'Follow the signs'

2010 update

2010-02-23T18:45:00.002-05:00

Between my allistoncreativeservices.googlepages.com and facebook, writing my book, online side business and working full time for a local sign company, and renovating my house, and making keepsake boxes, i've never had a spare moment for my old blog.... so i'm still around, doing lots and doing it well.
I haven't been making signs on my own for a year and a half - contracting to local Alliston Signs alot, but the business is closed for the moment due to a fire...so I'm getting active again in what ever i can to provide for my family.

contact: me @ cliffperry.ca

Another proud store owner

2008-10-15T13:31:00.002-04:00

I finished it within a month, including repainting all the green trim and a couple of little signs. One of my nicest signs in town, so befitting the store and the town bylaw about fitting in with the small-town old world feeling.
30" tall styrofoam letters, an inch off the wall with green halo lighting.
Outstanding.

Herbert's Boots and Western Wear

2008-03-27T12:33:00.003-04:00

I have been wanting to do this store for 5 years. But for the owner, Deiter, the timing wasn't right until now.

Here's the store as it is, and below the proposed changes. We're starting with the main lettering. Check back in a week when I'll have intermediate pics to show.

Happy New Year

2008-01-22T10:24:00.000-05:00

I have been busy this past few months renovating my 105 year-old house and building a new large workshop for business. I've also had alot of interest in my graphic design and in my woodworking skills and so seem to be following those 'signs' also. Hence, see my 'Keepsakes' page on my updated website.

http://allistoncreativeservices.googlepages.com

Whatever I'm creating, I'm doing it with skill, passion for quality, and to put a very satisfied grin on you, my customer.

Do you want something special for your business, home, estate, or public building ? I can create it for you.

Ready to install !

2007-06-25T01:12:00.000-04:00

Next Morning. . . .
I took the sign out of my studio and here have photographed it in both the shade and in the direct sunlight. Details here show close ups of the sheen of the 'Smaltz' - crushed black glass, the colouring on the stones, the gold foil and the brushed aluminum.

I am very proud of this - one of my favourite and best !
I spent time preparing for install and got there to find the wind had picked up too much to safely install. Brenda was fine with that and was glad to present me with the ring she so lovingly crafted. So Saturday Morning I got there early, put up the scaffold, remove the old sign which was crumbling as I removed the screws, and bolted the frame work to the fascia. The sign went up easily and hooked on as planned. Two screws near the bottom back sides hold it from ever slipping of the z-bracket hook.
I will post here Tuesday her comments and include a picture of the sign installed, and also the ring she made for my Lady ! I presented it to her Friday night on the eve of our 2nd anniversary together ! Let's just say she was speechless !!!!!!!

Complete ! Last stages of a Sign in Progress

2007-06-22T03:02:00.000-04:00

I will be installing it later today and finish off the details and description here as well as replace this picture with a better one, outside of my studio during the morning.
I took a few hours longer than I reckoned and had some other things to do, so I didn't finish assembly until a few minutes ago, 3 am. so i'm going to have to sleep in a little in the morning or i will be no good up a ladder.

Oh yeah, after the 30 hours of waiting for the black coating to dry enough to hold the smaltz securely, I stood the sign upright over a clean roll of paper shaking off the loose, unstuck smaltz, reclaiming about half of what I spread on.
In the morning before installing, I will make sure all screws are sealed, thin black calking around all the edges of the 'stone' board, to prevent moisture getting behind anything. I want this sign to look good for many years.

all else i'll say tonight is that I am Very Pleased with my finished product.

Step by Step in the creation of an exquisite Sign ( if I do say so myself ! )

2007-06-20T23:28:00.001-04:00

Today, after 24 hours of drying time for the 3rd finish coat on certain areas of board, I applied the gold lettering on the surface and masked over specific areas around the lettering. This will give the gold lettering it's own gloss background. Then I applied the third coat of black to the whole sign, even over the masked letters. I added spar varnish and kerosene to this black gloss Benjamin Moore paint to increase it's stickiness and drying time. I removed the masking Then I poured One gallon of dry crushed black glass to the entire surface as shown in the photograph. I will let this dry for 30 hours before standing the sign on it's edge to shake off all the excess. This technique is called 'Smaltz' and was first used in the early 1900's to create a spectacular effect of sparkling black unlike any sign you've likely ever seen. My Dad taught me this which was rarely used mostly because of the cost in material and it is very labour intensive. It has not been used much since the advent of computer generated lettering in the 70's, mostly because a computer cannot, and I will bet cannot ever, reproduce this effect. I don't even know if it is available anymore; I've used almost all my supply that my Dad gave me 25 years ago. I last used it for the letters with a slightly different approach on the Museum-On-The-Boyne sign which can be seen on the institutional signs page of my website.
Enough said . . . . wait till Monday's post to see the final results.

Step by Step progress of a sign part two

2007-06-19T10:44:00.000-04:00

Day three - everything got a light sanding and its second finish coat. I welded studs on the back of the aluminum lettering so they will stand off the surface when finished. Then three coats of laquer to protect. I took the board for the coloured band and meticulously followed Brenda's design and copied the grain and colours of the stones she gave me as samples. The stones of course are smaller than a centimeter, The full size faux-stones are 6" tall. Day four I have cut the gold lettering ready to lay, and put two coats of premium high gloss clear UV coating to the faux-stones. Everything now is waiting for paint to dry thoroughly before the final two steps: coating the whole background with a black crushed glass and assembly - then for install - Friday hopefully.

Step by Step of Fascia Sign

2007-06-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

I was walking along our mainstreet one Saturday with my fiance window shopping with My intention of seeing what kind of rings she might like for an engagement ring. She didn't like anything ordinary but she was interested in a Jewellery artisan.
I went back to the store on Monday with a design I had in mind for a ring with lapis lazuli and a diamond and so the ordering of her ring was in the works. I mentioned that I am a signmaker and she was definitely interested in trading our talents.

So I returned sometime later with several designs; back and forth with changes and so the final design here. It is a medium-high budget sign with extra special details.

Yesterday I cut the background of 3/4" crezon plywood, rounded the edges and filled them with bondo; cut 2 horizontal 2 x 6 's on a 45 down the centre and afixed one pair of them to the back for easy mounting, the other pair I framed for easy attachment to the wall. When the sign is complete, it will very easiy hang on the boards, level and secure.
Next I cut the 'stone' board from 2 x 8 clear kilndried pine.

Everything was primed/sealed front, back and edges, sanded 8 hours later and filled and coated again, this time with a premium undercoat.

