Florida’s theme park signage and seemed to understand how to best bring this type of sign to life,” he says. Interestingly Don Bell Signs built the original Mr. Squeaky sign eight years ago. Still Sasso wanted to give other contractors an opportunity to bid as well. He admits to being disappointed with them, citing unorganized presentations or failure to return phone calls. “I remember sitting in a meeting where I wanted the follow-up with this company,” he says, “and ten days later, I was still trying to chase them down.” Sasso says this negative vibe given off by some sign shops definitely affected his decision. “My gut feeling was telling me that if it feels bad now, it would only get worse later,” he says. “If I’m going to be spending tens of thousands of dollars on a sign, I don’t want to end up with a lemon.”
After ironing out the final details of the sign’s design with the zoning department—including the size, height, proportions, colors, and materials—Sasso submitted the application. The final step in the permitting process was going to be a review by the City’s Architectural Appearance Committee (AAC), so Sasso hired an attorney to prepare him for this meeting and to support him at it. The AAC board approved the sign unanimously.
Sasso submitted the permit package (including electrical and structural plan reviews) and the AAC’s approval letter to the building department for final permit approval, which he received a few weeks later. Construction of the three-section sign took Don Bell Signs about three months to complete. They used 2-by-2-by-3/16inch steel angle pipe cradles bolted to the aluminum cabinet frame for later attachment at the install site.
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“Designer & Manufacturer of Lift Equipment”
Design When coming up with his initial sign idea, Sasso looked at old-school Krispy Kreme, Randy’s Donuts, and McDonald’s signs from the distant past for inspiration. “The McDonald’s signs back in the day weren’t just arches. They had a ‘hamburger man’ on them, as well,” he says. “That’s what prompted me to use my logo as part of the sign. I thought it could be iconic like the Hard Rock guitar.” Sasso and Don Bell Signs spent several weeks fine-tuning the design through phone calls and emailed PDFs. “There were approximately ten complete revisions of the sign from the original draft sketch I’d developed,” says Sasso. (Note: To see detailed blueprints, visit www.signshop.com.) Cost concerns led Sasso to modify his sign plans along the way. For instance, he originally envisioned a giant foam sponge on the sign. Although Don Bell could’ve done this in custommade foam, this would’ve cost more, so he opted to instead use red and yellow colors with two-inch-deep embossed copy and second-surface paint on this cabinet. “You don’t need much imagination to see it suggests a sponge,” he says.
Permits & Construction With a design selected, it was then time to begin the formal sign permitting process with the City of Pompano Beach. signshop.com
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July 2013 // Sign Builder Illustrated
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