Kottwitz-Graphics
New Member
A while back, I was contacted by a customer to make a small sign. I completed it, and unknown to me, the customer owns a financial service in St. Michaels, MD (lots of rich people)...
They contacted me about creating a new monument sign, and I immediately think about Peach Tree foam craft monuments. I forward them info, but they want something more "permanent", and they started talking about having a concrete monument built, and they want signs to go on it.
I meet with the customer, and showed him the Peachtree Monument sample, and he insisted on concrete. But the signs he wants to go on it, he emphatically insisted that he wants upscale. I told him that the most upscale would be Gold (not the sign gold, but 23 k gold leaf), and I can see his eyes just sparkle. I also mentioned smalts, and he didn't know about it, but I explained what it was, and he seemed interested.
He told me that he saw a couple of signs that he liked, and described them to me. 1 was a dark green, with gold lettering. The other he described that looked like a wood grain sign. The dark green sign I looked at, and from the road, it looked nice, but when I looked at it up close, the gold was sign gold, and with my customer wanting the "best", I knew it wouldn't fly.
So I started making a couple of samples.
The first one is 18lb Sign Foam 4. The background is a woodgrain routed. The letters have a 150 degree bevel routed into them, to allow the gold leaf to "sparkle" in the sun. The back ground is painted a medium brown, lightened with a touch of white...
The letters and the edge is painted a one shot dark green, darkened with a touch of black... Gold leaf to go...
These are the supplies that I used: One shot medium green, Smiths cream, polo green fine smalts (from Artisan-Signs), a can with holes drilled in the bottom to "shake" the smalts on the sign. And lastly a hair dye bottle that I can put the paint / smiths cream mixture in to squeeze into the small areas.
Painted the areas of the sign with the paint cream mixture....
Smalts sprinkled to the sign. I laid out a piece of vinyl backer to catch the smalts that won't attach.
So what about the letters, you ask. Are they going to be flat? Nope. I routed the same 18lb Signfoam 4 with a bevel. It's been painted one shot black, and waiting to apply the 23k gold leaf.
I will post more pictures when I get the gold on, and the letters installed to the sign.
When I bought the smalts, Artisan Signs has 2 sample packs, and I thought what better way to show the different colors than sample packs.
They contacted me about creating a new monument sign, and I immediately think about Peach Tree foam craft monuments. I forward them info, but they want something more "permanent", and they started talking about having a concrete monument built, and they want signs to go on it.
I meet with the customer, and showed him the Peachtree Monument sample, and he insisted on concrete. But the signs he wants to go on it, he emphatically insisted that he wants upscale. I told him that the most upscale would be Gold (not the sign gold, but 23 k gold leaf), and I can see his eyes just sparkle. I also mentioned smalts, and he didn't know about it, but I explained what it was, and he seemed interested.
He told me that he saw a couple of signs that he liked, and described them to me. 1 was a dark green, with gold lettering. The other he described that looked like a wood grain sign. The dark green sign I looked at, and from the road, it looked nice, but when I looked at it up close, the gold was sign gold, and with my customer wanting the "best", I knew it wouldn't fly.
So I started making a couple of samples.
The first one is 18lb Sign Foam 4. The background is a woodgrain routed. The letters have a 150 degree bevel routed into them, to allow the gold leaf to "sparkle" in the sun. The back ground is painted a medium brown, lightened with a touch of white...
The letters and the edge is painted a one shot dark green, darkened with a touch of black... Gold leaf to go...
These are the supplies that I used: One shot medium green, Smiths cream, polo green fine smalts (from Artisan-Signs), a can with holes drilled in the bottom to "shake" the smalts on the sign. And lastly a hair dye bottle that I can put the paint / smiths cream mixture in to squeeze into the small areas.
Painted the areas of the sign with the paint cream mixture....
Smalts sprinkled to the sign. I laid out a piece of vinyl backer to catch the smalts that won't attach.
So what about the letters, you ask. Are they going to be flat? Nope. I routed the same 18lb Signfoam 4 with a bevel. It's been painted one shot black, and waiting to apply the 23k gold leaf.
I will post more pictures when I get the gold on, and the letters installed to the sign.
When I bought the smalts, Artisan Signs has 2 sample packs, and I thought what better way to show the different colors than sample packs.
