By signcraft
Posted on Monday, April 18th, 2022
Jim and Tami Lago moved their already-established sign shop from nearby Santa Rosa, California, back to their hometown of Healdsburg in 1990, more or less by accident—right before tourism started to arrive. Tami was born and raised in Healdsburg, and Jim moved there when he was 8 years old, but they felt starting a sign company there in the early ’80s would have been a disaster, so they established it in the much larger Santa Rosa market first.
Back then, Healdsburg was just a sleepy little farm town, with a relatively weak economy, in Northern California’s Sonoma Valley. It was originally known for producing prunes, not fine wines, but in the late 1970s, the California wine industry began to explode and vineyards started to replace plum orchards. It was a town of about 7,000 when Jim and Tami moved home and is currently at around 12,000—and much more when the tourists arrive on the weekends. Santa Rosa, on the other hand, is a city of 180,000 or so.
“When we made the decision,” says Jim, “I told Tami, ‘If we move back to Healdsburg, I don’t know if we’ll still be in the sign business here in five years, but I’ll find something to do.’ Shortly after that, the wine industry really started growing. Now there are well over 400 wineries here… so our business grew right along with it. We established ourselves with winery signage as our niche and we are currently on our 41st year.”
Over 10 million people visit the valley each year, and a winery or vineyard sign is a big draw to the countless visitors who drive by every day. The sign is meant to create a “look” to help draw people in to taste and buy wine—which keeps them buying it when they get home. Many wine-related businesses are very image conscious and don’t mind spending extra money to get an impressive sign that stands out from the rest.
“Some want a sign that looks like it’s a hundred years old,” says Jim, “and others want something new and contemporary. It’s a big part of the image that they are trying to create. And the signs are built to last 10 and even up to 20 years or more—they aren’t typical commercial signs. We call them ‘our masterpieces’ and we love making them and building relationships with winery owners and their staff.
“Many major wine companies market multiple labels. Kendall Jackson, for example, has around 50 labels—that’s 50 or more completely unique brands and multiple options for sign work for us. Then there is Gallo, Constellation, Francis Ford Coppola, Boisett and countless other large winery investors who are constantly building and adjusting their images and overall ‘look.’ Along with that there are hundreds of smaller vineyards and wineries.
“Our signs have become photo opportunities for visitors. Folks like to have their photo taken with the sign, then often post the photos on social media. It’s priceless advertising for the winery. We really dig that, too. It’s awesome to see those photos on Facebook of people standing proudly in front of our creations.”
About 15 percent of the clients come in with a concept that they want Healdsburg Signs to reproduce as a sign. The rest of the time, though, Jim and his daughter Erin handle the design and construction logistics based on the logo of the winery or vineyard and what image they are looking to communicate to the public.
“We like to do different looks and use a variety of different materials,” he says, “copper, raw and rusted steel, HDU board, both new and weathered redwood—and just about anything to get a natural, appealing look. Gold leaf, glazes and faux finishes get into the act, too. Our shop manager Kyle Way, and veteran craftsman/fabricator Mike Dale ‘make magic’ on a daily basis and never cease to amaze me as they create my visions. Those two are masters of their craft, and of course they have help. Jeremy, Chris and Travis help out with the installation and heavy lifting in the fab shop.
“We love what we do, and we’re always looking to the next project to do something really cool. We do a lot of experimenting around here. It makes the work a lot of fun.”
The 1 ½-in. HDU panel was CNC routed then hand tooled to give the carved texture. The framing and posts are rough sawn, distressed redwood.
Letters are ½-in. acrylic that was finished with black satin paint on an overlaid plywood panel mounted on an existing structure. The icon at the top is 1 ½-in. HDU board with a digital print background. Letter and border are finished with gold leaf. “We don’t usually like the glossy finish of the acrylic sheet,” Jim says, “so we usually cut the letters from clear acrylic then paint them with satin finish paint.”
Letters are ½-in. acrylic painted black, mounted on a curved panel of clear acrylic. The “E” is made of 2-in. laminated maple with an acrylic inlay. The back is routed out to accommodate LED lighting, then stud mounted 3/4-in. off the background. “This sign was for a designer who asked us to use a background of 1/8-in. raw steel painted red then force rusted to look like an old red wagon,” Jim says.
The letters were cut from ½-in. HDU board then carved and gilded. They were mounted on a CNC-cut 2-in. cedar panel that had been sandblasted.
