By signcraft
Posted on Friday, October 24th, 2025
In every issue, SignCraft gave a few sign makers an imaginary project. We asked them to do a sketch of the sign they might have produced, and to quote a price for the job. Most of the details were left to the designer’s imagination. The object was to see how different sign makers approach the same project. Here’s the scenario these sign makers were given:
The owner of Lindsay D’s Dance Studio & Fitness Center has recently moved her established business and taken over the lease of another dance studio in a shopping plaza. The space’s large front windows will be the studio’s primary form of identification as the channel letters on the storefront already say Dance & Fitness.
The windows are 8 feet tall and 16 feet wide and adjoin the door. Now that her business is growing, Lindsay expresses an interest in developing a logo to go along with her window advertising.
This appeared in the January/February 2015 issue of SignCraft. While the prices have been adjusted for inflation as of 2025, they may not accurately reflect current pricing for such signage.
Jim Arsenault
Smokin’ Signs, Sanford, Maine
First of all, less is more. Lindsay D’s Dance Studio & Fitness Center is a lot of material for a sign and logo. I would try to convince the customer to prune the business name to Lindsay D’s Dance & Fitness. It’s leaner, better and easier for everyone. As sign artists, we can guide our customers in their efforts to be seen by the public by selling them less product and at the same time giving them more effective, prudent designs that help their bottom line.
Assuming the customer insisted on the long version, I designed it using fonts, colors and years of design experience to create a sign that combines hand lettering, artistry and some select fonts. I wanted to bring some pictorial graphics into the mix—a dancer, jogger, weightlifter—but that would only add more clutter to an already busy and verbose layout.
I hand drew the uppercase L. The lowercase “indsay” was cool in the font, but uppercase script letters in most fonts usually don’t look good enough for me or my customers. I used a totally different font for D’s. No script looked right so I mixed it up a little.
I would use high-performance vinyl applied on the first surface, and it would span the entire top of the picture window from left to right. On that note, a window this size presumes that passersby can easily look in and see the athletes inside as they dance and work out. Thus the activities inside become the “moving graphics” that support the window lettering better than any artwork ever could.
I would charge $1100 to $1294 for this project. The $1294 price would include this logo with PMS colors and camera-ready art so the customer could get their business cards, letterhead, t-shirts, etc. This proposal isn’t only for a sign, but it is also a better logo than this customer could ever make themselves.
I feel that this design could be used as their logo for many years to come. And it’d be far better than hastily applied fonts, with a drop shadow, outline and standard designer indifference so often seen today. Let’s be artists above all else.
Logo, with full ownership rights (includes various file types for print/web use): $650
Logo on window, but with no rights. Vital Signs still owns the logo design. 1.5 hours at $110 per hour: $165
Window graphics:
Logo portion: 141-by-40-in. = 40.3 sq. ft.
Printed vinyl graphics on 3M IJ3510-C print media with 3M 8519 Luster Overlaminate at $11 per sq. ft., installed: $574
Secondary copy: 192-by-10.5-in. = 14 sq. ft. Printed on 3M IJ3510-C print media with 3M 8519 Luster Overlaminate
Web address: 119-by-6.5-in. = 5.37 sq. ft. Cut from 3M Intermediate white vinyl
Secondary copy and web address = 19.37 sq. ft. at $11 per sq. ft., installed: $275.77
Travel time is billed at $110 per hour, and includes material, loading/unloading, clean up.
Total for window is $777 to $906, depending on client, plus the logo/design time.
Justin Chamberlin
Vital Signs, Verona, Wisconsin
I would typically start this project by seeing what the client had in mind. Does she already have a business card or any current advertising material, featuring a design/font/colors that she was somewhat happy with? Does she want to give priority to either portion of the business—dance or fitness?
I would go on to explain the benefits of establishing a logo, and what is included in our logo design package. With the package they will own all rights to the designs. Vital Signs will also provide a disk with the design in various web, print and file formats for her use. We would also store a copy of all files remotely on our computers in the case of an emergency.
Although they already have “Dance & Fitness” on their building, this copy should still be prominent in the window design, because they also want a logo to be used for various media.
I would determine a starting point for the work based on those criteria. I would then adjust the price up or down, depending on my perceptions of the client and her budget.
Option 1: Printed and laminated 3M vinyl, installed on 8-by-16-ft. windows
Option 2: Same layout and materials for window
