signcraft

Monochromatic stripes in a world of full-color wraps

What does a graphic designer who races jet skis do when he sees that all his competitors have full wraps with screaming colors… Read More

Here’s what double-cab pickup truck lettering sells for

Double-cab pickups provide a lot more room for graphics, making the truck door lettering an even better value. In our most recent Pricing… Read More

The signs of the Franklin & South Manchester Railroad

If you’ve seen photos of busy US cities in the 1930s, you know that there were plenty of signs—on shopfronts, walls, vehicles and… Read More

John Dozier: Hand lettered signs in Sacramento

Rather than choose the sign industry as a career, most sign people find their way into it by accident. In John Dozier’s case,… Read More

Braun Bleamer: Six vehicle projects

“Things come in waves,” says Braun Bleamer [Jet Signs, Palmerton, Pennsylvania]. “Sometimes it’s all flat signs, then it’s some 3D signs, then it’s… Read More

Turn the building into a sign: Shaker Painting

If you saw our recent post, “Turn the building into a sign,” you may be looking for opportunities to let the entire building… Read More

A quick trick for more powerful layouts

Bob Behounek, Berwyn, Illinois Ever wonder why some signs have so much more impact than most of the others? It’s because the designer… Read More

18 signs that sell pizza

Pizza is a worldwide favorite, and pizza shops can be found almost everywhere. They especially abound in tourist areas like Koh Tao, Thailand,… Read More

Pat Finley: 1945 – 2023

Longtime SignCraft contributor and outstanding Chicagoland signpainter Pat Finley died tragically Saturday, September 30, 2023. He was 78. Pat always described himself as… Read More

Design & Price: Pan faces for a 4-by-8-ft. illuminated sign

In every issue, SignCraft gave a few sign makers an imaginary project. We asked them to do a sketch of the sign they… Read More

Colors that get the point across

“Lately, I’ve been using a lot of white lettering on dark backgrounds,” says David Showalter [David Design, Bryan, Ohio]. “The dark-colored backgrounds help… Read More

11 (cheap) fonts with the look of classic hand lettering

In the 1950s and ’60s, hand lettering was still widely used in advertising, often with a loose, casual feel that made it fun… Read More

The time-saving power of the Sharpie sketch

The customer who just walked in your shop may have only bought one or two signs in their life—or quite possibly has never… Read More

Seven extra bold fonts for under $25 each

Most typefaces don’t work well on signs. There are tens of thousands to choose from, but since most were designed to use on… Read More

Braun Bleamer: Six partial vehicle wraps

With so many wraps on the road today, many customers assume that they need one on their truck, too. But a full wrap… Read More

Q&A: Source for wholesale T-shirt printing

Readers want to know: “I want to offer t-shirt printing to my sign customers and plan to outsource that. Can anyone recommend a… Read More

Get this hefty condensed font for free!

You can never have enough bold, condensed typefaces on hand for sign work. Most primary copy requires a bold letter style, and so… Read More

Seven tips that will boost your vehicle graphics sales

Few businesspeople wake up some morning thinking it’s a good day to spend $1000 getting some great lettering on the company truck. Rather,… Read More

Tools to create sign layouts that really work

“Design is everything. It’s what makes a sign work,” says David Showalter, David Design, Bryan, Ohio. David leans on traditional sign design principles… Read More

Turn the building into a sign

Sometimes it seems a sign isn’t big enough to get the job done—or it can’t be big enough, thanks to sign code restrictions…. Read More