Most of our clients become friends, and the projects are but the first of many over a period of years. My visit to the Toronto area for the Downey’s Farm project also means a few extra days to visit our other clients in the area. One of them, of course, is NEB’s Fun World who we’ve been working with for about a decade. The indoor amusement park looks more amazing each visit! Although we didn’t do anything for NEBs this year, they have been making amazing progress on a very ambitious expansion that will open in stages beginning in the fall of this year. I was privileged to get a backstage tour and an in-depth peek at the blueprints of what is yet to come. It is going to be amazing and will undoubtedly bring dynamic energy to the business for decades to come. Over a nice dinner meeting, we discussed projects we will be involved with in the next few years. It is going to be a lot of fun! Stay tuned…
Signs in place
Much of our art is designed and crafted in our studio, then loaded on a trailer for transport and sent down the road. The distant client does the install, and except for pictures, we never see it again. So it is a treat to help do the installation and see our pieces in the place we designed them for. The Downey’s Build a Buddy sign isn’t huge, measuring four feet across, but it was built with heart. I was delighted to help install it in the perfect location they had built for it, complete with down lighting and an LED-lit border. I think the little donkey loves his new home!
Giant kerning
Kerning (correct spacing of letters) is an art I enjoy. It isn’t done with a tape measure but rather by eye. Spacing the giant DOWNEYS letters is a whole other deal. We hooked up the heavy letters individually to the zoom boom and then shuffled them into place with two helpers steadying them. As each letter was placed, I ran back about fifty feet to check the look. Final adjustments were done with a five-pound sledgehammer. They will be anchored in place, and this Saturday, the Downey crew will pour another layer of concrete around them, and then next week, they’ll do the landscaping to finish things off. The weather today was cool. cloudy and windy, which didn’t make for good pictures. The Downeys have promised to send some pictures when the installation is finished. Stay tuned…
