Has the white background paint been peeling off your sign since about the 2nd or 3rd year after getting it ?

If you’d like to know Why your sign is like that - read on .

Back in the 70’s, when my Dad was teaching me the trade, A newish plywood was marketed which partly revolutionised the sign industry - “Crezon” Smooth reliable paintable plywood surface. In the 80’s they started to sell a lower grade that was also already painted white - A big time and money saving from having to paint boards before they were lettered. Suddenly a shop could finish a sign in One Day with these prepainted panels. Unfortunately within a couple or so years, we started to notice the surface only had one very thin coat on a economy primer, and Durability was no longer a word that could honestly describe the product. With inflation, and booming industry cycles, sign shops didn’t want to go back to the old ways of painting boards white. Framing a sign used to be standard when you wanted a nice looking, long lasting sign. Now often the edges aren’t even given more than one coat ! With modern mass marketing and tough times for the small business , “Frivolous” details were dropped. These inferior panels are still used today ! And that’s okay if the sign isn’t wanted for long use. And too often the client has only budgeted so much, but might reconsider it if they were convinced their sign would last substantially longer.

But it’s also the weather and pollution that are enemies of the outdoor sign. And a thin coat of paint won’t do it. Also, signs need maintenance. Like a car - if you hope to get good milage out of it - A sign should be looked at closely once a year to inspect for the first signs of wear ( and correct it), Update anything that needs changing and to wash, rinse and polish it - yes, like your car. Sometimes even a clear - coat to protect it for another couple or few years. Your business image looks regularly fresh, and it will certainly help make it last longer.

I have been making signs for almost 30 years. I like to give clients the option of a cheap and cheerful or a quality sign built to last. When durability is wanted, I use only Premium plywood, woods, paints and Vinyls, and I continue to hand-paint them with 3 coats, treating the edges the same, framed or not. And I use a UV sunscreen coat to finish. And plywood signs I make will last 8 - 12 years still looking good. If that’s what you want to pay for.

The Alliston Santa Claus Parade

If you saw me in the parade today, and are checking me out,
You found the right spot.

And To all others who are new to my new site, Welcome and browse a bit !

I have lots of different kinds of curiousities here about the sign business;
How to buy signs; a sort of magazine for those who aren’t in the trade, but may be thinking about getting signs in the future.

My Stories and poems about the trade will broaden the knowledge and horizons of those who are in any other vocation.

If you check in regularily, you will get to know a lot about this interesting creative guy from small-town Canada, who’s travelled and experienced a lot of life, and always put an interesting twist on it.

If you like reading, want something written for you, or are a book or magazine agent, please visit my creative writing site thechroniclesofclifford.blogspot.com .

My pictures, and I have lots, are still on my computer, so until I get them here, you may request my online brochure, or check back in a few days to a week.

Scrolling down shows my daily entries over the past couple of weeks since I started this, the last one is the introduction – November 19th.

If it moves too slowly for you, and you are anxious to know more about Custom Sign Design, please contact me at creativeservices at rogers dot com. I will be happy to answer your enquiries.

WHENSPACINGISASIMPORTANTASS PELLING.

When I started out in the sign biz, one of my first jobs was a particular window lettering job.
While out making cold-calls, I came across a blank storefront and so went in to tell my schpeil. The man was just opening his denture clinic and was glad I came in; could I do it then and there?
Of course ! I opened my box and although I had never yet practiced lettering a window in reverse, I wasn’t concerned because my skills were substantial enough to give me the confidence. He spelled it out on a piece of paper. As I began, with his chit- chat continuing, I didn’t actually lay it out on the glass, because he wanted it Right Justified. And with reverse lettering you actually start painting the last letter from the end of the word, finishing with the first letter in the phrase.
I wrote his name on the first line, and the second line DENTURE THERAPIST, I’d lettered THERAPIST and stopped with him to take a coffee break. Passers by were taking notice. “people are glad to know what we are now” he said. But we started to see that they were laughing, pointing. We went outside to have a look ……… I’d inadvertantly put a space in so it read …..THE RAPIST.

