sign-blog

An old arcade game is 'made'

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:02:51 +0100

My goal with this project, is to separate the pair of 80's electronic games and mount them in individual cabinets that give a more dramatic appearance, and allow them to stand alone... I love the 80's, and amusement parks, and this seemed to be a perfect assignment!

We started with two Mr Vend games, in reasonable condition. After going through them to clean and get everything working as it was intended, we designed a cabinet that wouldn't take much floorspace, and that would resemble a penny arcade appeal- with flourishes on the sign, and a brightly colored cabinet that looked like it had been painted more than a few times. Finally, it will appear well used, with wear marks on the cabinet that have been painted over, and rubbed paint that is coming off where your hand would go when playing the game...

Routing the cabinet panels

The header panel is finished routing, now time for finish shaping, sanding and paint.

Using a sturdy paint mask, the letters are perfectly crisp- until we take a sander and screwdriver to the surface and 'create some age', as seen below on the finished, old fashioned cabinet.

The first one completed was the Grip Tester. TEST YOUR STRENGTH! The grip tester has been performing better than expected at local movie theater, and looks just right. Next up, Esmerelda the Fortune Teller. When you're in the neighborhood, stop by Reel Mountain Theater in Stanley Village and test your strength! Hopefully, you'll have to stand in line.

The header sign, penny arcade style.

The complete game, ready to test your date before the movie.

Aspen & Evergreen Gallery

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:31:48 +0100

This project is moving right along on schedule, as our friends and accomplished local business folks James & Tamara move back into their original location of this great gallery on East Elkhorn.

Tamara is very concise with what she likes, although she says she knows what she doesn't like better, and is open to things she may not have thought about... Music to the sign builders ears!

We're 3 layers into the paint chapter of their dimensional signs that will hang on the wall adjacent to the doors... Hoping to have sign in place later this week or early next. Their offerings are collecting inside on beautifully appointed and custom built fixtures- these two do it right!

(1) Just finished the rough cut, and moving onto the 6 hour final routing / finish pass on our MultiCam router

(2) Gluing the HDU face to the sturdy plywood backer

(3) The panel has 5 colors on it already, and we're not even done with the first base coat! The bright colors will become the highlights of the special wash that brings the sign to life (don't get nervous about these colors, Tamara!).

Valentines Day- behind the scenes

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:36:14 +0100

When most people hear that I make signs, they generally attribute how busy we are to how many signs we have completed along main street in our town, and that's not the way it works.

You see, signs are a lot more places than along the street! This morning, a couple of projects that are completely out of sight from the general public, but a major part of our time and income. One of those projects was a job for the YMCA, as we brought the new Y logo and branding to their administrative offices. Easier said than done!

The pattern in place looks cheap and insignificant, but shows the location for the holes to be drilled. We make the template in the shop before heading out to the job.

Using Gemini's pad/stud combo mount, these letters will be there, forever. Each pad must be the same distance from the wood letter, and that is easily accomplished by turning the pad in or out.

On the smaller letters, the top pad has a stud that penetrates the wall for the vertical strength, and all pads have a combination of 2 sided tape to hold while the dab of glue sets up.

The mediocre photo quality doesn't do this great looking wood sign any justice. It matches an adjacent sign and the abundant oak trim in the office- and it looks just like the national rebranding.

We began the discussion late last summer, and are happy to say it is complete. The guidelines (aka the White Paper) that regulate the use of a national brand, and the number of folks that are involved in decisions at a large institution are very different than a mom & pop store, understandably. All those levels of checks and balances insure consistency for the brand, and satisfy each person that will be represented by the new sign in their lobby.

Thanks to a precision CNC router, patient detail work and a generous time schedule, the project ended up beautifully. Unfortunately I left the camera that takes nice pictures at the shop, so my phone camera stood in, and reminds me why I don't use it for anything important! (One day soon we'll retake the images of this project).

BONUS VALENTINE TIP: Thanks to Kelly for teaching me this trick a few years ago... Some of the candy in the chocolate heart is best left for someone else to eat- and it seems I never knew which was which, and would get stuck with some yucky maple custard blends that stuck to my teeth more than they tasted good... Kelly is demonstrating her technique above- by pressing in slightly at the back of the chocolate candy, you can see what is inside, then drop it back into the candy tray if it isn't what you were looking for...

Nice! The kids haven't caught on, and I don't think they read this blog, so we're safe.