Today I lightly sanded everything once again and put on the first of three finish coats.
Then I took a sheet of 1/8" sheet aluminum, brushed in horizontally with the belt sander extra carefully and Hand-cut the name Brenda Roy and spent a couple of hours filing and brushing the edges for a fine finish.
I also cut and bent 4 aluminum brackets - 2 long for the top back and 2 short for the bottom back so the sign will tilt forward for easier viewing from the narrow sidewalk. The sign next to this store is tilted outward and so I also wanted to do this so the sign would not be hidden from the one direction.

more to come on Monday

Check out my new website

2007-06-12T16:11:00.000-04:00

I'll keep this going for all the stuff I originally wrote, but updated info will most likely be on the website.
I have all the photos there.
I wish to thank Rimatas from SOS for helping me on the website and Rogers and Google for providing the place and software.

alliston creative services dot googlepages dot com ( no spaces )

2007-04-24T22:50:00.001-04:00

Who Cares ? . . . . I DO !

2007-04-24T22:50:00.000-04:00

As part of my services, I have introduced myself to various sign companies as being available for casual or specialised occasional contracts. One year ago, A large sign company had a specific project in mind and we agreed that I would give them 3 days a week for 5 months. Steady income for me yet I could still be active on smaller jobs on my own. Over those months, they Kept asking me to come on full time but I consistently said I did not want to give up what I enjoy doing, Designing and creating my own signs for my own customers. I did enjoy the challenge of this project very much - 68 solid aluminum sign stands for the Smithsonian Institute in NYC. By the time it was completed, I didn't have much going on and had enjoyed for a change having a steady income without the many and regular challenges of soliciting work, so I agreed somewhat reluctantly to come on board full time. I knew it was a mistake in very short order, but stuck with it for 5 months anyway. But the time came when I had to get out. There were quite a few reasons, namely safety issues, poor factory morale and a regular policy of shipping inferior quality product. This is exclusively a custom fabrication shop, a very large and prosperous one in fact, and yet substandard workmanship on High-end work for prominent customers paying the very top buck . . . wore away at my pride until my soul was in daily agony from being told to do what I knew was wrong.

A month ago I liberated myself and began once again Alliston Creative Services - back to full time self-employed operations. Hallelieuah - I am Free once again to create exquisite designs and bring them to fruition using quality techniques and materials and giving my customers Excellent Design and Value for their money To the very best of my very capable abilities !

I put my heart into my work and do what those big companies cannot do - Take Pride in my craft because I truly Care about doing it right ! I have boundless enthusiasm and Do My best for my client !

With 27 years in the Sign Business, My specialties are Well thought-out Planning, Design and hand-crafted custom architectural and commercial signage. I am based just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada but am available to provide my services to all North America.

I look forward to enquiries of any size where Quality of manufacture and Design are the paramount requirements. A confidential note with your email address in the comments below will not be visible in this blog and I will respond within a day.

Cliff Perry - The Signs Guy.

January 07

2007-01-15T00:16:00.000-05:00

Still alive and rather well actually.

Following signs.

There doesn't have to be a lot of signs if there is clarity in the few.
So I have been following a single clear sign. Modeling a carpenter.
Taking care of the bills, temporarily not being self-employed; Taking care of myself and taking care of my new family ( 1 1/2 years now ) .

There just need be one good sign for a meaningfull life, still it may be hard to follow it steadily, it is the one or at least Main . . . guide . . . to follow.

Always with room for improvement, I'm doing reasonably good right now.

Praise Life ! . . . Praise the Lord.

Trying to provide good service

2006-08-14T22:59:00.000-04:00

For my town's recent Festival weekend, I thought that since about 15,000 people pass my house in three days, I could make some extra money while providing some custom products that most people wouldn't have access to normally. Sign companies most often market themselves to business and so this weekend, I provided an opportunity to the general public to without going out of their way, order and buy novelty and custom name signs and lettering for labeling things around their house; mugs, towel racks, coat hooks, books, street address signs, (both novelty and real address) Christmas box labeling, keepsakes boxes labeling by year and mailbox names and numbers. I spent weeks of evenings preparing samples for what I thought people would like to buy and it turns out I was wrong. People walking by on the sidewalk on the other side of street would not cross this not so busy road to even satisfy their curiousity. I sold about 6 things.
I still can't believe that i could be so wrong, maybe just my expecting to sell them to people on the way to the fairgrounds don't want to stop to spend, maybe expecting them to cross the meager two lanes, I don't know. I can't imagine what else. Anyway, live and learn, I won't be setting up a booth again. Maybe if I was to set up in some sort of show or exhibition, or even at the fairgrounds I may have done better, but these venues charge so much for space I would have to sell a very large amount to cover my overhead. work half or more of the best part of the first of three days to put money in someone else's pocket = don't think so.

At least now I know WHY sign companies don't market to the public.

But, if you do want a sign and are here on my site, You can email me ( by leaving a comment) and i will return your call to serve you. My comments are not published to view without my reviewing them first, and if I see you've left your return e-dress or phone number, I will not publish it, Just contact you. I don't do the mailing list sales or anything like that.

new signs for me to follow

2006-05-08T22:41:00.000-04:00

'Signs' have led me back to working part-time for a large sign factory. I'm sort of 'enjoying' it working in a team environment producing large, elaborate, expensive signs.

I get to regularly put many of my skills to work, focusing on producing my best effort without worrying about: getting paid,
counting on when money is coming in,
did I estimate properly,
have I enough for materials,
is there a machine I should be using that I don't own,
complications of installation,
and best of all, not worrying about where the next job is coming from.

My Main concern is being 40 minutes away from my home, in case ever my daughter needs me quickly, if she's upset or sick or were hurt. I remained self employed for so long mostly because I wanted to be near, being a single dad. But the reasons above made it viable, for me to make the choice to return to 3 - 9 hour days.

My latest signs to be installed in Alliston at the end of my full-time business are: Healing Habits, - Hand cut and sculpted foam letters adhered to a blank store front. The typeface chosen by the client was Tempus, which lends itself very well to hand carving. A deep blue to go on a pale blue background makes these letters quite striking.

And the local Museum, finally, after months, got the signs with the new name up on the building. I had the signs done quite a while ago, but was waiting for the right timing for installing, which required a boom crane because of the very odd shaped roof making it inaccessible any other way. The Parks people are very pleased with my workmanship, and have said more signs will be coming my way in the near future. These signs I will gladly take the time to do, because I know that no one else around will do them as carefully and lovingly crafted as I will do them; I care about the pride of my town and will make sure the signs are excellent because i want to. I have a passion for Making signs with old-fashioned craftsmanship that few others anywhere have. Making a living from it, as crazy as it sounds, seems secondary, but I know I will make a fair and honest wage from doing them giving the client more-than excellent value for their money. Especially since I don't have massive overheads like most sign shops.

