Profile: Scott Bouma
Shop name: Scott’s Signs Location: Grandville, Michigan Size: 5500 sq. ft. Age: 65 Staff: 5, including Scott Graphics equipment: FlexiSign software Roland SolJet… Read More
signcraft
Saving traditional Irish shopfront signage
About two years ago, Dee Maher Ring realized that a beautiful part of the Irish cityscape—the traditional hand-painted shopfront sign—was at risk of… Read More
Moving from sign shop to marketing firm
Here at SignCraft, we frequently hear from sign makers who find their business changing. Some are seeing it start to happen on its… Read More
Even more ways to avoid the ordinary sign look
A quick look around most any cityscape will show you plenty of ordinary signs. The information is there but they lack the creative… Read More
Inbox – May 2022
T. ‘Dusty’ Yaxley 1936-2022 Dusty Yaxley, known by many for his workshops on carving and gilding signs, as well his passion for… Read More
How to start getting deposits
Recently in “Every job starts with a deposit” Brian Schofield and Karin Levin spelled out the importance of getting a deposit for every… Read More
Back in the day: Dick Haemmerle
Over 40 years ago, when SignCraft was just an idea we batted around while we were making signs in our own shop, we… Read More
Custom signs and graphics in Cancun Mexico
Shop name: Letreros Mamalones Cancun, Mexico Age: Carlos – 44 Graphics equipment: CorelDRAW Mimaki cutter Online: Facebook: Letreros Mamalones Instagram: @letrerosmamalones Facebook: Escenografia… Read More
Video: Illustrator for sign design – Polygon tool
Triangles, hexagons, pentagons, octagons—they’re all great for creating panel shapes and graphics for sign layouts and logo designs. And, they are all members… Read More
Design ideas from California’s wine country
Jim and Tami Lago moved their already-established sign shop from nearby Santa Rosa, California, back to their hometown of Healdsburg in 1990, more… Read More
Video: Illustrator for sign design – Star tool
Sometimes a starburst makes the perfect panel to hold some important copy. Or, maybe you need to create a gear graphic for a… Read More
Police cars – Check these out and send us yours!
There are a lot of police vehicles on the road—conservative estimates say around 400,000 nationwide. That explains why you see so many of… Read More
Video: Illustrator for sign design – Ellipse tool
The ellipse (usually called an oval in sign design) and the circle are versatile shapes that come in handy in sign layouts. They… Read More
12 more ways to avoid the ordinary sign look
Ever catch yourself wondering, “What could I do on this sign design to keep it from being just another ordinary sign?” Good news:… Read More
Video: Illustrator for sign design – the Rectangle/Square tool
Adobe Illustrator has long been a helpful tool for designers and sign makers. It’s vector based, which makes it a natural for cut… Read More
Tim Beyer: 3-D signs in a small Midwest town
Shop name: Red Rock Signworks City: Harvey, Iowa Age: 41 years old Shop size: 4500 sq. ft. shop Graphics equipment: HP 560 printer… Read More
Make sure your 3-D letters are legible
If we do black 3D letters that aren’t super thin, we also paint the edges gray. If not, from an angle the letter… Read More
Design & Price: Box truck graphics
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
12 cool ways to put the background to work
In sign design, most of the attention tends to get invested in the lettering and the graphics. And the border. And the mounting…. Read More
Tips & Tricks: More help on installing large graphics
Having read Randy Brunette’s excellent article, “Making application of large cut vinyl graphics easier,” but not wanting to try to teach anyone how… Read More