Don't settle for a rectangular sign!

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:37:24 +0100

Why just make a rectangle?

We didn't.

In fact, not long after the school district inquired about 'a sign for the driveway', they left with custom shaped driveway signs, that matched the window stickers on the doors to the schools to announce the ongoing surveillance at the school campus.

For not much more than a few rectangular driveway signs, they have an easily recognizable system of notices that should help in the effort to deter bad guys from causing mischief, or mayhem before it starts.

Is the message true? Look up and around when you're at the school and see for yourself...

This project is a great example of alternative solutions to what you might think is a simple problem.

Using a system of coordinated signs/shapes/signs will tie your message together and increase how well it works.

Birth of a Sign: HD Ranch

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:24:57 +0100

...so a man calls, and needs a sign. He has an idea, and a business card that 'he can email me' to get the logo from.

Above is the print of the logo he sent: a horse head (faintly in the background) behind the HD text, and quite small. We discuss the idea and cost, and he says to go for it. A few days later, I send him a concept, and he OK's that, now onto fabrication. Once routed and carved, it's time to paint, and several days later the sign is complete. From the marginal artwork provided, to a dramatic 3 dimensional version of the logo this process is typical of many jobs that come through our shop. It's a privilege to 'interpret' a logo into 3 dimensions that you can touch and proudly display when done!

For the record, the 'light blue' that we originally did was too 'light' for the recipient of this gift, so we re-painted a couple of parts (horse and HD) to bring the desired color combination out for the final presentation, to match their existing colors.

Use it again! How we recycle.

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:38:02 +0100

OFFICE PAPER! The most remarkable source of potential recyclable material.

As a thrifty business owner, I am always on the lookout for ways to conserve expenses.

Trash service and trips to the dump are a part of the budget, and we have found over the years that we can trim these expenses considerably, while we look out for Mother Nature, as we Recycle.

Many folks recycle a little bit, but I'm surprised at how many don't, at all. I'm quite pleased that our kids will ask where the recycling container is at when we are at someone else's home, or business. That reassures me that we have created 'recyclers' for life. I hope that by asking they plant seeds of the need for recycling where it isn't available.

Back to saving money: The amount of potential trash that we rescue from the curb on Tuesday morning is significant when you include: aluminum, glass, paperboard*, office paper*, & corrugated cardboard*. The last 3, with * 's are items we take to Lyons on our way anywhere East on Hwy 36. It is easy! As you arrive at the stoplight in Lyons, you'll want to be in the right lane, and continue through the light to the first left, then turn in just past the library and stop at the big green roll-offs. This recycle center is operated by Eco-Cycle out of Boulder, and makes recycling simple. This is refreshing compared to other recycle centers- like the City of Loveland, where it seems nothing is allowed to go together and using their facility would require us to separate into 7+ containers, versus 3 in Lyons, hooray!

CARDBOARD is the largest space saver in the trash stream when you pull it out and flatten it for recycling.

Office paper, paperboard (thin wall cardboard like cereal boxes) and newspapers go in one container, corugated boxes in another (look for the large capacity door on the back of this bin of you have a stack of flattened boxes and want to avoid the little slot), then aluminum and glass in the third bin. We can be in and out in under 5 minutes, we'll have only traveled about 50' off of our normal route, and the trash expense at home and in the shop is slashed!

Slashed! I love that word when talking about expenses.

Another aspect of recycling we're exploring is the reuse of materials for our own selfish purposes:

We print and ship RV Travel Maps across the US and Canada, which require a safe container to get them there in one piece. We have a stockpile of new tubes for this use (at a cost of .40 each), but we only use them when we're out of movie poster tubes, that we reclaim from the trash stream at Reel Mountain Theater. They require a minute to cut to size, but save on our expense, and the theaters trash pile. "Win-Win" I think they call that one.

Take a look around you- what can you do to save your hard earned money, and our planet?

MOVIE THEATER POSTER TUBES heading out for their second life adventure.

SOL on FB

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:34:39 +0100

OK, we're embracing change.

We are giving in vs. We are participating

If you didn't visit the facebook page in the last 2 weeks, you missed out on the cool GPS giveaway! Today, there's a quick clip of a cold weather, inside job of printing Ski Hidden Valley bumper stickers.... Hurry on over and take a look- and 'Like' that page to get the inside track and occasionally a You-Heard-It-Here-First news scoop.

