Imagine a sign that is so effective we have to keep our gates locked to stop people from coming onto the yard. We managed to build such a sign. Most people who see it don't realize it is part of our marketing strategy. Who would think it would have been so easy and so effective.

When we bought our property we built our shop at the rear, about three hundred and fifty feet from the road. This building doesn't look like any other shop. Constructed of state of the art, reinforced concrete inside foam blocks the shop building is designed to be efficient and soundproof. It silently screams of what we do from the oversized timbers, the giant metal, magical doors, to the giant dragon that 'flies' above the big planter out front. The shop building is very effective as a sign but it is only a small part of our 'sign' system.

The 'official' sign out by the road is relatively small as dictated by local bylaws. It features a fully dimensional ship sailing through a crescent moon. While it is a very cooll piece, most people don't even see or read this sign.

The thing that literally stops traffic on the road in front of our place of business is actually our house. It is the landmark that people remember. It is carefully and purposely designed to showcase everything we do and it speaks volumes.

If the gates aren't shut and locked it isn't uncommon to find people wandering our property, cameras in hand. Most are 'just looking', drawn in by the architecture out front and what they can glimpse from the road. Too often these people wander right into the shop if it's unlocked and even into the house on occasion.

While most are harmless I'm sure, each visitor takes a few minutes or more of our time with the endless questions.

We need to design and build one more sign for the front of our place. It will state that an appointment is needed to enter our gates. Hopefully this sign will work as well as the others. :)

-grampa dan