By signcraft
Posted on Friday, December 20th, 2024
As sign makers, we deal with people every day who have to buy a sign to advertise their business. But most people never have a reason to buy a sign because they aren’t in business. Yet many a sign shop has found a market for signs for farms, residences and second homes—a sort of “vanity tag” for your place rather than your car. David Showalter [David Design, Bryan, Ohio] has been making them for years.
“There’s something about having your name or the name of your farm or cottage out there on a sign,” says David. “People love a gift like this—it’s made for them, and nobody has one like it. A lot of folks have them made as a gift.”
The residential signs that David makes are a mix of flat and three-dimensional signs. He starts by finding out what the person’s budget is, and that determines what can be done. Ironically, customers are often more comfortable spending more on a residential sign than a sign for their business.
“Some are vinyl; some are paint,” says David. “If I’m doing a flat one, I usually get out the paint and trick it out a little. It’s fun work. You can add an extra color or outline. You can play. The customer for this type of work is often less concerned about cost than a business owner might be.
“The nice renderings on many of these signs were done by Tom Burton, who worked with me for quite some time. He died a few years ago, but he was a great rendering artist. Just like most commercial signs, the right pictorial or graphic can add a lot to a residential sign.”
This is one of those aspects of the business that grows by referrals. David says most requests for residential signs come from people who’ve seen other residential signs that he’s made. For a small town shop like his, it’s not a big chunk of his business— but it’s another opportunity to put your creative skills to work.
This appeared in the September/October 2003 issue of SignCraft.
Acrylic latex paint and 23k gold leaf lettering on 18-by-36-in. panel of 1 1⁄2-in. high-density urethane board. The text was cut out and applied.
Hand lettered on 18-by-30-in. panel of 3⁄4-in. overlaid plywood. Illustration by Tom Burton
Acrylic latex and cutout 23k gold leaf lettering on 24-by-38-in. 1 1⁄2-in. high-density urethane board. The graphic panel was applied.
Hand painted with enamels on 18-by-24-in. panel of 3⁄4-in. plywood. Illustration by Tom Burton
Hand-painted with enamels on 18-by-18-in. panel of 3⁄4-in. overlaid plywood. The sunglasses were applied to the high-density urethane sun.
Hand-painted lettering and graphics on 18-by-32-in. panel of stained white pine
Acrylic latex paint on 12-by-18-in. panel of high-density urethane. The name is rounded over and finished with 23k gold leaf.
Enamel on 18-in. circle and 4-by-24-in. overlay; all sandblasted redwood panel
Enamel on 18-in. diamond and 4-by-24-in. panel; all sandblasted redwood panel
Hand lettered with enamels on 12-by-16-in. panel of stained pine
Acrylic latex paint on 12-by-16-in. 11⁄2-in. redwood panel
Acrylic latex paint and enamels on 20-by-32-in. redwood panel. Border and small text are finished with 23k gold leaf.
Hand painted with enamels on 24-by-32-in. panel of 3⁄4-in. overlaid plywood with 6-by-28-in. cutout panel. Illustration by Tom Burton
