Adam Straus: Growing a custom sign business

Sometimes a high school job can lead you to a lifelong career. For Adam Straus, a high school co-op job landed him in Peter Moir’s shop, The Sign Depot, in Listowel, Ontario. Peter’s creative work was an inspiration that spawned Adam’s interest in graphic design, which led him to go to college for graphic design. After college, he worked as the in-house graphics department for a fairly large company.

“But I really enjoyed sign design more than the graphic design that I was doing,” says Adam. “In graphic design, you usually have a lot more copy to deal with. Sign design is much more straightforward, and signs can have much more impact.

“I kept seeing the great-looking work that The Sign Depot was turning out, especially the faux vintage, distressed signs. I also started following the work of a few sign shops from the States that were doing creative work. Eventually I went back to The Sign Depot full time.”