Sign Builder November 2019

The How-To Magazine

N ov e m b e r 2019 | s i g n s h o p.co m

IT'S ELECTRIC!

SIGN BUILDER

illustrated

Sign Shops of the Year

Laser Engraving:

On the Mark!

S e e o u r a d o n pag e 5

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Contents

November 2019

Vol. 33

No. 293

How-To Columns

12

SO YOU WANT TO APPLY A VEHICLE WRAP

By Jim Hingst Handling large graphics panels can be challenging for anyone.

15

GETTING ACTIVE-Wear WITH HDU

By Jeff Wooten Test-pressing T-shirts with HDU to expand shop offerings.

departments

​Cover Photo: Aleksey Photography.

4 6 8

EDITOR’S COLUMN

On a roller coaster forecast, Editor Jeff Wooten checks out how PRINTING United soothed the ride.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Window, wall, and floor graphics “welcome” attendees to the Cleveland International Film Festival, and the NCCCO wins an ANSI award.

Sign Show

The newest products and services from sign manufacturers.

15 36 40

SBI Marketplace

Advertisements and announcements from the sign trade.

Shop Talk

David Hickey discusses two federal issues that could impact your business.

Features

20 24 28

20 signshop.com

33

WORLD’S COOLEST SIGN designS

By Grant Price and Jeff Wooten This year’s WSA Coolness Competition winners.

SIGN SHOPS OF THE YEAR

By SBi Staff Best practices of the companies we covered in 2019.

A RUNAWAY SUCCESS

By Ashley Bray Keeping a sign project for a new rollercoaster on track.

ON THE MARK

By Jeff Wooten How do you fit into the laser engraving puzzle?

November 2019

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November 2019, Vol. 33, No. 293 Sign Builder Illustrated (ISSN 0895-0555) print, (ISSN 2161-0709) digital is published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation

Subscriptions: 800-895-4389

executive offices

President and Chairman Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Publisher Arthur J. Sutley 88 Pine Street, 23rf floor, New York, NY 10005 212-620-7247 ; Fax: 212-633-1863

editorial

Editor Jeff Wooten 323 Clifton Street, Suite #7, Greenville, NC 27858 212-620-7244 jwooten@sbpub.com Managing Editor Ashley Bray 212-620-7220 abray@sbpub.com Contributing Writers David Hickey, Jim Hingst, Grant Price

art

Art Director Nicole D’Antona Graphic Designer Hillary Coleman

production

Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers

circulation

Circulation Director Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com Circulation Analyst Brandy Wilson bwilson@sbpub.com

advertising sales

Publisher/West Coast Sales Arthur J. Sutley 212-620-7247 asutley@sbpub.com Associate Publisher/Mid-West Sales Jeff Sutley 212-620-7233 jsutley@sbpub.com Integrated Account Manager/East Coast & Canada David Harkey 212-620-7223​ dharkey@sbpub.com Sign Builder Illustrated is published monthly. All rights reserved. Nothing herein may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. To purchase PDF files of cover and layouts or hard copy reprints, please call Art Sutley at 212-620-7247 or e-mail asutley@sbpub.com.

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November 2019

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FABRICATOR SPOTLIGHT Family-owned and twenty years young, Western Sign Services began as a trade shop making a wide range of signs.

Located about a dozen miles southeast of Portland, the company remains a trade shop, making a wide range of signage, and over the past eight years has increasingly focused on ADA applications, using equipment and materials from Nova Polymers.

Read More at

novapolymers.com/western-sign-services

Editor’s Column

AGENDA

By Jeff Wooten

NOVEMBER 2019 NOVEMBER 5-8:

The automotive-focused 2019 SEMA Show rolls in to the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (semashow.com)

NOVEMBER 22-23:

Join the USSC Foundation at Harrah’s Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey for The Sign Exchange tradeshow. (usscfoundation.org)

FEBRUARY 2020

Up and Down

FEBRUARY 20-22:

Sign shops can feel like roller coaster rides.

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Personalization remains a strong trend today and probably for years to come. It felt like there were more desktop-size inkjet and dye sub printer debuts this year.

The good news is that this could prove a boon for smaller shops to get their footprint in this growing market. Size matters when equipping one’s shop. Then again, there’s a possibility your clients can also now produce their own projects. Hopefully the roller coaster won’t have too many unexpected turns for you here.

I did notice many booths addressing solutions for eliminating production bottlenecks (a must for shops going the convergence route), as well as voices asking for help to create their own printer profiles.

Direct-to-shape was big. On the horizon, it was interesting to watch directto-surface paint application of vehicle graphics at one booth, and increased cheerleading for single-pass print technology. Time will guide the former, while price point will determine the latter.

Finally on-site experts boasted of print marketing making a comeback and that those that left it years ago for “greener pastures” appear to be returning—or at least giving it a second look. It’s something for your shop to think about: As more emails are deleted before being opened, print marketing is standing out.

Jeff Wooten Editor, jwooten@sbpub.com

November 2019

FEBRUARY 26-28:

The Midwest Sign Association Winter Meeting takes place at the downtown Renaissance Hotel in Toledo, Ohio. (msassn.org)

FEBRUARY 27-29:

Graphics of the Americas 2020 returns to the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida. (goaexpo.com)

APRIL 2020 APRIL 1-4:

ISA International Sign Expo is headed to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. (signexpo.org) Photo: Shutterstock/Jacob Lund.

O

ur cover story on page 28 reminds me that it can sometimes feel as if running a sign or graphics shop means being a roller coaster aficionado—trends go up, and trends go down, as your shop addresses the markets and solutions needed to keep you on track. One can be forgiven for thinking of renaming their shop to The Beast™ or The Cyclone™.

The return of this topsy-turvy feeling of trying to stay ahead of what’s hot was thanks to a recently released predicative economic report showing that the print side of the industry expects to slow down for the remainder of this year and into next (bit.ly/2pazomL). However its timing came when the climb of anticipation was building for the expanded PRINTING United (formerly SGIA Expo) in Dallas last month, and its goal of “convergence in action.”

While the ride has come to a stop and the handlebars have lifted, I wanted to share some brief thoughts and impressions about the event roughly less than twenty-four hours after its conclusion.

Diversifying one’s portfolio and taking advantage of multiple platforms in one space was the name of this year’s game at PRINTING United, particularly with expansion into industrial, in-plant, textile, and commercial printing markets.

Attendance appeared more pronounced and energetic (I heard from several vendors happy it was a buying show, instead of a kick-the-tires one). The message: Ink can be applied to anything.

The Mid South Sign Association presents “Idea Exchange 2020” at the Hilton Garden Inn in Meridian, Missouri. (midsouthsign.org)

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In The Industry

“Welcome” to the Cleveland international

FILM FESTIVAL C

leveland, Ohio — Lights!

Camera! Action! For its fortythird annual festival held earlier this year, officials at the Cleveland International Film Festival, which promotes artistically and culturally significant films, wanted to transform its host venue, Tower City Cinemas, into a warm and inviting space that would align with this year’s festival theme, “Welcome.” This theme was developed as a nod to the inclusive, diverse onscreen and on-site programming long featured at the film festival as well as a “celebration of the hospitable nature the northeast Ohio community has shown to the thousands of guest filmmakers who have visited Cleveland to take part 6

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in the festival over the years.”

One of the ways film festival organizers sought to create this “Welcome” experience for its 105,656 attendees was by using window, wall, and floor graphics to reflect this message.

To help bring their vision to life, the Cleveland International Film Festival sought expertise from those nearby at large format production facility Repros and graphic design firm Type Twenty Seven Design & Letterpress.