I will carry on with my one day a week maintenance job at the residential school, which I also enjoy very much, and fit only the choicest of sign jobs in the other day or two in my week. I will for the near future, not do piddly little jobs for clients who's first concern is 'how much' a sign will be rather than first talking about what kind of sign they want and it's purpose and it's image. With my steady p-t job, at least now I can afford to only take on work that I will be proud to create, using the most imaginative ideas and techniques to make something exquisite !

I'm still here

2006-03-21T23:30:00.000-05:00

Not as if I've been idle - contrare - I've been too buzy to blog. Such a journal takes time and brainspace of which I've had neither to spare. A sign of making my priorities. I'm not even sure who reads this blog, if any on a regular basis. I suppose I'm doing it for current and potential clients and possibly aquaintances who might want to see what I'm up to. I haven't had any unusual projects lately that I can comment on.

My fingers have healed very well, although my middle one is a quarter inch shorter than before and it still hurts when I press on it but i've gotten very use to this minor pain in daily use. Miraclulous tho' that it's grown back as much as it has. I look at this incedent as a Sign from God to keep my mind on my work, and to not try to do too much at once, especially when using power tools. I was overtired, rushed and thinking about too many things when it happened. Thank God it didn't slow me down too much. And it brought my son closer as he helped me amazingly well that first couple of weeks. I couldn't have got through them without him.

So I have to get back to work and if you find anything interesting here, especially in the blogs of last year, let me know by comments so i know who's out there, and it may inspire me to write more often.

been to busy to blog

2006-02-06T14:44:00.000-05:00

December seemed to disappear with Christmas things going on at the church, and a few signs and handyman / painting jobs.

January was a blur - I'd taken on a large project with a deadline and then promptly injured myself.

Feb, I'm back to work almost normal. a lot of catching up to do.

Signs - The museum job is my number one priority, followed by an awkward small street sign that I have to refit with lights and plexi which is a big nusance which I wish i'd never taken on. It looked so simple yet I have spent countless hours and still it isn't right. At first it was suppose to be solar lit, which I knew nothing about and it turned out would cause more than a thousand dollars just for parts. Now I will go with LEDs which I likewise have had to learn about and is not as expensive but still a nusance to do. I don't like doing things micky-mouse, and properly in this case needs a whole day of which i never seem to have, especially since i now will make no money on. But I will do it, luckily the client has endless patience and is not in a hurry, especially with the snow on the ground, it has to wait till the ground is soft enough to drill a post hole to mount it.

This is another kind of sign a sign that I should not take on things which I know nothing about, and although that is how I learned about 1/3 of what I know, I couldn't have guessed how complicated it could be.

A sign i should stick to what I know, which is beautiful, handmade signs of wood, plexi, foam and aluminum. interior painting. Cabinetwork. fixups / handywork for residential and light commercial.

my signs of late

2005-11-30T01:58:00.001-05:00

signs led me to getting a two morning a week one year contract as a handyman at a country resort. I feel good about having a regular connection with the same people in several respects. It is nice to have steady work, varied work and challenges, responsibility and trust from the employer who knows your good record.

It allows me to be home for my kids before and afterschool and also leaves me plenty of time in a week to carry on with my sign work. Winter is very often slow in this business.

I've got a bunch of small projects on which I need to clear up. It is a bit of a burden knowing that some clients wait a little longer than they ought to. Sorry, Folks. Being a single dad I have a strong commitment to my family, and since rarely are my signs required with an urgent and specific install date, I have been known to shuffle things around to help be a better Dad.

I have the local Museum contract to make new signs. I designed these signs with several option s and i knew I would enjoy making them by any method they selected of my layouts

Steam Train Restoration Project

2005-10-04T08:52:00.000-04:00

Well it was an awesome weekend. Friday Night, I drove to Tottenham, just 15 minutes away from me, (north of Toronto 100km) and met 29 other volunteer signpainters from around Ontario to line up the weekend's work. Together we assembled, painted and vinyled the lettering, logos and pictorials on and around the heritage steam trains and station. The project was organised by one of the local men, Russel, and he had a bunch of his shop's people out and many and much of the work that could be done in preparation before was done at his shop. The volunteers of the tourist attraction station pre-painted the sheds and trains before ready for all our graphics.

Saturday Morning was chaos like I've seen rarely in my career. Everyone going back and forth with paper patterns, looking for the correct information, finding the right materials, paint, drawings, and positioning and within a couple of hours everyone was heads up with brushes in hands working in Beautiful, actually Perfect signwriting weather. Lettering on the 60 year old boxcars and hoppers with 30 coats of paint and rust and splittered wood would have been considered a nightmare but for we were all doing this for our fun and fellowship and the greater cause. If we were doing this as a profit making job, we would have been cursing ourselves for taking it on, but under the group community spirit effort, it was fun. We all Knew of the problems of each of the things we were doing so we could somehow joyfully commisserate because no one else knew better of the conditions than fellow signwriters. Like telling a friend or family of how bad the surface was and how the paint was drying almost before coming off the brush, they might nod there head in un-understanding sympathy. With your fellows around, you just carry on and get it done despite conditions. And we have all had worse ones. Like painting upside down on brick with 70 km winds etc.

I had never attended a Letterheads Meet before, Letterheads being an informal gathering of the signmaking clan from around the world. The meets are usually everywhere else but local to me, a majority seem to be in the States, and i've never gone due to time and money and also a bit of shyness thinking I could never match the skills of these infamous masters of the brush. After this weekend, I tip my hat to each of the individual's skills but importantly realise that I too have very comparible skills to any of them, indeed doing it much longer than most of them with being in the business for nearly 30 years. Well, I will definitely intend on attending more Meets in the future, maybe every other year or so, and hopefully getting more socialising, trading stories and seeing portfolios as is usual with these Letterheads meets.

Overall, for me it was a very satisfying, joyful, interesting - just a Great Weekend.
And gladly too, my daughter was being pleasingly occupied By my new love of life so my mind was at ease to enjoy it fully.

Letterheads has a website too if you're interested, although I've only browsed it a long time ago, as I don't get much time to sit and browse.

Jobs on the go . . .

2005-09-26T14:53:00.000-04:00

just finished a 4 x 8 v shaped billboard for a car dealership - Boyer Chevrolet.
just finished a bunch of directional and information signage for a small wharehouse.

last week I started a bunch of little signs for a vintage clothing store,
some woodworking for residential,
a Solar lit estate driveway sign,
Wray's Pharmacy storefront restoration
An Awning for Cupid & Pysche Jewellery, an A Board, a post sign
quoting on several retail projects and contractor site boards.
graphics on a carpet for a school
This week and next I will finish some of these projects,
plus start on graphics for a kitchen showroom and vehicle

and some Signs for my trailer to promote my business locally, which I have never done because I was building up word of mouth, but it's a small town and I need more local work to carry me through the winter. Winter and Summer, this business is often slow, Fall is the busiest followed by Spring.