Sign Shoppe Savvy - STYLE

STYLE : a form or appearance, design or production, type or make; the way in which something is done; the manner in which something is expressed, considered separate from its intrinsic content ; a distinctive or characteristic manner of expression. Collins dict.

Sign Shops often have there own STYLE - their own way of presenting signs. It is dependant on the lead designers and management policy, equipment, personnel and attitude towards the Art. It is a reflection of the designers training, experience, and skills. And in modern days often of which Clip–art program they’ve got, or which of the sign magazines they favour. So sometimes it’s Not THEIR OWN style, but following a trend or a fashion.

When you drive into a small town outside the metropolae, you can see that many of the local stores have a similar look – materials, typefaces/fonts, shape and layout.
It is easier to see where there are fewer sign shops. The locals get locals.
In the cities, there are so many sign shops and designers that it can be hard to see trends in STYLE unless you are looking for them carefully. Or unless you are in this biz and then of course you can’t Not see all the variances and similarities. We can often tell at a glance “ Oh Yeah, So and so shop must have made that sign.”.

There are small shops ( the majority of numbers are small shops ) where often it is run by the sole or lead signmaker and he either does all the designing or at least leads, approves / vetos .

The medium size shops usually have designers, sometimes it’s the salespeople who also call themselves designers and so you might get any style going.

The large sign factories most often use outside Design and Architectural firms. Each of these outside firms will have their own STYLE – they focus on it, so the large sign companies don’t necessarily have their own style. Of course the individuals in the art department will, but it can be an random act of who designs what depending on the day.

So what’s any of this got to do with you – the person who’s Not In the trade, but just wants a sign ?
You want to make sure their style matches your style. The image you want to project to the passers-by who will see those signs of yours.
So, what’s YOUR STYLE ?

A miscellany day.

And since I can - I'm going to change the name of this blog if only for today.
A day in the life of Cliff - you know - The Signs Guy !

Dear Family, Friends, Neighbours, Sign Buddies and Business Associates, and a couple of page viewers from the net. Thank you all for your glowing remarks.

I will change
the signs page background eventually to avoid what my brother Norm reminded me as “. . . that is with type so small, especially in a serif font has a tendency to cause “adjacency failure”, that is, the background (the adjacent colour) closes in on the type, thus making it difficult to read.” This is particularly evident on a screen that only shows low resolution (72 d.p.i.)
Thanks Norm ! By the way , I don't intend on using a lot of trade terminology because I want this site to be user-friendly for the non sign trade person.

Well I hadn’t considered those with low res, or poor vision; there is a glow to the letters which does make it slightly harder on the eyes. I will figure out how to do it and choose the replacement but I can’t take the required hour or two right now to do it.
And besides, I do like the effect. With large bold letters, White on Black is one of the top most-visible colour combinations. High on the list is Yellow on Black, Red on White but that’s in Colour Choice 2 – coming later

One of the Very Satisfying things I like about my ‘job’
I had a very productive and signsatisfying day today , doing one of the signsatisfyingly things I love to do on a quiet, overcast, and cool day. No one’s around, no one’s phoning and I have a mission which with most of the distractions out of the way, I go out to the solace of my signshack 30 paces down the back garden. . I pluck my bandsaw blade , and listen like I do with my guitar, to the reverberation. And to my skilled ear know that it is perfectly tuned.
And I open my chisel case.
Carving. ! Wood. ! A Neat project to create ! The Time !
I feel a warm gut satisfaction, as I watch my hands puush the knife-edge gouge to bite it’s first chip of the day.
I like doing it by hand. I love using chisels. I’ve gotten great satisfaction today out of hand carving my sign pieces, emblems, wooden letters, a Pike and a foot-tall Muskoka Chair +.
Brushing away the wood-chips, carefully pulling an image out of my head and slicing this same image out of a blank. That’s part of my STYLE !

