By signcraft
Posted on Friday, August 23rd, 2024
In every issue, SignCraft gave a few sign makers an imaginary project. We asked them to do a sketch of the sign they might have produced, and to quote a price for the job. Most of the details were left to the designer’s imagination. The object was to see how different sign makers approach the same project. Here’s the scenario these sign makers were given:
A local masonry contractor has recently replaced his older work pickup with a white Chevy 2500 single cab pickup. He’s been in business for several years but has never had an official logo; he says he’d like something that will catch people’s attention on his truck and also look good on a business card.
Make a sketch of the design you might have designed for the customer and quote a price.
Curt Nelson
Signman, Rock Valley, Iowa
The first thing I do on a job like this is to draw a quick pencil sketch or two while the customer is at my shop. Once I have an idea what his likes and dislikes are, I can do a more detailed sketch. When I’m designing something that I know is going to be used as a logo, I make sure that it will work well as black and white (for letterheads, newspaper ads, etc.).
This pair of truck doors would be painted with lettering enamel, with the exception of “Masonry” and the phone number, which would be vinyl because I am too old and blind to paint lettering that small anymore!
It would take about four hours to complete this job. The cost would be around $385 for the lettering on the two doors.
As for the logo charge, I would supply some black-and-white prints, color prints and a CD with the logo in a couple of formats. The cost for that would be around $425.
John Deaton
Deaton Designs, Harlan, Kentucky
A lot of customers come in and say something like, “Just put my name and number on there, nothing fancy, just basic stuff….” But this guy wants an identifying logo to set him apart from the rest of the crowd. This makes me happy. Being that his truck is white, I’ll use colors that will be dynamic, but not overpowering; something that looks good and will make people notice it.
Prices: I have basic rates for truck doors, basically broken down by one color ($300), two colors ($400) and multi color ($500). If the customer decides to use my design as a logo, I will provide a logo package price, which includes all necessary computer files, for $600.
Sometimes it’s tough to get these prices around here, because of the perception that these are just “stickers.” But I help the customers understand that their sign or truck doors are a marketing tool—not just stickers. The designs I offer clients are thought out and custom-designed to help their businesses. Hopefully it’s something they can be proud of for years to come, and something that will attract customers and grow their business.
Wayne Bodley
The Mad Signtist, Hendersonville, North Carolina
I really enjoy doing truck lettering. The profit is great and the perceived value is good, too—the customer knows they’ll get work from it. I usually start by taking a photo of the truck in question; then I import it into CorelDraw, put the graphics where they should go, and the customer can see exactly how it will look when it’s finished. If you work full-size, you can just go straight to the cutter or printer and you’re halfway done. That’s why I like to get the deposit before I start designing.
Sketch A:
This is about as basic as it gets, but with a little style. I usually let people pick a dark color; it doesn’t have to be black. This type of job usually costs about $225.
Sketch B:
This would be an intermediate job, with a few colors and a little more difficulty, but still pretty simple. You just have to work at the registration when applying. Something like this would go for about $400.
Sketch C:
This is about as fancy as I get. I’ll use my Summa DC3 to print it out and contour cut. This is priced at $600.
This looks like a logo, too, so I would explain to the customer beforehand that I retain the rights to the artwork and they can purchase it for $425. We all know that’s a great deal, but every now and then there’s still going to be someone who thinks you’re trying to rip ’em off. Go figure.
This appeared in the January/February 2011 issue of SignCraft. While the prices have been adjusted for inflation, they may not accurately reflect current pricing for such signage.