Repros has been printing and installing wall, window, and floor graphics to meet their customers’ unique needs for many years. Upon learning of the film festival’s objective, Repros reached out to Type Twenty Seven Owner and

November 2019

Creative Director Brittyn Dewerth for graphic design assistance. Repros and Dewerth worked together to create these window, wall, and floor graphics.

Wall graphics welcomed the festival’s filmmakers and attendees to the event in many languages, and window graphics featured photographs of people from many countries with corresponding “welcome” text in the individual’s primary language. The photos of individuals featured on window graphics were captured by event photographer Keith Berr Productions. Floor graphics provided directional indicators for event attendees while reinforcing the festival theme.

For the window graphics, Repros and signshop.com

NCCCO Wins ANSI Award

F

Vinyl wall and window graphics transformed the event venue.

wall, window, and floor graphics “welcomed” more than 105,000 attendees.

Dewerth chose Mactac’s IMAGin® B-free Frosted Window Film (JX5796MBF).

The graphics were printed on an HP XL 3000 latex printer. “The ability to die cut the material allowed us to focus light while blocking out the distant scenery—resulting in beautiful typography stretching across the floor as the day progressed,” said Dewerth.

Repros and Dewerth selected Mactac’s 4-mil, soft, non-top coated, opaque matte-white Rebel Removable MultiPrint Media (RB528RW54L150) for the floor graphics. The graphics were printed on an HP XL 3000 latex printer and were overlaid with 4.3-mil clear, lustertextured PERMACOLOR PermaFlex Textured Laminate (PF6554). signshop.com

And for the wall graphics, Repros and Dewerth chose Mactac’s 6.0-mil mattewhite IMAGin® ROODLE™ Removable Wall Graphics (RO628W54L100) and 4.3-mil white MACmark® MACtransfer® Application Tape (ST1054).

The graphics were printed on an HP XL 3000 latex printer.

“When it comes to choosing the right material for interior window, wall, and floor graphics, consistency is key,” said Repros Color and Purchasing Specialist Rod Loy. “The Mactac products we used for this project offered incredible consistency—from printing to cutting to installation—resulting in flawless finished graphics that completely transformed the look and feel of the venue.”

a i r fa x , V i r g i n i a — T h e American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has awarded i ts i n a u g u ra l Wo r k fo rc e Development and Innovation Award to the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO).

NCCCO CEO Thom Sicklesteel observed that NCCCO only recognized its potential role in workf o rc e d e v e l o p m e n t w h e n i t became apparent that, in certifying a sector of the construction workforce—operators of cranes and those who work with them—it was, in fact, certifying a progressively aging population.

Construction was struggling to keep pace with the country’s economic boom, while the college drop-out rate increased exponentially along with student debt.

Indeed, ever since vocational education had been relegated to the “small print” of high school counselor lists of desirable careers, the construction industry has suffered from a lack of entrants to the field.

With an average age of crane operators in the mid-40s, there was a clear need for “re-education” among those influencers who held the keys to where high schoolers would turn upon graduation.

November 2019

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Sign Show SERVICE TRUCKS/CRANES Upwards With the Chariot Bucket from Van Ladder

ACRYLICS/PLASTICS OPTIX L is an Acrylic Sheet Product with Panache OPTIX® L is a premium continuous cast acrylic sheet from Plaskolite that is virtually flawless for optical clarity to create stunning in-store displays. All OPTIX L sheets have a unique, tight thickness tolerance when compared to cell cast sheet. Its edge quality is exceptional and unmatched compared to other display materials, and it is UV stable.

When thermoforming OPTIX L, precision and consistency are key reasons for selecting this product. It is the preferred sheet for visually complex or detailed display units. The OPTIX L series offers designers and fabricators the ideal combination of clarity and quality. The striking look adds flair to store displays and shelves with your customer’s featured product. This stunning sheet will enhance a company’s brand colors and any marketing plans they may have. The only limitation to the creativity of an OPTIX L display is the designer’s imagination. plaskolite.com

Van Ladder boasts that its bucket trucks are designed to make sign and lighting installation work simpler for you, and that is never more evident than with the company’s Chariot Bucket. With a rounded front and a rotating fork system, the Chariot Bucket on Van Ladder’s 3931-HDX bucket trucks allows sign installers to square-up to a wall and place a sign in position with hands-free access to their work. The Chariot Bucket has lower forks for large channel letters and cabinet signs and upper forks for raceway signs. Pattern arms can also be attached to the Chariot, allowing one person to install a channel letter pattern across a wall from a single parking position, even with moderate wind. vanladder.com

LED MODULES/TUBES/STRIPS Principal Lighting Group Announces the Launch of LED Wizard 8 LED Wizard is the global industry standard software platform for the creation of LED layouts for both estimating and producing channel letters and cabinets. LED Wizard 8 is a significant upgrade to the platform, providing dramatic improvements in productivity for sign shops across a wide range of applications. Principal Lighting Group, LLC (PLG) and Current Lighting Solutions (Current) entered into a licensing agreement for the launch of the highly anticipated LED layout software. PLG and Current will be the exclusive vendors in the United States and Canada, and as such, Current will be granted the right to list their products alongside PLG’s on the software platform. LED Wizard 8 is about automation and simplification, with a variety of new and improved tools aimed at helping sign makers create LED layouts faster. Specifically the Auto Population process now combines several steps into one, including loading power supplies, creating dimensions, generating a wide range of job statistics, and merging with customizable title block templates. There is also a focus on high-quality channel letter layouts with more than fifty sign-quality fonts shipping with the software, the ability to easily scale existing layouts to new sizes, and a Population Library to save your channel letter layouts for future use. For sign cabinets and cloud signs, there is advanced support for fluorescent replacement products such as Principal LED’s Tap Out Pinnacle Stiks™.

(877) 314-3390; p-led.com

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November 2019

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Print EVERYTHING you need in one place.

1,000+ product options available at www.sinalite.com

Sign Show DIGITAL PRINTING EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES

FABRICS

Epson Introduces Reengineered SureColor P7570 and P9570 Wide Format Printers

Tango Backlit Fabric for UV and Latex Printing

Designed from the ground up to uniquely cater to the full spectrum of creative needs, Epson’s new twenty-four-inch SureColor P7570 and forty-four-inch SureColor P9570 wide format printers deliver exceptional image quality. Touting a robust design and never-before-seen imaging technologies, the SureColor P7570 and P9570 leverage new Epson UltraChrome ® PRO12 twelve-color pigment ink to deliver a wide color gamut and capture every detail with amazing color brilliance and accuracy. When combined with the new 2.6-inch PrecisionCore® MicroTFP® printhead, the SureColor P7570 and P9570 produce outstanding quality prints at speeds up to 2.4 times faster than their predecessors and promote a more productive workflow with dedicated channels for Matte and Photo Black ink (no ink switching necessary). A new print mode—Black Enhanced Overcoat—delivers improved DMAX for a wider contrast ratio, excellent black density, outstanding clarity, improved sharpness, and reduced gloss differential on glossy and metallic media. Additional features include a sealed roll media door for dramatically improved dust control and an integrated LED light to view projects while printing. Versatile media handling supports both roll and cut-sheet media and features a new top-loading cut-sheet feeder door and an internal rotary cutter for smoothly cutting most photographic and fine art roll-media types. Furthermore a new customizable user interface featuring a 4.3-inch color touchscreen control panel and redesigned retractable catch basket will simplify printing and conform to users’ environments, reducing production errors. The Epson SureColor P7570 and P9570 Standard Editions will be available in December through authorized Epson Professional Imaging resellers. proimaging.epson.com

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November 2019

Fisher Textiles is pleased to present UV2610 Tango®, the newest backlit framing systems fabric for UV-curable and latex printing. UV2610 Tango is an excellent backlit fabric because of its ability to evenly disperse light and promote printed vibrancy of color and detail when illuminated. It has a tight base structure for the perfect amount of opacity in framing systems and equal stretch (1.25 percent) to enable a smooth, tight fit. Tango graphics stand out and command attention.