All wood stuff today. Which means tomorrow is all painting finishing, and gilding.

Anything "out of the box"
I also spent a great deal of the day preparing my float for our Santa Claus parade. on Saturday. It's not very big, but it's Beautiful if to say so myself !
Being a Cabinetmaker as well as a Signwriter and a very creative person, I am often creating a one of a kind something, often for recent sign clients. The sled for the parade is simply made, but quite lavishly decorated. I recently created a custom fit trophy travel case, a rural mailbox to match the estate house, and a deluxe exhibition booth.

I call this my ‘anything out of the box’ mode.

If you need some Thing made well, designed and beyond ordinary, I revel in the challenge.

+Muskoka Chair <>

Colours Choices for Signs - Part One.

ie: – The white and light colours on the Black background of this web page;
( which not everyone likes because of readability. )
It’s harder on the eyes when there is a lot of type, small type, Serif letters* and especially being backlit – The light in this case is from the computer screen – behind the white letters. Like an electric sign.
Please Bear with me on this webpage – I’m after a look – but I’m not an expert on webpage settings etc.


Most people including designers and creative people, often start with colour schemes that Feel Right. Instinct telling ‘em what Looks right. Or Just ‘Cause. And sometimes it doesn’t work.
Because there are a lot of considerations if you want the ultimate choice.

These are the factors to consider when thinking about colour choices for signs

Attention Grabbablity.
Legibility.
Visibility .
Image to be portrayed
Lighting and backlighting
Distance from which it will seen
Preferences.
Corporate format / theme.
Size and amount of lettering
Size and amount of space around the messages
Typeface used.
Pictures / graphics included in layout
Tonal values of those pictures / graphics
And if we are talking about neon signs -
even the temperature can affect colours

The Sheen ( gloss, semi, flat, texture, metalic ) of the lettering and the background also affect the visibility and inter-reaction of the colours.

Wholy, Moly ! - I hear you say, I don’t want it complicated !

Well it isn’t really, and your Sign Professional can worry about it for you.
That’s our Job. To Create for you the ultimate sign to fit your Needs.
My vast knowledge and experience in the Sign Biz is here for you.
Please feel free to contact me for any advice or question you have about signs.
Because I Am Cliff - The Signs Guy.

Colour Choices for Signs - Part Two and Three in the near future.

* Serif - There are two basic categories of letter styles; Serif and Sans Serif. Those with little lines /sticks at the top and bottoms of each stroke of a letter and the straight strokes without those little sticks

By The Way – I’m not doing this to sell you anything. neccessarily – This is my passion and has been for 26 years. And I love writing about it in the creation of brochures explaining things about the biz. I’ve explained some of these things to clients (and fellow, untrained sign makers ) many times over my career. My father was very inspirational for me. He was a signwriter himself and I have several stories about him in the future. He knew all the theory and passed much on to me.

My portfolio is available – not yet by link, but for now, by contacting me first.
Spiffy Cliffy

How To Buy A Sign : summary

How To Buy A Sign : summary

1. Get yourself clear on what you want..
Do you need to identify your business? To promote it?
To enhance image? To direct or inform the public ? Or all of these?
You may need more than one, or a clever combination with the elements that work together without distracting from each other. A Good Sign person will make it work.

2. Know how much you are willing to budget to fulfill those purposes.
How much is it worth to you to get more clientele each month / year ?
What's your budget to make an Excellent public-image statement that will mark your premises with style.
You have to spend to make, so get the best value for your advertising dollar.

3. How long do you want the sign to last ?
. . . . . . . 5 to 10 to 20 years for main identifying signs;
. . . . . . . 1-2 yrs to inform about services & products on the secondary copy;
. . . . . . . 1 season to promote and keep your image fresh with posters and window lettering, off site advertising;
OR a week or month special for a quick boost in sales with posters, banners, flyers & ads.