“We later replaced the sign above,” says Jim, “with this one with their new logo. It uses ½-in. bronze letters stud mounted to the ¼-in. powder coated aluminum panel.”
CNC-routed 1 ½.-in. HDU board that was hand tooled to create the carved background. “I’ve always regretted not fixing the kerning on this logo,” says Jim. “That was done 20 years ago. Back then I was reluctant to make changes to people’s artwork. Now I routinely manipulate logos as needed.”
“You have to look close to see the extremely detailed illustration that is the background of this sign,” says Jim. “We did a digital print of that, then mounted the gilded 3/8-in. acrylic letters because we wanted a low-profile letter. It’s framed with 2×8 stock, then the outer frame is 2×6 stock. It’s mounted on 6×6 posts.”
This is a lighted sign done with push-through ½-in. acrylic letters on a force rusted 1/8-in. steel, back lit with LEDs.
Letters are 1 ½-in. HDU mounted on a 5×10 sheet that was cut to fit the existing structure. The crest is 1 ½-in. routed HDU finished with exterior acrylic paint and 1 Shot Metallic Gold enamel. “This was done on an existing structure that was an architectural element that the owner had found,” says Jim. “The border is stained concrete.”
Primary copy is ½-in. acrylic, and the logo is ½-in. HDU board. They are mounted on panels fabricated from .125 aluminum and powder coated, then installed on aluminum posts using custom brackets.
Letters are painted ½- and ¼-in. acrylic on a ½-in. overlaid plywood panel that is mounted on a 1 ½-in. cedar backer. The top graphic is CNC-carved HDU with Real Gold 22K gold leaf film on the double L logo. “The mounting is unique,” Jim says, “in that it had to be able to swing away to allow access or if it was hit by a passing truck. You can see the angled seam at the top. That allows it to swing away then return to the proper position and hang straight. Our fabricators are the best!”
Letters are powder coated ¼-in. aluminum, stud mounted ¼-in. off the ¼-in. aluminum panel which was finished with automotive paint. It’s mounted on ¼-in. force-rusted Corten steel backer mounted to the wall with a steel French cleat.
Letters are ½-in. painted acrylic, stud mounted ½-in. off the overlaid plywood panel, which is framed with 2×6 stock. The sides of the sign are also 2×6 stock, and it’s mounted on 6×6 posts. The riders are CNC-carved and painted.
CNC-routed laminated 3-in. cedar panel finished with exterior acrylic paint. It’s double faced with an 8×8 post and beam mounting.
Convex carved HDU letters finished with silver leaf and mounted on a black painted panel of sandblasted redwood. The redwood panel is mounted on a background of rough sawn plywood siding over ¾-in. plywood. It’s framed with 2×8 stock and mounted on 6×6 posts.
“This client wanted a bronze plaque but the cost was over budget,” Jim says. “We cut the lettering and border from ¼-in. acrylic and painted it with bronze automotive paint, then mounted it on ¾-in. overlaid plywood panel that was painted dark brown. That sign was done about 20 years ago.”
Letters are Real Gold 22K gold leaf vinyl film on a sandblasted redwood panel, mounted on 6×6 posts with custom top treatments. Rider is ¾-in. overlaid plywood with vinyl lettering.
Stud-mounted ¼-in. brushed aluminum letters on a background of raw .080 copper with a forced patina on the inner frame. Outer frame is 2-by-12 redwood. The secondary logos are digital prints on brushed aluminum.
This was carved from flagstone and mounted in an existing wall.
This went along with the Mayacama sign. It was carved from flagstone and mounted to the wall, which was finished with stucco afterward.
Carved gilded 1 ½-in. HDU letters on a background of rough redwood planks and framed with redwood. The grapes graphic was carved from 1-in. HDU board and painted. Directory panels are vinyl lettering on ¾-in. overlaid plywood finished with exterior acrylic paint. It’s mounted on galvanized drain pipe. “We use redwood splines when we do a plank background like this,” Jim says. “We like the look of planks but we don’t want light showing through any gaps between them.”
On 1/8-aluminum finished with black automotive paint. The crest logo is carved and gilded HDU. “Sbragia” is 1-in. rounded over HDU letters finished 1 Shot white enamel and mounted on a ¼-in. acrylic gilded outline panel.