Happy Hundred Days My Darling Bambi !

My Personal Signs I'm following.

2005-09-26T14:37:00.001-04:00

In 2005, I have begun more and more to accept Jesus as my personal saviour this year. I needed help in so many little and big ways in improving my life and although there is always someone around to fill a gap in one's happiness, there is only one that is able at filling many and more and more gaps in my life.
The more I ask him to walk with me, the more I feel he does. And Hanging around with this admired buddy for help in every aspect of one's life, having someone there all the time who's always helpful, and selflessly so, is a very good thing ! Takes me back to days of my favourite scoutmaster, a few old mentors I've had, and an imaginary childhood buddy named Scott who knew how to do everything right. I'm starting my first official school year as a youth group leader, after being asked to fill in in march which ended up continuing till June. I shake my head in wonder, when I think that 30 years ago, I was originally brought to Christ through my then youth group leaders.

Many, many signs in my life have pointed me in this direction, I too often have seemed to stray when following signs that I try to make for myself.
I've spent a good deal of my life making signs to order for other people's needs. I need my own sign and now I feel I have accepted it's presence. I find by just out-loud asking him for what-to-do, I get an answer every time I listen for his reply.
The Sign of the Cross !

Blowin off steam ! - not like you might think !

2005-09-13T23:20:00.000-04:00

The Letterheads, for anyone outside of the signbiz, seems to be an informally organised coalition of old fashioned Sign Artists from around the world who's mandate is to get together with many other sign artists for a weekend, in various locations to exchange ideas, techniques and comraderie with fellow sign people and of course, Paint Signs. They have been organising these events for 30 years or more and have featured the results of these Letterheads Meets in several of the various Sign Trade Magazines. This is how I've admired from afar these fellow's works for all these years. I have never made an effort to participate usually because they are mostly in the States, or I've just been unavailable.

Well, with my one - off 13 minute CBC radio Documentary that has now aired three times, some people in the sign biz actually heard this and contacted me, and I have now been invited to participate in a Letterheads - type of meet which also happens to be just down the road from me. At the end of this month somewhere between 12 and 20 sign artists will meet at the Tottenham South Simcoe Railway which is a heritage operating steam train, to reproduce the old graphics on all the signs on and around the train. I can't believe this opportunity for me to participate !! Wow - I can't wait. When I first got the phone call, I started getting all nervous thinking I'd never meet the standards of these amazing Sign Masters, but then after a few days and looking over my own portfolio, my confidence has agreed that I am qualified. I've often thought I was better than your average sign writer, certainly imagination-with-design-wise, but these letterhead type of guys do super amazing stuff. Well, I have to now admit I've done my own amazing stuff too, although since I've rarely actually talked with others in my trade, I can't say I've had much feedback from my peers. So this chance I will take to work along side of others in a fellowship, volunteer way with the goal of producing an outstanding bunch of reproduction signwork. Doing old style has always been my favourite, especially with my 10 years of European and British Pub signage experience.

And in a very bizarre coincidence, just a few days before I received this phone call, I had Just installed a reproduction sign for the former Alliston Station of the train line which no longer runs through Alliston, but there is a little parkette beside the Zehrs store dedicated to that train station. very weird !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So If you get a chance to ever go to Tottenham to check out the steam train and indeed ride on it, maybe you'll appreciate signs in a new way that you may not have looked at them before.

If you are new to my blog - My most interesting stories are generally back in November and December of 04 Archives - click on them down the right side of this page. ( that was when I started this blog and was writing daily. )

Amazing !

2005-09-02T08:34:00.000-04:00

The summer is truly over ! The phone is ringing off the hook. Everyone suddenly wants signs. September in this country / culture ( not sure where the division is ) signifies starting anew even more I think than January first. Two weeks ago, I wasn't sure what I was doing, as of yesterday I have the next two 1/2 months booked. I actually will have to turn work away if the phone continues to ring, although it's not likely to too much because I have never advertised so it's mostly word of mouth, referals and previous clients. Which is great ! And with all of this, I seem to want to make a new posting here ! Can't guarantee this will be daily, we'll see.

So here's my schedule for me, and any of my clients who might want to keep tabs on their jobs.

Alliston Historical Society - I've had this job for a while and it just doesn't seem to get to the top of the pile. When someone tells me no hurry, I seem to take it seriously and it gets put off. I expect to finish it today. A 16" x 10' plywood sign, white, for the parkette where the ancient train station was. Done in the lettering style of 1880's denoting Alliston and the distance to the two next stops.

Fraser Avenue Studios - got the materials in this week, ready to cut a half dozen small hallway and laneway signs out of Alumicor - a durable sheet material that has a plastic core with thin aluminum laminated to either side. Lightweight, cheep, can take a bit of abuse and is precoated with white on one side, black on the other. Vinyl lettering for information going on these for this Toronto art studio building.

Cupid And Psyche - Aurora store. replace awning , a steel post sign by the sidewalk with a ironwork hanging bracket and the store logo on a d/s wood blank. will start at the end of today.
Design work finalised in May - go ahead now .

Boyer Chevrolet Dealership. Moving to new site needs two billboards on posts. finalising details over the next few days. First talked about in December.

Stock Exchange - clothing store, Newmarket. more signs, this time for a new archway for the parking lot. more 'Words of the week'.

And somewhere in the next couple of weeks I should be starting the framing on a new house, and right after, the trimwork and hardwood flooring on another new house.

Canine Lover's Lane - an end of driveway sign for a rural residence which is to be illuminated by solar lights. I am exploring the most efficient way of doing this.

Better get cracking so I'll Sign Off !

Summer's Over

2005-08-30T07:31:00.000-04:00

The lazy days of summer end and September seems to bring everyone to renewed getup and go. The phone has started ringing again, and I will be making signs once more. It sure was a slow summer for me, but a great one personally. I have been following signs in my life, and these have led me in a good and interesting direction. I may now, it seems, continue with self employment and carry on not only making signs, but using my other skills and talents to procure my living needs. Wood has always been a part of my life, creating furnishings, buildings, restoring it, painting it and so working with it in these ways will be more in the foreground. I'm also considering being available for supply teaching at my local high school, in the wood or metal shop.
I'm not sure for whom I writing this for now, my 'market' is changing, my life is changing as all our lives change, and I rarely spend any time on the computer any more at all. So this will not be a daily posting, it only was really that first couple of months - see November and December Archives for postings which i put a lot of effort into for interesting reading about the sign business.
Until I feel the urge to write again, . . . . .