4. Approach a sign professional. If you want quality, see if they've been in business for a while. Ask where you could drive by to see one of their signs that is more than 5 years old. Walk up to it and look for signs of good or bad workmanship and materials. Ask for references and follow them up. Ask about annual maintenance, cleaning, even for simple signs. Make sure you feel that they heard your ideas and wants.

With your clear ideas, their custom design should fill all your purposes and be cost effective in achieving your goals. This is where you start with Value for your money.
Be willing to pay for good design. A Sign is no good without good Design.
Keep your mind open to their ideas - They should know what will work best for You.

I have oodles of knowledge and passion for my craft and have been
creating signs designs for 26 years to bring my clients /employers / contracts satisfaction.

Do you want more business?
My designs and creative marketing skills Will Help bring More Business.

Do you want a deluxe looking entrance landmark ?
You'll be proud to pass by what I can design especially for you.

Do you want a Unique overall Design for your future or updated Signage System ?
I am The Signs Guy.

INDEX OF THINGS TO COME ! !

INDEX OF THINGS TO COME ! !

Please Feel free to make a "comments" if you have an interest from this list or a Question about Signs and I shall be sure to read and respond the next day on the page or, to you personally.


the following Index shall constantly grow and may become a future FAQ page:

A quick checklist of points to make sure to tell your sign salesperson.
A small checklist of things to ask them before you procede.
Factors of sign design and the affects on the viewers:
. . . . . . . Aiming to like everything about your sign ( Layout ),
. . . . . . . Wording ( the Copy ),
. . . . . . . the importance of picking Colours, textures and shapes, ( Elements )
. . . . . and more
Discussion on VALUE for your sign dollar.
Getting EXACTLY what you've been looking / hoping / for, imagining.
Getting what you need - fulfillment of Purpose(s)
. . . . . and more

Collected anecdotes of my life in the sign biz.

. . . . . . . "Why me ol' Pah-in-law was grateful to 'is missus".
. . . . . . . THERAPIST or THE RAPIST - WHENSPACINGISASIMPORTANTASSPELLING.
. . . . . . . Marie Antoinette and French Beer.
. . . . . . . My Dad did the lettering on the Avro Arrow.
. . . . . and more
The History of Signs by century / by era of Technology.

Lesson of the day

mpg of my 13 minute Radio Collage " FOLLOW THE SIGNS " on CBC Radio One, June 23,04

Poems I've written relating to the sign biz.

My Personal Page is a collection of essays and Letters to the elusive Big Editor on current topics

thechroniclesofclifford.blogspot.com

Photo Gallery - once i've figured out 'Piscasa' program
. . . . . . . Stuff I've done
. . . . . . . Good stuff
. . . . . . . Bad stuff

Joke signs -


I won't waste a lot of time here because there are lists of them all over the internet. You've probably had someone forward you a page of them. I have Actually been there - done that - heck, I accidentally made some of them including: ( above a dryer )

"PLEASE REMOVE YOUR CLOTHES
WHEN LIGHT GOES OUT"

The above is an Index of things to come, not the archives.
It is Mostly already written and is currently taking part in my first book to be released : "Direction Signs " copywright 2004 cliff perry, cliff the signs guy . blogspot . com
I will post snipbits of the book over the next 365 days.
Or You can buy the book, directly from me !

riddle d'jour

Make a grammatically correct sentence in which ' and ' can be used 5 times consecutively.

SIGNS STORY 1.02

Signs were developed to inform, to warn, to direct someone who’s coming . . . Later.
The streets and highways have them planted if not every 15 feet along the road, they stack them triplet style on the same post like a giant ice cream cone - by the time you’ve read the top, the others have melted into a blur a quarter mile behind you.
100 km/hr, max, begins,
soft shoulder, lane ends, low bridge
no stopping, no parking, no standing
No turns, left turns, bus stop, truck stop, stop .

