apartment in her college town a sign shop hired me and I began learning for real at a rapid pace under the tutelage of 3 master painters. I progressed very quickly and a year later went out on my own - where I remained for the next 35 years. I was the 3rd sign shop in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to buy a Gerber Signmaker 4b... it might have been the 3. I prospered greatly during the boom in Texas during the 80's and actually had 3 new houses in ten years. It was the best of times. Signs have provided me a great life on my terms and times of great prosperity. The gradual vinyl invasion saw my income drop year by year as one hack after another got into vinyl and gave their work away - but we've all heard that story a million times. I'm enjoying a very early retirement now due to medical disability you can't even tell I have. Right now, I have two Gold Wings to pinstripe and am setting up my garage for pinstriping full time. Still doing what I love - along with the occasional hand lettered signs again. I see great potential for the return of hand lettering and am set to take advantage of it. With an income already in place, I can definitely choose only the jobs I want to take.

 

[Billct2]

I remember some of my first f-ups well too.
My first electric sign face (I had never worked in a shop that did electric signs)
I used some white acrylic and lettered it with one shot:ROFLMAO: !
Fortunately it was black lettering so it didn't look completely atrocious at night.
First time I did a wall job on brick I used my quills . Needless to say it took a long long long time. I quickly learned about fitches.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

I found a couple pic's of some my earliest hand lettered signs..........

Have a good laugh.....I am!

 

[TwoNine]

Thanks for sharing! I like the second one especially - seeing all those 'old' cars in the reflection. Was all that done up here?

 

[Billct2]

Those are great, I think I saw the Auto/Diesel one on American Pickers

 

[SignManiac]

I was about eight at the time when I made my first sign. I flipped a neighbor kid the bird. My grandmother was watching out the window and saw me. Well I got my azz kicked by the old man. It was many years later before I made any other signs.

 

[TwoNine]

i was about eight at the time when i made my first sign. I flipped a neighbor kid the bird. My grandmother was watching out the window and saw me. Well i got my azz kicked by the old man. It was many years later before i made any other signs.

loool!

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Thanks for sharing! I like the second one especially - seeing all those 'old' cars in the reflection. Was all that done up here?

Can't say for sure where each of them was done. Texas I believe, during a road trip one summer with a couple other guys.