Following new signs

2005-06-11T22:26:00.000-04:00

I haven't actively pursued signwork in several months. I still have a few previous clients i am doing work for but nothing new. This small town is covered well by one, or maybe two youngsters with the big expensive equipment needed to keep up with the times. So I will continue to do hand made signs if the calls comes through, but otherwise I'm going to frame houses for the summer. Lots of work, sun, money, and weekends off.
I will look for further signs of what my maker might have in mind for me.

But for interesting reading about my (previous) life in the sign business, start with my November Posts - archives to the right -

Check out my earlier Blogs

2005-04-12T09:34:00.000-04:00

I haven't promoted this site much this winter or spring, indeed, It's been very hard to keep it up. Business has been very slow in this small town and unless I start travelling to the surrounding cities of Barrie, Newmarket where the distance is far and the competition is stiff, I will be doing other things - cabinetmaking, machine work. And I'd prefer not to travel because I'd rather be close to my kids.

The kids store decided after 4 designs that they were going to make the sign themselves on the cheap and good luck to them. Same with the optician ( 9 designs ). Same with the juice bar. (7 designs). I am a Fool for not getting a deposit sooner if only to cover my design time. I may be a very good sign maker/artist but rotten business guy, going to small business and expecting them to see value in having a proper sign. Mind you, most do, I just bad-lucked out on getting 3 bummers in a row.

The florist shop and the cabinetmaker are going ahead, both with good budgets and will get themselves attractive eye catching signs in the next week. Other than that, I don't know yet.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping this blog open because I put alot into it, especially the earlier posts October - November. Check them out !

2005-03-03T01:08:00.000-05:00

The Jewellery Store opens in the morning and all went well. Didn't get the blizzard Thank God, and it was only - 10c to -15c windchill, I hate installing up ladders any colder than that.
10 awnings, briliant white with a dashing and bold pink and grey letters and two curly lines forming a heart. They look very Posh, and The client and all the staff seemed to be pleased.

But because of the shifting around and around of the awnings in my workspace due to size of both, there are the four smaller ones that didn't get finished till tonight. So they'll be up in the morning with the Aboard and other small lettering.

So after today I will be cracking on with the other projects listed below.

2005-02-28T23:55:00.000-05:00

I took down the ten awnings the next day and have spent the past week shuffling them around in my limited space.

Cleaning every square inch underside and outside.
Touching up the metal framework.
Removing the old vinyl lettering and stripes.
Removing the old sticky adhesive.
Brushing corners and rolling surfaces.
Three coats. Inside and out.

I'd planned on 3 days. Call it five because i hadn't counted on the vinyl being As stuck as it was, nor did I notice before that 5 of the 10 were blue colour on the underside too. But like all my work, I take pride it doing it properly.

Next, the logo and wording all cut out of 3 colours of vinyl, in several sizes on the plotter.
That all needs weeding and masking and cut and arranged, layed in place and stuck down.

Plus, there's an A board, and 2 suspended signs, Hours sign, door lettering
and I have still to remove the old window lettering which I shall do amidst a blizzardy storm that is called for, because the store opens Thursday.
So I hope to have the majority of all done tomorrow for Wednesday install.

And I've already been asked to redo the signage at their other store 40 miles away.

The several other jobs I have are each in the design stage:

A juice bar becomes a bistro.

Cabinetmaker: A sleek Logo required, then unusual sign to follow. I've been given artistic licence and a decent budget. He wants spectacular, and i'm going to deliver.

Kids clothing moving to new premises.

The local Museum needs a few things on which I am bidding.

Deluxe custom message board for a florist.

Finally, I am making some signs for myself.

I built a high sided trailer for general installations and there are 6 inset panels of which I shall put a different sign ( 16 x 44 ) in each. Different materials, colours, layouts.

2 foot x 2 foot birdhouse shape, cobalt blue 'roof' reflective orange surface and . . . .
reproduction 1900's tradesman's shingle.
relief rectangle rounded corners lemon yellow, with emerald green and process blue lettering.
plain coroplast blank with vinyl stripes, and descriptive wording,
6" x 24 " x 2 " etched foam blank with phone number, silver foil on blue.
simple 16 x 44 blank in brown with gold foil centred name.

And the list of I wanna do's goes on and on.

And being a single Dad as well, I couldn't do any of this without the help of my good friends. Thank you.

ps: Both my kids have said that it's pretty neat to live around a house where signs are constantly been made, then they see them up on the stores. They point at the name in the corner and say, "See, My Dad made that sign". I think that's neat.

2005-02-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Lawyer's sign went up yesterday - Client well pleased. spent the rest of the afternoon spring cleaning and organising my studio.

First is completing the designs for the jewellery store. On the computer.
I have to source the best price on a particular kind of coating for the existing awnings (10 ) and order the vinyl for their logo used at the their two other stores.
I have to travel to pick up their ABoard from the old store which is closing and take down a couple of signs that will need revamping.

While I'm in that town, I will drop into a few stores to offer my services.

Next I have four different proposals which all need preliminary sketches which will take me the rest of the day.

I will also make another attempt at getting photos onto this page.

2005-02-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

Flipping through my archives will uncover many an interesting blurb about me and the sign business. I've covered a lot but recently haven't had the time to add here.

I'm going to follow the stages of work I have on the go for the next while and try to post here everyday.

I have on the go:

Lawyers sign: A double sided wood 30" x 48" ( 60cm x 125 ) . Lots' of airbrushing, hand lettering, elaborate frame, - I'm almost done.

Jewellery store: still finialising the designs this week - 10 awnings to come off the building, repainted and lettered, replaced.

Gym wanting window display boards. Designs done, just waiting to get around to them. wanted in the next week or so.

Juice bar restaurant moving to new premises - working on designs.

Kids clothes store moving to new premises - working on designs.

The Local Museum - a woodworking project that I have to now make the plans for and final pricing.

and several projects In the proposal stage.

Now, i'm going to finish the lawyers sign - finishing coats on the frame, airbrushing a feather and ink bottle.

Accurate Measuring

2005-01-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Something very little has always had me scratching my head. 99.9% of people do this, if they have to measure and mark something.
Let’s say it’s a piece of wood.
The tab of the measuring tape is hooked on the end. . .
The tape is pulled out to expose the number one needs it measured to . .
They take a pencil, bring it to the little tick they need to mark. . .
Then they draw a little mark on the board with the pencil.

Then they draw it backandforthandbackandforth Again and Again .
They are inadvertently making the mark thicker and thicker so that it is sometimes almost a couple of millimetres wide. So when you go to cut it to the mark, you don’t know which side of the mark to go to.
When Accuracy is important, and in this business it is, Why would one go to the trouble of making an accurate mark then make it inaccurate the same second ? This invariably results in a sloppy fit, although it’s not much, it can be critical.