And heaven forbid if you’re walking the street,
you actually have time to see them all
Pedestrian walkways, ground level, above ground, underground, .
Crosswalk, wait for the green, wait for the bus,
this way to stairs, that way to elevators,
This way out, enter here, no entry there,
watch for slippery floors, beware of opening doors,
line up here, keep corridor clear,
Floor 102 , observation deck for the view.


Signs, Signs, all my life I’ve been makin them
So many everywhere, my eyes just can’t take them in
Selectively we see the ones we are looking for,
To fill our current needs, the rest of them we just ignore.
the rhymin signm'n

Another purpose of the sign that grew along side of providing information and directions was to Enhance Image. More on the graphic side of things, this element of signs most often is the non-worded appearance part or may be void of verbal message altogether. Crests and coats of arms. The Pub/ Inn/ rural entrepreneur sign may display pictures instead of words for those who couldn’t read. A pub I saw had a sign with only the depiction of a man in robes, holding by his side, his head. A traveler such as I Had to ask. It was called “The Silent Lawyer“. The sign was successful on several levels.

TODAY'S LESSON :

For any sign to be noticed, it must first of all have clarity. This is why it's important to understand exactly what reasons each sign has for being. Trying to fit too many reasons into one sign will cause confusion to the reader, and generally we only have the second or two to grab the passers-by attention. So a storefront sign may be to identify the premises and to enhance the image but trying to make the very same sign direct the public to parking or promoting products or the addition of other information all together on the same sign can get very confusing, cluttered and distracting to the point where it might be ignored altogether. A professional sign designer can sort these out, putting as much as possible with clever simplicity of layout.

SIGNS KNOWLEDGE 1.01 - Introduction

Welcome to the Uninitiated ! You the business owner who needs to buy new signs, or replace or update old signs. Or the new entrepreneur who knows nothing about signs. You the farmer who needs a few signs for the market or the barns. You the individual who wants something nice on the end of your drive or on the mailbox.
Lend me your ears and I'll teach you what you need to know to get value for your money, to get what you want, to get what you need and to get what you pay for.

I have been planning the content for a newsletter for a few years and finally found the format I need without knowing everything about websites. So, from now on you can look forward to a tidbit a day of useful information, a story or two about signwriting* interjected with the odd trade jokes, les feux-pas, strange but true, songs and poems and eventually a gallery of good and bad samples of signs. From 26 years in the business, in several countries and many, many sign shops, I have a wealth of stuff to share with you ! And I'll make it a bit of fun here and there too. I reckon I have a years worth of short articles; easily.

My Father was a damned good sign writer for 46 years - with the traditional brush and mohl* stick; fast, accurate, steady with pleasing overall sign designs. He taught me all the techniques and as important, the ethics and responsibilities of the business. This last part is what a lot of sign makers ( not the majority) know nothing about. I don't mean unscrupulous. I seriously have only ever bumped into a very few. And they weren't sign makers, but sign salesmen. I will prepare you for the different people who will take your order.



Why was the first sign ever made ?

I’ll take you on a tour in my shoes of the sign Biz
So first, let us guess on what the first sign was
Maybe the caveman’s warning to kin,
Or a notice to travelers in old days, the Inn.
Signs started as landmarks, symbols, warnings and crests,
Skull and crossbones on flags were signs at their best.
Sign language, a sign that that person can’t hear.
The hunter collects fumets, a sign of a deer.
So what’s the first sign - to warn or directing ?
It’s a sign of someone who has you they’re expecting.

The rhymin' signm'n - cliff the spiff



A QUICK LESSON FOR TODAY :

The 7 reasons for having a sign; To Identify, To Promote, To Enhance, To Market, To Warn, To Inform, To Direct. Sometimes it's one reason, sometimes it's a few reasons. And each sign may have it's own reason for being.

Come Back Tomorrow !


* signwriting = sign painting in Canada / US
* mohl stick = a tool to keep the hand steady when lettering with paints