Signwriters
Design, fabricate, paint and wrap signs for displays, buildings, hoardings, boats and structures.
A shopfront sign on a windy morning
You are a signwriter installing a large new sign above a shopfront for a bakery that opens tomorrow, with your assistant on the ground. It is 8am. The sign is made and checked. The wind is gusty, the footpath is already busy, and the bakery's owner is anxious. Then you notice a problem with the letters.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
It looks beautiful! But wait, did you spell it correctly? The name should have two Ls, I think, and I see only one. I gave you the artwork myself, so maybe it is my mistake. Can we fix it today?
Tell her it matches the artwork she supplied, so it is her responsibility
You are right on paper, and Yolanda knows it. But she is left with a spelling mistake above her shop and a feeling that nobody tried to help her.
Check the artwork together, agree what went wrong, and price the fix
It was her artwork, and you both see that. She pays for a new letter and you agree to fit it before opening. You explain how checks happen before the next sign.
Quietly fit it and hope that the spelling does not get noticed by customers
Customers notice the mistake the day it opens. A local reporter takes a photo, and the bakery is in the news for a week for the wrong reason.
The wind is getting stronger. The sign is heavy and the ladder is wobbling. Yolanda says she needs it up in the next hour for the photographer. Should we wait for the wind to drop, or push on?
Wait for the wind to ease, and arrange a safer plan for the lift
An hour later, the wind drops and a second person is brought in to hold the ladder. The sign goes up without incident, and Yolanda's photographer gets a good shot.
Push on at once, because the owner is relying on you and time is short
A gust catches the sign when you are halfway up. Nobody falls, but you have to drop the lift, and the sign is bent. The photographer has gone by the time it is fixed.
Come down, cancel the install for the day, and reschedule for next week
It is the safest choice, but you did not even ask whether the wind would drop. Yolanda opens with no sign, and her launch day loses a lot of its meaning.
That sign is great! Could you do one for my hardware shop down the road? I want it much bigger than this one, and I only have a tiny photo of my logo on my phone. Will that be all right?
Say yes and enlarge the photo, since that is what she has
The enlarged logo looks blurry and rough on a big sign, and Gwen blames the signwriter. A small image blown up large only shows the weakness of the original.
Say you would love to, and explain what kind of logo file is needed for a big sign
Gwen realises she can get a better file from whoever designed her logo, and comes to the workshop the next week. The sign is crisp, and she tells her friends why.
Take her details and say you will call when you have time to think about it
It is polite, but you leave her with nothing to act on. She finds another signwriter who tells her about the file straight away, and your call comes too late.
How it went
By ten the sign is up, the spelling is correct and the street has a new landmark. Signwriting mixes art, measuring and care, and a lot of your work is checking what other people send. Would you enjoy making things that stay up for years?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The sign nobody could read from the road
A fictional case set in a sign workshop that designs, paints, cuts and installs signs for shops, vehicles, buildings and boats.
The situation
Giulia designed and made a large sign for a new mechanic's workshop on a busy road. The owner, Mr Okonkwo, had asked for a thin, elegant font in dark grey on a black background, to match his business cards. Giulia raised the question of how easy it would be to read from a passing car. Mr Okonkwo insisted, because he liked the way it looked, and paid in advance.
What they did
Giulia made a small sample and put it on the footpath across the road so Mr Okonkwo could see it as a driver would. She did not argue, but let him look. He agreed it disappeared at distance. She then offered two alternatives that kept the style but used a bolder weight and lighter colour. They picked one, and she made the sign in the new design at no extra charge for the redesign.
How it turned out
The sign was easy to read from the road, and the workshop was found by its first customers. Mr Okonkwo said later the sample on the footpath was what changed his mind. Giulia now makes a distance sample for every large sign.
What would you do?
- Why did the sample on the footpath work better than an argument?
- How would you speak to a client who loves a design that does not work?
- What makes a sign easy to read from far away?