When you make a mark with the pencil, make ONE mark, not 2,3,4. In the name of accuracy.

Anal – I’ve been called many times over this tiny thing. But Dang, it just makes sense.

And speaking of tape measures - The End of a tape measure – that little tab - IS SUPPOSE TO BE WIGGLY. For a similar reason to above. The tab will wiggle precisely the Thickness of the tab. If you’re measuring the inside of something it will move in that 1/16” , or the outside of something it will move out that 16th.

Alliston Creative Services

2005-01-03T01:58:00.000-05:00

That's what I call myself, Others call me The Signs guy.

My Specialty is Unique Design.
Logo, Sign and advertisement design;

I also make by hand High Quality, Durable signs for Estates, Retail, Commercial, Industrial.

26 years experience,
With the training of my Father, a Master Craftsman of 33 years experience and my Uncle, a Master Joiner ( cabinetmaker ).
I was accepted into the Guild of Master Craftsmen, London, England in '89.

I have designed and built signs in Belgium, Canada, England, France, Ireland, Malta, Turketstan and USA for small and prominent companies.

I am one of the diminishing breed of Signwriters, Gilders and airbrush Artists.
I was also one of the first sign people in Canada to use the new vinyl cutting technology.

And besides all my training and experience, I'm passionate about my design, my client getting the best, and, I'm naturally good at it too !

With this very computer, I can work with you and even arrange all the details of manufacture through my many connections in Europe and Americas. And even Easier in Canada.

Finishing up for the Year End 2004

2004-12-31T01:06:00.000-05:00

The Church Sign went up easy and the few I have seen are very pleased.
I will have to wait for eleven degrees celcius to paint the exsisting posts and a couple of finishing touches.

I would like to mention, that summer 2003, after having been asked by several people to stop in, I did, and for a non-practicing christian, I really enjoyed and felt very uplifted by the whole experience. Lots of Joyous Singing, very nice tunes, totally non-pretentious surroundings but comfortable and ordinary folk wearing great big smiles; I may not know the lord personally, but I saw a whole bunch of people I knew knew ! Time flew and it was over.
That is the Alliston Christian Fellowship. Great Philanthropists in our Town, too.

The School Signs: ready to install when it's above -20c (for my fingers sake)

The plastic signs, I ended up having plenty for Christmas, and some to start of the count in January. This is an ongoing project, I make to order, 12 at a time. I hope to making a couple of dozen a week for a couple of months. Then it may get bigger !

The cottage sign Impressed the whole family, indeed I did very nice carving of the script if I do sayso myself. And this was one of my favourite creations of the year. Actually I make all my signs with passion for my craft and definitely have my own Style of design.

The bulletin board project - revisions are with the client.

I did not yet get my pictures on this site. I have tried several times to ski the learning curve of web publishing and although slightly frustrated at this Hello and piscasa programs, I am enjoying learning all sorts of tech-end. I absolutely could not yet Design someone's webpage; I tip my hats to them. Especially the old guysers like me whom find it extra challenging.

The second month of blogs goes into archives tonight, and the articles are all over the place, I know. The format is not what I want for what this site has become.
But for the meantime, I hope Some people have found some things Interesting. I know there are some people are checking it out, that's a sign of some worth. But creating this site has been very worthwhile to me and if no one else is even reading this now, I feel this pleasure from typing it anyway; getting comments from you would be a bonus.

My personal favourite posts areThe Evolution of the sign,Dec 1st & a miscellany day, Nov 24th.

Thank you Blogger people and google for providing a great public service for free.
Thank you Bloggers everywhere !
Thank you readers
Thank you friends
Thank you Neighbours.

Tomorrow may come, and for thousands it wont. But The disaster in Indiasia should be a SIGN to us all to end each day being sure that we have done our best with life.
Life shows us lots of signs pointing us in the right direction in life, If only we Follow the Signs.
Cliff Perry, the Signs Guy

My History in the Sign Business - Conclusion

2004-12-30T13:35:00.000-05:00

begins with Signs 1.01
1.02
1.03
1.04
then . . .
In 1995, I returned to Canada and with a wealth of experience few others could match, I sought to join larger companies where I would work with teams to create larger, expensive architectural landmarks; signage that can’t really be done by a one man band. The Computer really had pushed hand-done work out of practicality, profitability, and took much of the satisfaction out of it too. By 1999 there were only two things left that the computer couldn’t do that I could. - lettering directly onto concrete - they now have vinyl that adheres to concrete ; and, reproducing antique style signs, and now these folk art signs that are done in Asia and sell at nearly dollar store prices - well I can’t do them that cheap, but I really really truly doubt that the computer will ever be able to beat those ”artists” either. But I’ve underestimated the computer before.

So now, 24 years later, I come full circle and in seeking renewed satisfaction for my craft, I again become a one-man band, in my beautiful town of Alliston, Ontario and begin a new era in my career where I will combine the best of my creativity , brush, airbrush, computer, and vast experience and try to make a living but with fulfillment.

My life masterpiece -
Most would not know the meticulous detailing. The sweat and tears to create it, then the client changes his mind 1 hour before I finish. And he still wants it on time. Exhastburating. Challenging. Moments of fun. Hours of focussed, fulfilling effort, some tedium, keep your wits about you as you go through the 11th hour, watch the fresh paint, watch the apprentice inadvertently scratch it or put it on upside down,, Now the client wants two. Aluminum dust, paint fumes. Vinyl fumes. Compressor noise. Dust in the air. plastic dust. Distractions. Do this first - it’s a rush. Wait, this is rush too. But do this other other rush first. ……………

It’s said there’s three kinds of signs and you can only pick two at a time -
Good and cheap, but not fast
Good and fast but not cheap
Fast and cheap, but not good
But of course everyone wants it all.
And when it’s complete, they want it blue, not green; you made two, they want three,
You install three. They really only need one and don’t want to pay for the others.
UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!1

But we love this business despite it all.

I pause for a moment as I pallet my brush in my cup,
Some emerald green on my dry and wrinkled thumb
I gaze past the paint and the quill that my dad once owned,
and see his hands.
END

Why my father in law was glad he was married

2004-12-20T10:24:00.000-05:00

Len was a cockney - and a sign installer from inner London with a thick colloquial accent and speaking the cockney rhyming slang that I needed a translater for most of his talking. It was the first Christmas I'd met him and the family get together was going well. He had had a few drinks and proceded to tell one of his many tales. . . . .

