What’s it cost to produce this truck lettering?

I did this job for a customer who drove up in a nice truck and let me know right away that he wanted something different—not just red letters on a white truck. I charged him a design fee of $100 to get started and asked him to come back to the shop a few days later. To my surprise he loved the first sketch I did, and we were off and running.

This was one of those jobs that just fell together quickly. I bought the cartoon of the mechanic from www.istockphoto.com. I got a clean vector image that would let me adjust the colors and all that stuff, and then I printed that on the Gerber Edge. The rest of the lettering is high-performance vinyl.

I thought that putting the little man on would help the layout because the company’s name is kind of long and a little confusing. I don’t think I’d have named the company that—I’m glad I don’t have to answer their phone!

The owner was sold on it, so I had to figure the best way around that. He told me he wanted to stress the computer analysis part of it, so that’s what I did. Sometimes you can’t talk them into doing what’s best for them, and let’s face it: I’m here to provide a sign.

Mark Fair’s shop, Mark Fair Signs, is in Montgomery, Alabama.

This appeared in the November/December 2008 issue of SignCraft. While the prices have been adjusted for inflation, they may not accurately reflect current pricing for such signage.

Meet with client, produce artwork: 2 hours

Produce prints on Gerber Edge: 35 minutes

Cut, weed, and apply application tape: 45 minutes

Apply lettering and graphics: 1 hour 30 minutes

Mark Fair