Other noteworthy features are its excellent durability and tear strength for long-lasting use. It has a bright white point and quick dry time. This fabric is sto c ke d 1 2 2 i n c h es w i d e, weighs 5.2 oz/yd2, and is flame retardant. (800) 554-8886; fishertextiles.com

LETTERS Gemini Perfect Pattern Expands to Improve Your Installation Experience Gemini's Perfect Pattern™ mounting template that provides a better, more accurate tool for mounting flat cut metal letters now also improves the installation experience for flatcut acrylic and GemLeaf™ letters. Perfect Pattern is computer-generated and calibrated to the company’s production equipment, assuring exact hole locations and interchangeability. In addition, the pattern is printed on Tyvek®, making it resistant to tears and the weather. Gemini’s partners are able to pre-order mounting templates ahead of time to allow for prep work on-site for large scope installations. The printed legend with instructions is an easy guide to a perfect installation every time. Other features include: Center line alignment (patterns are aligned with horizontal and vertical lines from the center making installation more reliable); stud sizing guide (provides recommendations for proper drill bits depending on determined stud size); and top/bottom orientation (dimples are drilled into the back of the product). GeminiSignProducts.com/PerfectPattern

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How To VEHICLE GRAPHICS

By JIM HINGST

So You Want to Apply a Vehicle Wrap

A

full wrap is next to impossible to ignore, which makes it an excellent advertising vehicle; however a full vehicle wrap is one of the most demanding applications for pressure-sensitive vinyl films.

During the installation process, the film is stretched and shrunk as it is applied to smooth, concave, and convex surfaces.

Because of the requirement of conformability, cast wrap vinyl films and overlaminates are typically specified. As a general rule of thumb, cast vinyl overlaminates should only be used to protect printed cast vinyl films.

Calendered vinyl films, on the other hand, are not designed for application to compound curves. If you use these films for a full wrap, you should not be surprised if the graphics pop off from indentations on the vehicle surface. Calendered films are typically designed for graphic applications to smooth surfaces and simple curves.

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Manufacturers of high-quality cast vinyl wrap films include 3M, Avery, Arlon, and ORAFOL. Each of the companies offers a variety of films, each with its own unique characteristics.

In selecting a vinyl, compile and study the product specifications. As important as the technical information is, obtain product samples from your sign supply distributor so you can evaluate vinyl films in printing and graphics application.

Below are properties to consider when comparing vehicle wrap vinyl films: Durability. While most graphics are used on vehicles that are in service for three to five years, some vehicles can be in use for as long as seven to ten years.

For this reason, most vehicle wrap films must provide seven years of durability.

Handling. Vehicle wraps involve handling large sheets of unmasked printed graphics. For these applications, you will need a film that features a low initial tack adhesive to allow for ease of handling

November 2019

when applying large format graphics. Not only should the ideal film be repositionable, it should also be slideable. In qualifying a film for your needs, test a printed sample in a vehicle wrap application.

Air egress liner. For ease of application, a vehicle wrap film should have a bubble-free feature.

Conformability. A vehicle wrap film must adhere to flat surfaces, compound curves, rivets, and corrugations. It must also conform to deep cavities.

Printability. Get a sample of any cast vinyl film under consideration and print it. Generally you will want a film with a 90# layflat liner.

Removability. At some point, applied graphics must be removed. While this feature is rarely discussed with a customer in the sales process, it should not be ignored. An ideal wrap film will provide clean removal from most surfaces for up to two to three years. For longer applications, it should remove with less signshop.com

All Photos: Arlon.

Handling large graphics panels can be challenging for anyone.

How To

VEHICLE GRAPHICS

than 30 percent adhesive residue.

Application temperature range. While you should know the temperature range for cold weather applications, the real challenge is hot weather applications.

Product specifications only tell you so much. The real test is when you evaluate a product in an actual application.

Overlaminate. All printed graphics used for vehicle wraps should be protected with an overlaminate, matched for compatibility with the cast vinyl film that you are using. Providing a compatible laminate is essential for the durability of any vehicle wrap. Not only does the laminate protect the print from the bleaching rays of the sun, it also provides protection from abrasion, cleaning chemicals, and gasoline. An overlaminate also gives a graphics panel more body, which makes it easier to handle during installation.

Print profiles. In selecting a vehicle wrap vinyl, make sure that profiles are available for your printer. A profile provides your printer with instructions for depositing the right amount of ink on the vinyl film so the printed image looks its best.

Three-step Surface Preparation Vehicle wraps require that every part of the vehicle being covered with vinyl be cleaned—this includes the paint at the bottom of the wheel wells, inside the doors and door jamb, and all around the gas filler door. Failure to clean the surface properly is a leading cause of adhesion failure.

Surface preparation is a three-step process. First you will need to wash the surface with detergent and water. Even though a washed surface looks clean, contaminants such as waxes, grease, and oils are most likely still present.

To remove these contaminants, use a solvent such as DuPont’s 39192 PrepSol or a Grease-and-Wax remover. After you use the solvent surface cleaner, give the surface a final wipe with denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.

This last step should be performed with both hands. In one hand, you will need a rag saturated with alcohol and, signshop.com

By JIM HINGST

Using a heat gun.

in your other hand, a clean rag or paper towel. After you wipe the solvent on, wipe it dry before it evaporates.

Vehicle Wrap Procedure In planning a graphics program for a prospect, you need to know where the vehicles are domiciled.

For national and regional programs, trucks could be located in several locations. Find out if indoor facilities are available at each location.

When will the vehicles be available for installation? If the vehicles are leased, the leasing company will probably have a service facility that they can make available. Many of these facilities are available around the clock. Let your prospect know that to wrap a van typically takes a two-man team eight hours to complete.

A clean, temperature-controlled indoor facility is critical in installing a full vehicle wrap. It is difficult enough for most people to handle large graphics panels without having to contend with the wind catching hold of a sheet of film.

High temperatures can also make the adhesive system of a graphic most aggressive and more difficult to install.

What makes a vehicle wrap challenging is that you have to deal with many obstructions such as hinges, gas filler doors, and compound curves.

Usually it’s more efficient to remove these obstructions, apply the film, and

replace the parts. Be sure to keep all of the parts in one place so you don’t lose them. If you take these extra steps, installations are performed in less time and look more professional.

After thoroughly cleaning the vehicle, tape the graphics panels to the vehicle substrate to make sure that all of the sections fit.

After determining the location of the graphics, remove the release liner from the top six inches of the graphics panel to be applied. On days when you are handling large sections of sticky graphics, you may have wished that God had given you two extra hands. When doing vehicle wraps, you will cut the installation time in less than half by working with a partner. An extra set of hands can help in holding the graphic away from the application surface, preventing preadhesion accidents. And a partner can help you in stretching the material to conform around compound curves.

By making an initial horizontal stroke with your felt or Teflon® squeegee across the marking, tack the graphic into place.

Subsequent squeegee strokes across the graphic should overlap one another.

The squeegeeing technique used in vehicle wraps is quite different from that used in applying graphics over rivets.

Rather than dragging the squeegee over the graphic, angle it like a snow plow.

