By signcraft
Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2026
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 is to see how different sign makers approach the same project. Here’s the scenario these sign makers were given:
You did a storefront sign for a neighborhood pub a few years ago, and the new manager calls you about a banner to promote her latest special. She plans to install the banners on the wood siding on the side of the building, which faces a fairly busy intersection, where most viewers are within 100 feet of it. She thinks she should include something like “Best wings in town!” and asks your opinion about that. Her lease limits banners to 30 sq. ft. and no permit is required.
Price:
Two 3-by-10-ft. 13-oz. banners at $236 each: $472
Price includes design and markup. John’s cartoons are available online at www.thetoonfactory.com.
John Deaton
Deaton Design Studio | Ages Brookside, Kentucky
All the banners I do now are digitally printed. I don’t have an in-house printer, but outsource my banners and other digital printing to Signs365.com.
I would design the banners in Illustrator and Photoshop. In this case, I used a cartoon chicken I drew to attract attention. Cartoons are great on banners like this because they bring some pop to the layout. The customer wants something that can be seen easily, and is colorful and jumps out at the viewer.
Price:
Design/Layout: 40 minutes at $88 per hour: $59
First 3-by-10-ft. banner: $378
Second 3-by-10-ft. banner: $284
Total: $721
Installation (optional): $135
Andy Bordi
Bordi Designs | Merchantville, New Jersey
After a brief discussion with the pub manager I get to work on a drawing and an estimate. She mentioned that they think they can handle the installation and won’t need us to do it, but I included it in the estimate as an optional item in case they change their mind.
We have done previous work for her and she liked what we did, so she trusts us to come up with a design as we see fit. We’re sure to make the banner clean and legible, and try to incorporate colors that will complement what we have done for her in the past, to help build a consistent image for her business. I would give the client a small discount on the second banner.
The fabrication of the banner will be pretty straight forward. After the client approves the drawing and estimate, all artwork will be checked for accuracy enlarged to the correct size, and sent to our Mutoh ValueJet printer for printing.
Once the banner is done printing it is allowed to dry until the next day before we add hems to all sides and install the grommets for installation. When complete, we contact the client to set up a delivery date and time.
Price:
Design time: ½ hour at $88 per hour: $44
Two 3-by-10-ft. banners at $9.39 per sq. ft.: $563.40
Total: $607.40
Mark Agnew
Agnew Graphics, Signs & Promotions | Owosso, Michigan
We would design the banner to be eye-catching and to display the important content in order of importance. The colors would complement the building. It would be printed and hemmed with grommets and gussets for a long life on the outside of the building.
Price:
We normally offer a discount on banners when customers order two or more, so pricing would be at $6.08 per sq. ft., putting the cost at $182.40 each, for a total of $364.80 plus tax.
Justin Hare
Premier Signs & Designs | Pryor Creek, Oklahoma
While I was working on this design, customers would walk in, see the layout on my screen and say, “Where is that? I’m there!” I’d have to let them down easy and explain that it wasn’t for anywhere around here but rather for an article in SignCraft. We Okie’s like our wings!
I tried to keep everything pretty simple, giving precedence to the price special and Wings. I included a photo of an order of wings for visual appeal to help sell the promotion. I chose a background color similar to the color of buffalo sauce to tie everything together.
I decided to forego the optional copy of Best Wings in Town in an effort to avoid excessive copy, especially after the response of my customers who saw the layout on my screen.
The message alone seemed to get plenty of interest in the offer without any further help!
Price:
For me, this falls into the category of a two-hour project, so two hours to discuss and design the banner at $135 per hour would be $270.
I would send this out to a wholesaler to be printed, hemmed and grommeted at $5.40 per square foot. I mark that up to $10.80 per square foot, so the cost to my customer would be $324 per banner, making the total $648.
I would present the price to the customer as just that, without any breakdown. I wouldn’t automatically offer a discount, but I could comfortably go to $600 total if I had to in order to secure the job. As you know, every situation and every job is different. Sometimes I go in with a solid firm price, other times I give myself some wiggle room… 30 years of experience and intuition!
Randy Howe
Gougerville Sign & T-Shirt Co. | Simcoe, Ontario, Canada
For a design like this, the first order of business is to find a suitable piece of clipart that I can work with. Then I start messing around with what I feel are appropriate fonts and colors based on the information I’ve been supplied with. Hopefully within about an hour I have a layout that I’m happy with!
It’s being viewed from less than 100 feet, so the bold 39 cents and chicken wing graphic easily grab the reader’s attention from that distance. She is limited to 30 sq. ft., so I designed a 4-by-7.5-ft. banner.
The above version is what I would send to my buddy Jim Aquino for hand painting. This is typical of the type of design work I do for Jim. The cost would be $68, which is my wholesale rate. Jim does all the legwork with the customer, so I don’t have to factor that into my price. He gives me the size and the copy, and I knock out the design.
See “Collaborate and expand your capabilities” in the May/June 2016 issue of SignCraft to see how Jim often outsources his design work to Randy.
This appeared in the July/August 2016 issue of SignCraft. While the prices have been adjusted for inflation as of 2026, they may not accurately reflect current pricing for such signage.