" When I'd married a few years, I's sent out to change tubes ( the burnt out neon 8' light bulbs ) on the lights of Piccadilly ( Circus ) . Were a hundred or so needed changing and course there's a couple right 'the very top of the fourth floor. Me mates and me got several ladders lined up on the pavement and had to use our belts to hold them together to make them long enough to reach top. With thousands of people milling about was not easy. We also had a bit of the old snow which we don't get often, but it was there, slushy and all from the people walking through it. Then we had to upright the ladders which being 60 foot tall was also not easy. So we get up the ladder and it bending and swaying like a banana, passed tubes up with our left hand, down with our right. As I get to top, the bottom of the ladder slips a bit and it wants to go down sideways and as me mates below try to scramble down, my wedding ring gets caught on a bit of steel at the top and with my feet hooked around the step, I am able to hold us all three from the ladder going down. Matey gets to the bottom and adjusts the leg and I am able to unhook my ring finger and finish the job. It was that ring what saved us. That was worth getting married for."

finishing a batch of different sign types

2004-12-16T09:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I changed my mind on the leafing and went to Aluminum Leaf rather than copper. ( I had full artistic licence on this sign ). I feared that the copper would not last more than a few years even coated, and this being for a cottage is not a sign I can go check up on anytime. I have done it once before and recall it looked best a year later but looked very old by it's third year. I ended up replacing it with gold.
So it's looking fantastic this morning and so today it's add the brass eyebolts, check every detail and then a clear coat; end of the day I'll mount the two carvings on the blank, take a photo or two and print an invoice. for tomorrows delivery.

The school signs have their yellow curvy border and edges. Today it's the backs painted and the front centre area painted vivid blue. Tomorrow it's add vinyl lettering and install, photo, invoice.

The church sign is ready for the vinyl lettering this morning, then I'll assemble it and install it tomorrow as well.

The pedestal sign has been postponed till the spring. She has changed her mind about the slate, and the information she wants on it. She'll call me back in January.

Next is the Billboard which I will now finish final submission for client.

The plastic signs for assembly will wait till next week, they aren't needed for a while anyway.

the next stages in my projects

2004-12-15T09:11:00.000-05:00

Today its' leafing the incised script on the cottage sign. I will shortly brush the letters with a sizing and wait a couple of hours before applying a copper leaf to the letters. In the meantime I will colour the fish and the chair.

Church sign - first coat of colour on every surface. brown on the background, cream on the panels.

School signs likewise first coat of colour - on the borders. First I will cover the centre of the board with 12' wide masking tape and then cut out the shape of the irregular border, remove the excess tape and paint the border. 2nd coat 12 hours from then.

an hour designing the pedestal sign.

assemble 10 plastic signs.

spend another hour trying to get photos onto this site.

Day in the life of a Lone Sign maker

2004-12-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

Christmas is the deadline for most of the projects I have on right now And since I can't get my brainspace into editing or writing for the day, I shall describe what I'm doing and how and why.

3 More signs for the School adding to the main signs I did in the summer: 3 shaped ( i dislike rectangles) crezon signs , yesterday was the prime coat and I do this with a stiff brush to make sure I get into every little pore on every surface. Today I'll sand them lightly and put on the base white coat; on the back this hour, on the front and edges this evening.

A cottage sign ( client is giving it as a christmas present ) : 12" x 40" x 2" . I've already spent 3 hours carving a 16" tall fish (pike) and a 12" tall wooden deck chair which are to be attached to either end of the sign. Last night I finished incising the name in a script. Today it's staining the blank, and painting the coloured details on the fish and shadowing the chairs. tomorrow is leafing and shmaltzing.

Post and Panel Church Welcome: 4' x 4' crezon panel with raised header and footer panels
and an Open Book in the middle with a changable message. today its base coating.

I have assembly of 30 plastic signs on the go.

Design for stage two of a Car Dealership. One was the showroom rendering of the new building 2'x3'. Two is fine tuning the details for the artwork of the site billboard 8' x 12' - january / february

Design for a pedestal coloum sign approx 2'w x 5' h x 1 1/2', just had meeting #2 with client; this is to be spectacular so we may run several weeks in the design alone. Wanted for the new year. Will be working with Slate, copper, stainless and wood.

A wood framed old style Chalkboard for a Pub that I've done all the other signage already
(not due yet - new year)

An Estate sign for the driveway entrance. Another really special one, still waiting on a desicion on which design.

And that's about all which is quite a bit for me, on top of being a single parent, which is a handfull in itself.

I will try to get some photos here, but I'm still haven't figured out how. Error messages etc. ug.

Signs Story 1:04

2004-12-10T10:27:00.000-05:00

My journey continued through parts of Europe and I ended up in Kent, England. My first week on the coast, I tried to cheer my partner up by scratching the word SMILE in the sandy beach in huge, huge letters visible from the cliff tops. My sign didn’t work. We split up. But a gent walking along the seafront approached me . “ Did you do those letters?” “Yes I did.” “ Could you do them in Paint ?” “Of course, I am a Sign Writer.”
He drove me out to the local airfield and got me to paint 6 - 30 foot tall letters atop of 6 -giant petrol tanks. That was the beginning of eight years of sign writing in England.

My next stint was carving and colouring wooden models on Antique reproduction signs - like the ones you can now buy for 49 bucks for your den. I got 40 quid each and I was told they went to America to retail for 350 dollars. I then travelled town to town, each train stop from Margate to London looking for a place to call home. I freelanced as I went in historic places like Sandwich, Herne Bay, Faversham, Canterbury, Royal Tunbridge Wells, gathering adventures, experience, new friends and many tales along the way. I found my new home in Uxbridge (west London) and a mid sized company to join, that along with traditional hand-painted signs was one of the first in England to have a sign making computer. They saw the best of the old ways and the new.

As I gained mastery of the computer, I likewise gained mastery of the airbrush, something I thought then a computer could never do. But it wasn’t too long before digital colour printing evolved. But before it became cheap, I hand painted and airbrushed over 200 traditional English pictorial pub signs in south-east England over the next 6 years. As well, I was one of the first to professionally use coloured chalks in elaborate indoor display messages on the many chalkboards found in every one of those pubs.

continued: SIGNS STORY 1.03

2004-12-06T10:11:00.000-05:00

continued from Nov. 20th: The industrial revolution, and the proliferation of signs - the mass production of signs.

The last purpose of the sign was developed - To Promote Massive Sales. The machines of merchandising and advertising required the endless churning out of signs.
Nowadays, a donut shop might have 50 signs, a convenience store 500, a chain store 5000 to the point where they might even have there own sign making department to churn out a thousand or two each shopping season or each month. Or even each week.

Buy one - get one free, two for the price of one, Three for the price of one, 50% off, 60% off, Up to 80% off ! ( if you buy the complete set) ( no rain checks or coupons.)