Holding the squeegee in this manner

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13

How To VEHICLE GRAPHICS

By JIM HINGST

Angle the squeegee like a snow plow.

helps push (not pull or drag) the air underneath the film away from the point of contact and prevent the air from being trapped as a bubble.

While you can remove all of the release liner from a graphics panel, if the film starts to pre-adhere, you can gradually remove the release liner exposing

the adhesive. How you handle the film depends on your skill level and the handling characteristics of the film.

Applying a vehicle wrap typically involves stretching the film into concave indentations as well as shrinking the film over convex surfaces. When applying vinyl to a convex surface, it is not unusual for the material to bunch up.

Heating the film with an industrial heat gun will cause the vinyl to shrink wrap onto the vehicle substrate. As the film shrinks and tightens up, any of the excess material (which could likely develop into wrinkles) magically vanishes. As best you can, try to apply the vinyl film in a relaxed state, limiting the amount that you stretch the graphics panel.

If you stretch the film into an indentation, you reduce the thickness of the film and the thickness of the adhesive.

If you stretch a film by 200 percent, you reduce the thickness of a 2-mil cast vinyl to 1-mil.You also reduce the thickness of 1-mil of adhesive to 1/2-mil.

As you burnish the vinyl into the indentation around the wheel well, take short strokes, gradually working the film into the crease. As you do this, allow a space in the indentation for the air to escape as you put the finishing touches on your work.

In working the film around irregular surfaces, using a felt squeegee can ensure smoother applications. Felt squeegees, which come in a variety of shapes and densities, are flexible enough to conform to compound curves that you often encounter when doing a vehicle wrap.

Trimming Some vinyl film manufacturers recommend that you trim the graphic flush with the edges of the vehicle. Others believe that wrapping the film around the edges of a door, hood, or truck can result in lifting edges.

When trimming the film, use a sharp knife and extra care so you only cut through the vinyl without cutting into the paint of the vehicle. Cutting too deeply into the painted vehicle surface can result in rust developing.

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November 2019

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How To

CUSTOMIZATION

By JEFF WOOTEN

Getting Active-wear with HDU Test-pressing T-shirts with HDU to expand shop offerings.

All Photos: Synergy Sign & Graphics.

C

onvergence is one of the pressing points in the sign industry these days. In order to increase profits and potential customers, sign makers are encouraged to use their equipment and materials to expand beyond signage and into products like engraved wares, personalized graphics, and even apparel.

Jim Dawson is the owner of Synergy Sign & Graphics, a creative-focused custom sign shop based in Strasburg, Ohio. This shop, according to their marketing motto, specializes in “awesome,” as evidenced in their portfolio of 3D carved signs, sculptures, theme design, and digital printing. In addition to these projects, Dawson has been ahead of the convergence curve by producing T-shirts for clients through screen printing and heat pressing methods for over ten years now.

However Dawson is always on the lookout for ways that Synergy Sign &

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Graphics can make their products stand out even more. He recently came across the technique of block printing, which uses a wood block as a relief print for image transfer, and was intrigued by the process. “However I didn’t like the way most people I noticed were making their blocks,” he says. “They were using linoleum and pressing it up on plywood; then they would carve it by hand.”

“I was pretty certain that I could streamline the wood block process with our MultiCam CNC router.”

Inspired to test-press T-shirt designs crafted from the wood block process (which would provide a unique, desirable hand-made look), Dawson decided to carve Coastal Enterprises Precision Board high-density urethane (HDU) blocks on his CNC router. This would mean that he wouldn’t have to laminate anything. “I already love the carving properties of Precision Board,” he says, “so I already knew that it would accept

ink and paints pretty well and be plenty rigid enough for the process.”

Dawson used one-inch-thick 12-by12-inch samples of PBLT-25 Precision Board HDU lying around his shop, knowing that the urethane foam would

November 2019

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15

How To Customization

By Jeff Wooten

Synergy Sign & Graphics is exclusively making their own T-shirt designs but may expand to produce customer ideas soon.

still be plenty rigid enough with what they would be leaving behind. “We were only carving imagery out of the front 1/4inch of material,” he says.

He began his wood block-inspired Tshirt test pressing by first machining the design in 3D Carve, which took about forty minutes to do. “I also didn’t want to chance breaking the dimensional letters,” he says.

Dawson inked up the foam with screen printing ink. “I did this because it doesn’t seem to wash out of my clothes when I get it on me,” he says.

He tested heat cure screen inks and paint on the foam, as Dawson finds that both have their strong points. “I found the screen inks can be cured immediately in a heat press, thus cutting down production time,” he says.

Dawson then put some t-shirts with ink on them onto a heat press so that they could cure the ink fast. “I could probably pull hundreds of prints off of this block because you’re not pressing it and doing screens,” says Dawson.

If you know anything about the T-shirt market, then you know there are different types of fabric possibilities that 16

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Block printing attracted me with the hand-made look that really can’t be done any other way. can be used for printing. For these test runs, Synergy Sign & Graphics printed onto tri-blends, 100 percent cotton, and 50/50 blends. “We found that all have printed extremely well using the Precision Board blocks,” says Dawson.

He and his staff ended up being pretty happy with their test run using designs on Precision Board to press multiple shirts from a single block of material, and they plan to continue to expand these offerings in the near future.

He admits that every time you press a shirt, you don’t know what you’re going to get. “I see a lot of people going back

November 2019

to the hand-made methods of inking shirts,” says Dawson.

Currently Synergy Sign & Graphics is exclusively making their own wood block-inspired designs for T-shirt apparel. However Dawson says his shop would welcome customers bringing them design ideas for them to recreate via Precision Board image templates and heat pressing down the road. “Interest is really picking up, so I can see us adapting customer logos to work with this process sooner rather than later,” he says.

For Dawson, he finds that test-pressing T-shirts using Precision Board is a natural progression for himself and his shop. “I love the maker culture,” he says.

“We are always trying crazy things and seeing what works. We throw four ideas in the trash for every one that sticks.

“Block printing attracted me with its hand-made look that really can’t be done any other way. I enjoy a good challenge and have lots of ideas for printing multiple colors with multiple blocks and a registration jig.”

(Note: Portions of this article also appeared in a Coastal Enterprises blog post.) signshop.com

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SIGN CONTEST By grant price & jeff wooten

A Clear Sign & Design employee attaches LED lighting to the letters featured on the New Palace Hotel’s canopy sign.

WORLD’S COOLEST

E

ach year, World Sign Associates (WSA) hosts its WSA Coolness Sign Design Competition, a contest where the association’s sign company-endorsed vendors vote on the most innovative and creative electrical signage projects that have been designed, crafted, and installed by the WSA’s nearly 200 member companies during the past twelve months.

Founded in 1947, World Sign Associates bills itself as a premier trade organization for electrical sign manufac20

Sign Builder Illustrated

turers and suppliers throughout North America. The WSA’s numerous members represent some of the industry’s top talents in crafting custom signage as well as signs for regional and national programs. They do this by either working independently or by combining the strengths of nearly 200 sign manufacturers and suppliers throughout North America.

First place winners from four different categories of this year’s WSA Coolness Sign Design Competition were

November 2019

announced in September (with “Best in Show” crowned amongst these four winning entries).

This feature article will be recapping the winning projects and how they were designed and put together.

To view additional photos and design/ fabrication details of this year’s winning signs, be sure to visit signshop.com.

For more information about World Sign Associates, please call (800) 421-0641 or email wsa@wsanetwork.org. signshop.com

Photo (Top): Clear Sign & Design, Inc.

Sign Designs

“Giant Hickory ‘Leaves’ Welcome Visitors”

Winner: Best in Show; Freestanding Sign, Greater Than 100 sq ft Contributors: Sign Systems, Inc., Wood, Signature Design Collaborative

This year’s WSA Coolness Competition winners.