Our Facebook page will be in an interesting feed to follow for an insiders view of Estes Park if you're interested.

https://www.facebook.com/estesparksign

Tomorrow on that page, we'll announce the winner of the GPS- Like it quick!

Remaking Santa

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:36:07 +0100

James Frank, a talented local photographer, captured the high resolution images of the Santa and Sleigh display for it's renewal.

Every time I drive through downtown Estes during this time of year, I glance up at the seasonal display on the Knoll and see the reindeer and sleigh that were recreated and reborn in our shop. That's the way it is with so many signs and projects in our community, which is a great source of pride, and strong encouragement to do better on every job!

That pressure, to do a 'good job' on sign projects that will be seen by thousands or more for many years insures our full attention when a new job comes along....

Back to Santa: it was a few years ago, and we were enlisted to preserve the iconic displays that were originally painted by local artist Buel Porter. He created a set of displays that have adorned our community for decades, and have become a part of the Estes Park experience for so many visitors and locals, as well as the backdrop for creative photos many times over. The first year I lived in Estes Park (1988), I took a picture in front of the sleigh with ambitious friends late at night. It felt adventurous at the time!

To preserve the huge piece, we opted to reproduce it, thereby stopping any further deterioration by allowing the permanent digital archiving of the original Porter artwork. Originally Porter painted 3/4" plywood that was subject to a level of abuse with annual erection and storage. Today, you'll have to touch the piece to know that it looks like painted plywood, but is a digital print mounted to a composite aluminum panel. Last year we repaired Rudolph, after it's nearly complete destruction during a 100+mph wind storm, along with some other patching. We were able to replace the artwork right back to the original file, proving that the display will never age past our original project date.

Preparing to cut the edge of the reindeer, and assemble Rudolph after the original replacements windy demise.

It will come down soon, so get your camera and head for the knoll with your kids for a picture that could be a great family tradition- to see the children grow each year as the display remains constant and unchanging.

Of note, the Town of Estes Park has vigorously maintained the other displays, although they have quietly passed the displays that are clearly religious off of their plate. The towering 16+' Jesus display on Davis Hill was transferred to the Mayo family several years ago, and the Manger display was donated to Rocky Mountain Church this year. Both those displays are now maintained privately, so they are in the community, but the Town is 'off the hook' from several perspectives for their upkeep.

Christmas Eve projects

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:32:54 +0100

Working on Christmas Eve?

The perks of being self employed: unlimited wealth, flexible schedule, and ah, sometimes staying at work until 2am, or putting another layer of paint on a horse on Christmas Eve..... but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

The horse is headed for Durango, Colorado later this week, and must be ready. You can only put so many coats of paint on each day, so it's handy that the sign shop is only a long stride from the house... It will be ready to go on time...

The other project getting out in the nick of time has been in the works for several years, and will make it's grand debut tomorrow morning. My brother Greg provided the delicately scavenged aircraft instruments a few years ago, and they have been used to fly around the world and to the moon while sitting independently on the work bench by our children.... Now, thanks to the worlds best precision craft shop (Signs of Life after dark), the instruments have a permanent home, with control yokes, headphones and working switches and lights. I'll admit turning it on at night once or twice for 'testing' purposes. I'm pretty sure Henry and Simon will love it, and hope that it will be something to pass down to the next generation of kids some day... This is the kind of gift I love to give!

Now, it's time to ship a few RV maps, since the postal service is working- the maps will go out.

Merry Christmas!

Going out with a BANG! (and giving away some stuff)

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:00:45 +0100

It's the last couple of weeks of our year long 20th anniversary celebration- and it's been a party, whew!

To celebrate that, we're going to draw names from a hat that we'll fill with folks who 'like' us on Facebook at our new Signs of Life fan page. We're still working out the kinks, so you may also consider this a payoff to bear with us as the details get worked out. Someday, the vision is to sneak details of new businesses and some of the other secret details that only a sign-man knows....

So, to enter the drawings, LIKE us. That's it. We'll email or message you when it's time to pick up the prize. * The LIKE button is over there ---> on the right side of this page *

...and the prizes are:

A programmable USB fan, that will keep you cool and tell you how handsome or pretty you are (if you program some affirmative messages).

A Garmin eTrex legend GPS receiver.

We'll draw for both before the end of the year, so get your name- and your friends names- into the drawing soon.

..and call if you're thinking about a sign, we love making signs even more than giving cool stuff away...