For sale, yard sale, white sale, garage sale, closing out sale, all sales final. Biggest sale ever!

I want to tell you about my Dad.
He told me not to be a signwriter because I’d never make more than a living. But if I did learn the skills, at least I’d never be out of work. He said robots like the one on “Lost In Space“ would never be able to make a sign. I had been around his sign painting all my life - I was filling in his outlined letters when I was five. - I picked it up.
He had started in the maintenance department at AV Roe and it was asked if anyone had any talent painting with a brush. With his interest in art, my dad stepped forward and was asked to letter the dials and buttons in the cockpit of the prototype ARROW, the famous Canadian Avro Arrow supersonic jet plane of the 50's. He became a signwriter that day and continued on for 33 more years. He also hand painted the sign that went on top of the crane that built the CN Tower which while under construction was arguably the highest sign in the world.

I’d been out of school about four years and working at Harbourfront and in a similar way I became a signwriter. Within a few months, I set up shop on my own. As my skills and creativity improved, came to a time where I mastered the brush and the creation of Nice Looking Signs. In that era of mine in ‘79, I went to my first convention and discovered my nemesis, the New Sign Making, Vinyl-Cutting Computer. It’s like an upside down automatic ETCH-A-SKETCH except it’s got a sharp point instead of a stylus, and it cuts mac-tac instead of drawing on a screen. I tested it & tried to beat it. But it wasn’t just a little easier to make signs. It exploded on the market knocking me and many others in the trade out of competition. It was cheaper for me to buy cut vinyl letters from another sign shop than it was for me to paint them. I was hurt. My business went bust. The opportunity came for me to leave the country and so taking up my lost teenage dream of travelling the world, I left, with my lavishly decorated paint box, for an indefinite time, to travel.
My first stop was Iceland and I thought an omen had taken me there ! I wandered the streets of Reykjavik - I‘d expected it to be barren of trees, not signs ! If I‘d arrived on my own, I would have attempted to set up business before I’d unpacked my suitcase! But, my travelling companion, a native, halted my knee-jerk reaction and my thought processes in one foul swoop. “Cliff, Icelanders don’t need signs and they don’t want them”.
How Incredulously Foreign this thought was to Me !

Fish Mongers had Fish hanging in the windows. Book stores had books on display. I didn’t have to look 10 feet up to see that there was a clothing shop. There were some names on buildings and streets. But what stood out as the dominating form of communication as I recall was SYMBOLS - another word in the dictionary defining Signs. But not like I had known them until then. That was ‘86.
to be continued.

Is that why I haven't heard from any of my old sign buddies lately ?

2004-12-03T01:10:00.000-05:00

Well – upon a bit of exploring the web prompted by a local sign gal, How To Buy Signs as a topic is covered rather well by a few different places. GEE ! I suppose being a sign guy, I didn’t feel any reason to see what’s already on the web – There is quite a bit, much of it well written and complete. And some information is repeated in various places.

But nowhere did I see a lot of the things about the biz that I’ve put down here.
So henceforth, I shall change this Blogspot name from How to buy signs.
“ Follow the Signs “ was the title of what was my 13 minute radio audio collage / documentary that was on CBC radio one at the beginning of the summer. My producer, The Honourable Steve Wadhams pulled it from the pages and hours of STUFF we had while piecing together my show. His blurb on the archives at cbc.ca/outfront says :
“Cliff Perry of Alliston, Ontario knows how to read signs and he knows how to make them. He's a traditional sign artist who's made the transition to the computer era with most of his passion for the trade still intact. He's also found that when life throws him a curve, a sign is always there to help get him back on track.”

So henceforth, I shall continue with my writing, Because I want to, Because I have a lot of stories that when told have in the past, have piqued the interest in people who’ve had the interest to listen, or indeed those who’ve had to work with me and couldn’t get away from my story telling of my past lives.
I have the contents of a book here in this manic – head; I also have the energy, Passion and the will to carve a book out of me. And I think that this BLOG has given me the impetus to Write Every day. Which I have thoroughly enjoyed !
No more pretentious know-it-all-and-you-won’t-read-it-anywhere-else shite.
Just interesting stories and Information on my biz; the Sign Biz !

See you tomorrow.

The evolution of the signs business.

2004-12-01T01:15:00.000-05:00

6000 BC: My great great . . . grandfather, who wasn’t a great fisherman became the local Cave painter and draws an arrow on a rock to point to good hunting grounds.
3000 BC: Sumeria, Egypt, Inca, got creative at headstone incising. Paints last long time as long as you don’t put them out in the sun.
1000 BC: First Pub in England got a pictograph ( no one could read yet) “The Cave Inn”

1400 AD: Signpainters begin their own guild, brushes rediscovered & developed, pounce patterns.
1600s: Decals on gelatin transfer sheets
1850 : Industrial Revolution. Sign Painters really busy. More people can read Them.
1900 : Screen Printing – mass production of signs can happen.
1920s: NEON
1950s: the airbrush; pressure sensitive Vinyl – Mac tac
1960s: further development of Vinyls and reflective markers
1974: My dad paints the sign that goes on top of the CN Tower’s crane. Highest sign in the world.
1979: the Gerber Vinyl cutting plotter – Cuts letters out in minutes. The beginning of the end of Traditional sign painting.
1983: the 8 colour automated airbrush that scales large outdoor walls to do murals;
CNC sheet material letter cutters
1990s: Digital Thermal Printing for mid term outdoor use; Fast vinyl cutters, computer interfaced
2004: Digital printing directly on to sheet material. The beginning of the end of weeding vinyl !
2010: All signs will be made in China for next to nothing and shipped UPS in three days.
2020: What do you mean sign – ‘Painter’ ?
2060: signs become obsolete. Personal gps – direction devices implanted in brain – We will have all information broadcast directly into our skulls.

So Why does anybody still chose to make signs by hand ?
Butt gets sore from sitting in front of a machine.
Huge overhead costs in these modern machines.
Some times, it’s nice to have that traditional Touch.
Satisfaction level for the sign painter high.
Signpainting still 10,000 times more environmentally friendlier.
And there are still, if few, circumstances that a computer cannot do.

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

2004-11-29T23:25:00.000-05:00

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

2004-11-27T13:18:00.000-05:00

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.

2004-11-25T23:20:00.000-05:00

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

2004-11-25T01:15:00.000-05:00

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.

2004-11-24T02:40:00.000-05:00

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.

2004-11-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

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

2004-11-22T01:25:00.000-05:00

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 ! !

2004-11-21T04:10:00.000-05:00

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

2004-11-20T04:43:00.000-05:00

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

2004-11-19T02:28:00.000-05:00

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