An iconic gateway to Hickory, North Carolina (a city of 40,000-plus located in the western part of North Carolina) required an equally impactful signature sign. Family-owned, full-service Sign Systems, Inc. (also of Hickory) met the challenge with a pair of unforgettable hickory tree leaves installed near a hightraffic location.

Signature Design Collaborative of Atlanta, Georgia started the design, while Sign Systems took the concept from there, figuring out the best materials that would work in the environment and staying within a specified budget.

Towering at twenty-three feet tall, the translucent leaves mimic stained glass, but they are actually made of eighty-six acrylic panels complete with digitally imprinted leaf veins.

Some parts of the leaves contain suspended acrylic panels in various colors, which are designed to shimmer in the southern breeze. The leave’s outlines are defined by rectangular steel tubing with aluminum skins painted with faux rust.

The edges are studded with 6000k white LED modules for dramatic perimeter lighting. The entire structure is backlit for maximum impact day and night.

An offset footing holds a seventeenfoot cantilever sign with twelve-inch channel set letters that spell out “Hickory, Est. 1870.”

The foundation took two days to pour and consists of four 24-inchdiameter-by-12-foot-6-inch caisson footings tied to an offset slab footing with separate rebar cages. The structure is mounted into Transpo breakaway supports according to Department of Transportation right-of-way guidelines.

Not only will the combined finished efforts of Sign Systems, Inc., and Signature Design Collaborative welcome visitors for years to come, but their work here also earned them the “Best in Show” honors in this year’s competition.

“A Weathered Tribute Racecar Wrap” Winner: Potpourri Category | Contibutor: Love Signs, Inc.

Love Signs, Inc., of Norfolk, Nebraska, put their creative skills to the test by designing and installing a weathered-looking wrap for an autocross racecar. The customer’s one request: “Make it look like an old stock-car pulled right out of the weeds.”

Love Signs incorporated the client’s father’s former business, “Larry’s Automotive,” into the design. Brad Love, owner of Love Signs, started out as a sign painter and was assured of the 1970s look they were going for here.

The full wrap design (featuring racesignshop.com

car numbers, the “Larry’s Automotive” business logo, and rusted, weathered looking elements) makes it appear as if the car was painted and untouched for over forty years. It was a 100 percent original developed by Love’s designer.

Underneath the wrap, the car is actually metallic green.

Love Signs printed everything onto 3M IJ180 vinyl material. “Both our designer and the person who wrapped the car are car enthusiasts,” says Love, “so their passion came through on this project.”

November 2019

Sign Builder Illustrated

21

“New and Improved Historical Signage” Winner: Wall Sign Category Contributor: Clear Sign & Design, Inc.

Clear Sign & Design, Inc., of San Marcos, California expertly re-imagined landmark signage for the New Palace Hotel in downtown San Diego, California, while still maintaining its historical character.

Two signs—a 48-inch-tall-by-25-foot wide front entrance canopy sign and a 15-foot-tall-by-48-inch-wide blade sign—were attached to the building.

Each was carefully engineered to cover the warped one hundred-year-old New Palace Hotel façade.

Constructed with antique LED lights

for the larger filaments and one-inch dual-lit letters, the signs include a sophisticated circular seal, decorative drop ceiling tiles, and a custom-built cornice. The signs are classified as an all-aluminum construction blade and canopy reskin.

The sophisticated art deco replacement is arguably an improvement on the original design.

“The original design was period accurate but also very underwhelming,” explains Gabe Griffin, general manager

of Clear Sign & Design. “We drew from the building’s upper cornice supports, existing sculpted logo design, simple window trim and framing, and undermount exposed lightbulbs and blended them with new lighting and construction techniques.”

In addition to the hand-made cornice, Clear Sign & Design also accented the bottom of the hotel entry with a classic 3D panel system to add additional richness. Both signs were carefully lifted into place using crane and boom trucks.

“Blending Art and Function”

Winner: Freestanding Sign, Smaller Than 100 sq ft Contributors: DaVinci Sign Systems, Inc., Arthouse Design

DaVinci Sign Systems, Inc., of Windsor, Colorado, crafted a sleek, modern column that marks the entrance to The Prism, a nine-story, 100,000-plus-squarefoot core-and-shell office building that is located in downtown Denver, Colorado.

Taking inspiration from the building’s architecture, this freestanding identification sign contains twenty-four aluminum plate facets crowned with stainless steel numerals, which were 22

Sign Builder Illustrated

November 2019

custom-beveled to match the angle of the sign face.

Just in front of the metal column sits a one-inch-thick tempered glass panel etched with divided lines.

Within the rectangles, individual tenants are announced with eight-inch custom standoff letters that are attached directly to the interior frame.

The entire structure glows with white LED halo illumination. signshop.com

AWARDS By

By SBI Author STAFF

SBI’s Sign Shops of the

Year 2019 T

his month, we are recognizing those sign makers that we’ve covered over the past year— either through their business practices or their completed projects— in the pages of our magazine. We selected our Sign Shop of the Year designations through those that we felt not only made an impact with their work featured in our magazine but also following up on additional success they have encounted since.

24

Sign Builder Illustrated

There were a variety of criteria that determined our editorial choices: inshop skills, owner-employee dynamics, innovative marketing, community outreach, etc. You will read recaps and additional interviews with these sign makers about their work; explore new details of how they are going the extramile in either fabrication, installation, or customer service; and/or learn something new about them (in addition to their projects).

November 2019

We hope that their efforts will help inspire your shop either to add a new technique or technology, get more involved in the public eye, or tap into a new, profitable market waiting for you.

Each of the following sections features the name of the sign shop, the category in which they are being cited for their work, and the issue date and story title they were featured in.

They are numbered in no particular ranking order. signshop.com

Photo: North Shore Neon Sign Company.

Best practices of the companies we covered.

Photo: Sign Pro, Inc.

1

Project Management: North Shore Neon sign company, Brooklyn, NY “Upsizing a Sign,” April 2019

North Shore Neon Sign Company’s engineering and installation of the mega LED display for McDonald’s® was no small feat, but the company is no stranger to big jobs in the big city. They attribute much of their success to experience.

North Shore has been in business since 1954—that’s 65 years of sign making!

The company is third generation family owned and is currently run by three brothers: Larry, Tom, and David Brown.

“It’s all about the people,” says Vice President Patrick Dooley. “The most senior people here all have significant field experience. They understand the conditions, [and] they understand what it’s like to be out there. They know what the ebb and flow of a job may be. It gives us a unique perspective on the business, and it can’t be repeated overnight because of the time needed to invest in that.”

As an example, Dooley points to employee Michael Colamussi, who has been with the company for forty years.

North Shore’s stellar staff allows them to manage all of their projects internally, without the need for a general contractor.

The company is very systematic when setting up a team to handle a project.

An account rep serves as the one point of contact between North Shore and the client. From there, work and tasks are split between a number of project managers.

On the McDonald’s project, North Shore had to contend with subcontractors, the landlord, the city, operations, the field, fabrication, time management, scheduling, etc., and each category fell under the responsibility of a different senior project manager. “You shouldn’t expect that one individual could possibly handle all of that,” says North Shore.

North Shore says it’s also important to retrieve all of the intel on a project. For this reason, project managers and the account rep meet almost every day to share information and next steps.

Operating in this way also allows the team to be nimble and pivot when delays happen with permits or other elements of the job.

When these obstacles do inevitably happen, signshop.com

a sign company should take a positive, solutions-based approach. “You have to think solutions, and you have to have contingencies—if this, then that,” says North Shore.

