Inside story: Fabricating three unique 3D signs
You can learn a lot about fabricating custom signs by hearing how others do it successfully. Peter Poanessa, Keene Signworx, Keene, New Hampshire,… Read More
Articles
Cover photo – Earth First – Braun Bleamer
Customers often bring a Pantone color chip or some other color swatch and want that color used on their sign. This can be… Read More
Lettering vintage trucks
If you do hand lettering, you’re going to get requests to letter vintage trucks. Many car collectors prefer the authentic of real hand… Read More
Cover photo: Paisans – Bob Behounek
Beautiful hand-painted signs—like good food—are uniquely appealing because they’re handmade. There’s something that just “feels good” about hand-painted signs and graphics and it… Read More
Cover Photo: Tattoo Bar & Restaurant – Rob Cooper
When it’s time to redo a sign, it’s a great opportunity to make it more effective. Rob Cooper, Koh Tao, Thailand, has repainted… Read More
Signs of Bozeman: Main Street
Bozeman, Montana, has been a top destination for travelers seeking outdoor adventure and solace for decades. Besides making every “Best Outdoor Town to… Read More
Bob Whelan’s unique gold leaf burling technique
Engine turning, or burling, gold leaf, is a popular traditional technique for enhancing surface, gold leaf, particularly on vehicles. It’s especially common on… Read More
Time-tested tips for succeeding in the sign business
Ray and Rose Grossi of Midwest Signworks in Morris, IL, have been established in their market for over 40 years. Early in that… Read More
Cover Photo: American Bud Beer – Mark Casey
Once upon a time, most beer was brewed locally—much like today’s microbreweries—rather than by big mega-breweries. Those breweries of yesteryear had unique names… Read More
Putting it together: Two freestanding HDU church signs
A photo of a great-looking finished sign can be inspiring, but it can’t tell the story behind the design—the decisions about letter styles,… Read More
Cover photo: Star Transport – Brian Schofield
There’s much more going on in emblem-style graphics than a lot of airbrush work. Brian Schofield says that one of his secrets of… Read More
More signs of Livingston, Montana
Livingston, Montana, is one of those towns with more than its share of cool signs of all vintages—fading ghost signs on old brick… Read More
Cover photo: Fort Bragg Cyclery – Rick and Megan Sacks
A little “shock value” goes a long way to boosting a sign’s effectiveness. There’s something that catches the viewer off guard. “What’s… Read More
Wrap with readability in mind
Not long ago just having a wrap on your vehicle turned heads. Today it’s hard to go more than a block or two… Read More
Cover photo: Miss Kokomo – Randy Howe
There’s more to creating an interesting, effective sign layout than grabbing a cool typeface and typing the text into the layout. The spacing,… Read More
Pierre Tardif: Hand lettering trucks across Quebec
Pierre started painting signs and banners in the late 1980s. By the time he was first featured in SignCraft magazine 25 years ago,… Read More
Cover photo: Ace Towing – Brian Schofield
What’s more amazing than to see your company name as a gleaming chrome or gold emblem that appears to be mounted on your… Read More
Q&A: “Why didn’t this vinyl stick?”
Shortly after a reader applied a cut vinyl logo on a customer’s office wall, the graphics began to peel off. The sign maker… Read More
Putting it together: a welcome sign for Blumenort – RT Signs
Even though you can’t see it in the photo of the completed sign, every sign has a backstory—the issues the sign designer has… Read More
Cover photo: Star Solutions – Braun Bleamer
Signs face a lot of visual competition out in the real world. Other signs, billboards and traffic are all drawing readers’ eyes away… Read More