“Find out what happened, how to repair it, and how to recover that time.”

This is where investing in people pays off. Dooley specifically praises Kevin Schuessler, shop foreman, for his sensible and focused approach to projects, which helps to suss out potential opportunities for failure so the company can get ahead of them. “You need somebody that’s pragmatic and says this is where the potential failures are. That is what prepares you most for where you can succeed. So if you’re going to grow a sign company, look at yourself as having incremental growth and learn from each and every project,” he says. “I think our success has stemmed from the fact that we’ve had lots of failures, but we’ve learned from them, and as a result, we’ve grown from them.”

2

COMMUNITY: SIGN PRO, INC., PLANTSVILLE, CONNECTICUT “Solar Powered,” February 2019

Act Concerning the Net Economic Value of State contracts.” The bill was drafted in the 2019 legislative session and recommends that the state hire Connecticut businesses on contracts using state funding as part of state contracting practices.

After not managing to make the floor of the Connecticut general assembly in the House of Representatives for a vote this year (due to lack of time), manufacturers anticipate the bill will be brought before the legislature in the next session, a fact encouraged even more after Governor Lamont’s eye-opening visit.

Rappoccio has gone to bat for businesses of all sizes in his state. He and his staff brought up to the governor that the state’s Business Council features no representation from small businesses on it.

After this talk, it is a possibility that Rappoccio could be considered to take part on this council moving forward, once the state session reconvenes in January and considers an informed decision.

Rappoccio is very friendly with all the local officials and decision-makers in the areas where his company does business.

He recently joined New Britain Mayor

We covered Sign Pro’s efforts to turn their new 40,000-square-foot facility into a lean manufacturing facility. However it’s the business-related developments after that story ran that urther cemented their importance to not only the sign community but also to local businesses.

Over the summer, Sign Pro President Peter Rappoccio and his employees welcomed Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont to their facility to discuss items made by manufacturers in the state related to State House Proposed Bill No. 5504, “An November 2019

Sign Builder Illustrated

25

Erin Stewart, local legislators, and members of the community in celebrating the grand opening of the new Beehive Bridge, a gateway-to-the-city project two years in the making.

Sign Pro served as a subcontractor to Martin Laviero Contractor for this project and fabricated the bridge’s façade, which includes two bees at each bridge entryway; the Beehive in the center of the bridge; the 604 geometric shapes that make up the

bridge wall; and the integration of multicolor, low-voltage themed LED lighting.

The structure stands 16 feet high and is connected by 138 vertical beams supporting the structure.

His work with local and state officials is making quite a name for Rappoccio, as well as improving his customers’ and employees’ lives and careers.​He firmly believes that, if workers enjoy where they reside, there’s a better chance of attracting top-tier talent to your company. “We are very fortunate that we are located in Connecticut,” Rappoccio told us, “since our state has a highly educated workforce. We have an excellent quality of life.”

3

Project: Barlo Signs, Hudson, New hampshire “Return of the Cactus Sign,” March 2019

Barlo Signs is a fifty-year-old, full-service sign company that worked with New England Sign Supply to restore the Frank Gi-

uffrida’s Hilltop Steak House restaurant sign for a new retail/residential property.

They replaced 2,500 feet of green color tubing and 210 fluorescent lamps with 4,100 total feet of green and white LED modules. The public press conference of its relighting in December 2018 drew state and local officials impressed and newspaper and television coverage.

Co-owner Raymond Brayton (who purchased Barlo Signs two years ago with Patrick Assioun and Phillipe Dame) has reinvigorated the fifty-year-old sign company. “To take a fifty-year-old sign and not have to redo any of the steel and working with all the existing formed panels and pulling off what we were able to pull off is quite frankly a pat on the back for us,” he says.

Brayton had industry experience before taking over Barlo Signs and worked with companies like Heath, AdArt, Paxon, and YESCO on unique projects like the original Freemont Street Experience.

Brayton says, unlike vinyl shops, there

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26

Sign Builder Illustrated

November 2019

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aren’t many full-service sign contractors in their area. “In the Boston market, we’re involved with much of what happens,” he says. “We are extremely well known, our brand is well known, and that’s why it was exciting to purchase the company last year and see if we can take this into the next fifty years.”

4

marketing: Signs By Van, Salinas, California “Peacock Blue,” May 2019

Signs By Van used a mix of modern and long-time technologies and materials—for example, an SCM Morbidelli M-100 CNC router, Duna-USA CORAFOAM® HDU, western red cedar, Fusion 360 CAD software, Hartco S930 30m sandblast stencil, and a Roland GX-400—to create a doublesided peacock identity sign for Massa Estate in Carmel Valley, California.

The company opened in 1981, and today, the ten-person shop, co-owned

by Phil Vanderkraats and his son Jeremy, uses old-fashioned craftsmanship with new technologies to transform the Central and Northern California landscape. Most everything Signs By Van does is made in-house and in-facility from site surveys, design, fabrication, installation, etc.

A successful marketing tool to show off their portfolio of work has been their Instagram (@Signs_By_Van). They also recently launched “Signing the Gold Coast,” a YouTube reality series that explains what they do at their shop and spotlights projects and fabrication tips.

5

Humanitarian: BPGraphics, Phoenix, Arizona “Wraps: A Good Cause and Effect,” August 2019

BPGraphics started out in 1961 as a billboard/poster company and changed their name in the early 2000s to reflect a move toward large format graphics. This

past summer, the graphics specialists printed and installed a wrap onto a Phoenix Valley Metro Light Rail train and bus for the “Summer of a Million Meals,” a season-long campaign raising awareness for the United Food Bank.

“We stand behind our community, and any chance we can be a part of something we believe in is always a bonus,” says Ian Scott, owner of BPGraphics. “We feel honored they came to us.”

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signshop.com

November 2019

Sign Builder Illustrated

27

Letters

By Ashley Bray

Keeping a sign project for a new rollercoaster on track.

A Runaway

Success W

ildwood, New Jersey is a popular summer resort destination known as much for its boardwalk and amusement park rides and attractions as it is for its doo-wop era signs and architecture. You can thank A.B.S. Sign Company, Inc., for many of those signs.

The family-owned sign shop was started in 1964 by current President Randy Hentges’s father. Today the shop handles everything from vinyl graphics and small yard signs to giant LED message center projects. The shop also still services and fabricates neon signs in the area.

“We’re little, but we do a lot of big, cool projects,” says Hentges. “We put a 28

Sign Builder Illustrated

lot of time, effort, and thought into it.”

A recent job that tasked A.B.S. Sign Company with creating a sign for a new rollercoaster required a lot of that thinking and ingenuity—especially on the challenging installation.

The new Runaway Tram rollercoaster for Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Water Parks is based on the iconic Sightseer tramcar that runs along the boardwalk.

A.B.S. Sign Company has worked with the amusement company for years on its ride and attraction signs, and it was brought in to specially create this custom sign.

A.B.S. Sign Company received the design from Morey’s and took it from

November 2019

there. “It was up to us on how it was going to be made, how it was going to be attached, things like that,” says Hentges.

Originally Morey’s wanted neon channel letters to match the local aesthetic.

“There’s a lot of neon in this area still, probably more than almost anywhere outside of Las Vegas,” says Hentges.

Since the sign would be surrounded by the roller coaster and subjected to shaking and vibrations from the ride, it was decided that neon wouldn’t be the best choice.

“They asked me what to do, and I said, ‘Well we can do an LED push-thru, and from twenty feet away, people will think it’s neon, but it won’t have the breakage issues of neon,’” says Hentges. signshop.com

Photo: Aleksey Photography.

A.B.S. Sign Company has created LED push-thru channel letters in the past but not in such a large size. The letters range from the largest, the “R,” at five-and-a-half feet tall, to the “Y” at about three-and-a-half feet tall.

“It was a lot bigger scale, and we were just trying to figure out how it would scale up and work out,” says Hentges.

“In fact, the strokes are a lot wider than they would be if they were neon.”

To create the letters, the sign company hand bent .090 aluminum for the returns. The faces are 1/8-inch-thick aluminum with one-inch-wide strokes where clear acrylic was pushed through.

The shop is small and doesn’t have signshop.com

CNC equipment, so it outsourced the necessary routing on the letter faces, background elements and arrow, and small circles bolted at the top of the poles to Harbor Sales in Maryland.

“We just email them the files, and it will show up in a day or two all routed out.

So it’s almost easier to not have my own router,” explains Hentges. “I don’t have to take up the room, have an employee [to run it], have wasted material if things aren’t right or something happens.”

The shop used Principal LED Street Fighter Middleweight LED modules to light up the acrylic and experimented with channel depth, LED placement, and the number of LEDs to find the

right combination.

To create a red glow on “Runaway” and a blue on “Tram,” the shop used a combination of translucent vinyls. “On the clear acrylic push-thru, we installed Avery Dennison® UC 900 Pantone® 200C translucent vinyl on the inside of the acrylic. However since the acrylic was clear (using white acrylic would produced a pinkish light and would not have been near as bright), we had hotspots,” says Hentges. “I wanted a smooth, even glow (like neon), so we tried a few diffuser films to even out but not dim the light. Standard white translucent seemed to work the best.

“So we backed all the red vinyl with the white translucent. We did the same on the blue ‘Tram’ lettering using white modules with Avery Dennison® Sultan Blue PR 800 translucent vinyl on the back of the acrylic.”

To provide stability, the letters spelling “Runaway” were welded onto circles, and the letters spelling “Tram” were welded onto a swoosh shape. An arrow swoops around the channel letters, and small circles feature at the top of each pole. All of these elements are made from 1/4-inch-thick aluminum.

The letters were welded versus bolted because Morey’s didn’t want any visible fasteners on the sign. After welding, the shop painted the letters and background elements with Matthews Paint—masking off elements as needed.

The paint colors were specified using a RAL chart (a European color matching system), so Hentges first had to match up the colors to a PMS chart to secure the right Matthews Paint color.

SolaRay® sequins were applied to the small circles at the top of the sign, the background of the arrow, and the white swoosh behind “Tram” to provide additional visual interest while helping the project stay within budget.

“That was the only thing that their architect, when they sent us over some drawings on the sign, specified,” says Hentges. “They’re all on 12-by-12-inch plastic grids pre-attached, so we had to cut them all apart. Then they’re riveted in there according to the shape we had to match.”

The letters and background elements

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29

are all affixed to seven 8-by-8-by-1/2inch steel poles, which A.B.S. Sign Company sourced from a local steel company.

The steel company welded and bolted the pole structure together and then sent it out to be galvanized so that the steel would hold up to the ocean air.

“90 percent of our business is right on the ocean. We’re 100 yards from the saltwater, so on most of our sign projects, we can’t use regular steel—everything has to be galvanized if it’s steel, and it has to be painted well if it’s aluminum,” says Hentges, who explains that 40 to 50 mph winds are also a concern.

“Everything’s getting sandblasted with sand coming off the beach. Things have to be made a little better here.”

A.B.S. Sign Company’s shop is small, so Hentges and his team had to fabricate everything in pieces that would go together like a puzzle come install time.

To ensure everything would fit onto the pole structure correctly, Hentges rode out to the steel company and had them lay the structure out in their back field.

“We made big, full-sized paper patterns with measurements. We took it out and 30

Sign Builder Illustrated

The shop used Principal LED Street Fighter Middleweight modules.

1/3

We’re little, but we do a lot of big, cool projects.

We put a lot of time, effort, and thought into it. actually pre-fit just the raw aluminum letters onto this,” says Hentges. “We prefit everything, measured everything, and marked it so we knew when we put it up there it would fit and where it went.

“I preplan a lot of stuff in the shop.

I try to make life on the road as easy as possible with all my projects. The holes were predrilled. Everything kind of went together like a big puzzle.”

All of the sign pieces were transported to the job site on a flatbed trailer over a few trips. From there, the installation was

November 2019

unlike any other. For one, the boardwalk was open, and the install required reaching over rides and pedestrian areas.

So the sign company did early morning installs starting around 6:30 am.

The installation also required Hentges to pivot from all of his original plans. He had wanted to lay the pole structure out on the beach, attach the sign elements, and then mount the entire thing. But the pole structure was installed first and bolted to the concrete footing, which required all the sign elements to be installed vertically.

Original drawings had also shown a boardwalk going right up to the base of the sign, so Hentges had planned on using a scissor lift for the install (cranes and bucket trucks are too heavy for the wooden boardwalk).

However, just days before the install, he found out that the boardwalk wouldn’t be built up to the sign. Plus the coaster had already been built, further complicating access, so the sign company had to work around and within the coaster tracks.

The solution was to have Shaw Crane Company Inc., use a crane to lift and drop in a towable bucket lift for the install. signshop.com

Photos: (this page) A.B.S. Sign Company.

The install team had to work around and within the coaster tracks.

WORLD’S

MIGHTIEST

SIGNAGE MAGAZINE! Sign Builder Illustrated is the “how-to magazine” of the sign industry. Each issue includes SBI’s signature “how-to” columns and features with detailed, step-by-step instructions covering a wide range of signage. SBI’s website (signshop.com), newsletters, Buyer’s Guide, and digital edition keep you updated with timely news, recent projects, and upcoming industry events.

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With only quarter-inches to spare, it took about an hour to get the bucket truck into place. The area where the truck was set up had been prematurely landscaped, so the truck had to sit on top of and among the vegetation.

Once in place, the movements of the bucket truck were limited by the tracks of the ride. Half of the sign was installed and then the truck had to be repositioned to reach the other half.

“The poles that make up this rollercoaster go in all different kinds of directions,” says Hentges. “[The truck] would have hit all the poles that support the ride, so we had to lift this thing up and actually spin it around and relocate it.”

To install the letters on the steel poles, the sign company used a combination of bolts and angle.

“We welded aluminum angle iron up and down the back of the big red circles behind the letters so it just cupped the pole. When we set them in place, we had the poles predrilled and everything,” says Hentges. “We just thru-bolted it with long, stainless steel bolts. We did bolt a couple through the face on the big arrow and the ‘Tram’ section because they were covered by the sequins anyway.”

For power, the wires were run through the pole structure, and the power supplies were mounted to the concrete base in a metal box for easy service access.

In total, the twenty-four-foot-wide sign took a couple of months to fabricate and install ahead of the opening of the new ride this past July.

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November 2019

signshop.com

CNC engraving ROUTER

By ByBrad Jeff Wooten Burnett

ON THE

All Photos: Roland DGA.

MARK A

ccording to industry experts, the product customization and personalization market may still be in its infancy, but it is growing at a rapid pace. This is thanks to increasing customer demand and adoption of technologies like laser engravers, and it doesn’t show any signs of plateauing anytime soon.

Detailed designs incorporating text, logo, images, photos, and other decorasignshop.com

tive ideas can be created in CorelDRAW® or Adobe® Illustrator® and exported to a laser engraver for incredibly precise engraving, marking, or cutting. The most common engraveable substrates include wood, leather, anodized aluminum, metal, glass, and especially acrylic. (Note: Avoid objects or materials that can release harmful fumes or gases—such as PVC—and be sure to further investigate that materials listed as “flame-retardant”

How do you fit into the laser engraving puzzle?

don’t include the dangerous bromine.)

Adam Voigt, marketing and sales director at Kern Lasers, estimates that, within the retail/point-of-purchase industry, 70 percent of his company’s customers are engraving acrylics in some sort of fashion. “Some of them are creating P-O-P displays, signage, lighting fixtures, internal parts, and more,” he says. “Without giving away customers’ secrets, it is important to know which

November 2019

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33

Shops can focus on engraving items for promotional purposes.

direction your industry is growing and what you can add to set yourself apart.”

While retail stores are discovering they can increase profit margins by employing laser engravers to customize/ personalize a variety of products for their customers, Kevin Rosen, application specialist at Roland DGA, adds, “Sign shops can focus their engraving services on customers who want to customize items they are currently purchasing for promotional/advertising purposes, such as business cards, phone cases, luggage tags (acrylic or leather), smaller signs, key chains, and more.”

Rosen reads off products like giftware, merchandise, and trophies to electronics, jewelry, and fashion accessories as other laser-engraved products sign shops can offer. “The print service provider can create products from scratch with a laser engraver or add value to existing products,” he says. “By integrating [this hardware] into the shop’s current workflow, the PSP can diversify his or her portfolio and offer more options to customers, which will allow for increased revenue and greater profitability.”

But to achieve success in this field, experts agree that you must first do your homework and determine how you want to use a laser engraver to fit in with the personalization markets around you.

“You need to understand your customers and recognize your target market’s needs here,” advises David Stevens, Industrial Applications manager at Trotec Laser. “It is important that your company finds its image and that you keep your messaging clear and consistent, in order to make it memorable.”

Marketing is one of the most impor34

Sign Builder Illustrated

tant elements of any business plan, and it is just as crucial when trying to build long-term business relationships and loyal customers. If you want to increase laser engraving sales to them, you have to let them know about your capabilities.

Targeted customer awareness concerning laser engraving generally starts with traditional marketing channels like storefront ads, in-store graphics, Web site promotions, and emails and e-newsletters.

“Expose potential customers to the various possibilities by having engraved samples highly visible throughout the shop,” suggests Rosen. “There’s nothing better than showing prospective customers the various types of unique products laser engravers can create.”

Stevens adds that shops equipped with engravers can participate in selling at local commerce events to gain exposure and recognition within the community around them. “Beyond that, you should engage across multiple social media platforms and establish your online presence,” he says.

Voigt finds that marketing laser engraving services really goes back to the individual and what it is they want to do and achieve with this equipment. Each sign shop has its limits and its capabilities that they can achieve. “Depending on the wattage of the laser, the size of the laser table, and other machinery, the best way to market yourself is to market your capabilities,” he says. “With wattages up to 400w and tables sizes up to 80-by-120 inches, your capabilities and your artistic imagination can go a long way.

“Our customers will talk or advertise about jobs they took on that others could not do. This is common for our

November 2019

customers with large format machines of higher wattages.”

Big markets for laser engraving include retail, recreation, and hospitality.

Stevens says that trends and markets in the laser industry are constantly changing, citing that laser marking tumblers or vacuum-insulated drinkware is currently popular. “This has become a lucrative application in recent years since these products help reduce single-use plastic,” he says. “This trend shows no signs of slowing down, as eco-friendly products are becoming more popular.

“Similarly we are also seeing an increase in laser-marking metal straws.

As a handful of states outlaw single-use plastic, restaurants and other businesses are requesting laser-marked logos onto their metal straws.”

Voigt has noticed that the educational market has really picked up interest in laser-engraved wares. “We have seen multiple colleges and universities using our systems in different ways. Engineering, aerospace, architecture, and design are just a few applications that we have seen grow in the education industry,” he says.

Rosen adds that Roland’s laser engraving equipment is being used by schools as teaching aids in their STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) educational programs and small-scale Fab Lab workshops.

Voigt comments that repeat sales within the manufacturing industry have definitely picked up, “It seems like customers get a machine and then find other products or processes that can be improved by integrating a laser.”

Drinkware is another popular medium for laser-engraved messaging. signshop.com

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39

Shop Talk

Regulations | BY DAVID HICKEY, ISA VP GOV’T. AFFAIRS

Two federal issues could impact your business.

T

here are two federal issues this year that could have an impact on your business. The first, from the U.S. Department of Labor, takes effect January 1, 2020. It raises the number of salaried workers who are automatically entitled to overtime pay.

Currently those who earn a salary of less than $23,660 per year are entitled to overtime. In 2020, that threshold is raised to $35,568, with expectations that another 1.4 million workers will benefit. Given that the $23,000 figure was set in 2004, the change makes sense and is far more reasonable than was originally proposed in 2016—doubling the threshold to $47,000.

Two organizations in which ISA holds membership—the American Society of Association Executives and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—filed suit in federal court, arguing that the Department of Labor overstepped its authority in issuing the 2016 rule. The ISA strongly

supported these lawsuits. In addition to adjusting the overtime threshold, the department established an automatic salary threshold increase every three years, to take place without notice or public comment. A federal judge prevented the 2016 increase from taking place.

A couple of things to note in this area: Those who earn above the salary threshold may be eligible for overtime pay if their work is not primarily managerial. And several states have salary thresholds higher than the federal standard. If you have any questions, consult an attorney or accountant familiar with the laws in your state.

Ultimately, though, there are many more workers in the sign, graphics, and visual communications industry who will be eligible for overtime pay come January 1.

The second issue is a little less clear. A federal court ruling in Thomas v. Bright could significantly change the way that signs and graphics are regulated. Cur-

Sign Builder Illustrated (Print ISSN 895-0555, Digital ISSN 2161-4709) (USPS#0015805) (Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Agreement #40612608; IMEX Po Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 88 Pine St. 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10005. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices.

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November 2019

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sign Builder Illustrated, PO Box 1407, Cedar Rapids, IA. 52406-1407.

Instructional information provided in this magazine should only be performed by skilled crafts people with the proper equipment. The publisher and authors of information provided herein advise all readers to exercise care when engaging in any of the how-to-activities published in the magazine. Further, the publisher and authors assume no liability for damages or injuries resulting from projects contained herein.

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Deep Impacts in 2020

rently the decision is very limited in that it only applies to sign companies in the Sixth Circuit’s jurisdiction: Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. It also is limited in that it currently only applies to non-commercial speech. (Note: See signshop.com for further background.)

The decision reflected an interpretation based on the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Reed v. Town of Gilbert.

The ruling came although there are more than forty years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent on the issue, including a 1981 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Metromedia v. San Diego, that allowed different treatment for on-premise and off-premise signs. In Reed, Justice Samuel Alito’s concurring opinion explicitly listed the on-premise/off-premise sign distinction as not content-based.

The case was appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which upheld the lower court ruling this summer.

The ISA believes that sign codes that regulate location, as those involving onpremise versus off-premise signs, are not content-based restrictions. They are placebased restrictions. Regulations singling out off-premise signs, for example, don’t apply to any particular ideas or viewpoints; they just regulate the locations of these signs generally. Locational restrictions fall under the traditional “Time, Place, and Manner” regulations that have been accepted for decades and that were spoken of favorably in the Reed decision.

While this may ultimately make its way to the Supreme Court, we’d like to get ahead of any issues that arise. Here’s where we need your help: Please let us know of any action at the local or state level that might use the Thomas ruling to lessen distinctions between on- and off-premise signs. We believe there are significant reasons for the distinctions, and we’ll work to educate local and state officials on the differences.

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