Inspiration - holiday

I never stop gathering inspiration for my projects.  I remember being amazed at the signs I saw the first timeI visited Disneyland as a young adult. These were the types of signs I wanted to create. And while we have created many signs for theme parks and even whole theme parks through the years, I have always believed these same types of signs should be created in the real world as well. This week Janis & I are spending our time at the Disneyland Resort in California. It is one of our favorite places to visit. I recommend such a trip for anyone in business, and especially for those who make signs. Look at how well the signs fit into their environments, how brilliantly they tell a story and inform. These signs work and work well!

We spent the morning in the park, and have now come back to the room to escape the heat and crowds of the mid-day. I downloaded my first batch of pictures, mostly of signs alone and was not surprised to see they number more than 125 so far. We have yet to even see most of the parks. Already I am inspired to create some amazing new projects when I return to my shop. Here's three of my favorite signs I saw this morning...

The signs I saw were made from a wide variety of materials. Most were dimensional (my preference) and all were over the top creative. While I would never consider copying anything I saw, the signs provided tons of inspiration and sparked lots of new ideas.

I also have my sketchbook with me. In the next week we are here I will spend some time with a pen in my hand, scribbling down the many ideas that come to mind. 

I recommend this kind of creative input to all who are looking for ideas.

Even though it is definitely a 'business' trip we are also having a blast! It doesn't get better than that.

-grampa dan

One thing always leads to another.

Earlier this week I told Janis I needed to buy a new metal cutoff saw. The two old ones I owned were very ancient and had been severely cannibalized to keep my last operational one running. But after many years of faithful service it had given up the ghost. None of the old machines were worth rebuilding with new parts. All were leftovers from when we had a large crew, well over a decade ago. It was time for a new one at last.  I started doing my research online and found good quality saws were not cheap. Janis' visiting uncle suggested a tool store just across the border in the USA as he had found their prices were very reasonable. I looked it up and they were indeed much less money for the very same tools. I brought my findings to Janis and she agreed we should take a trip to the States.

In looking up the regulations for avoiding duty we found we needed to stay 48 hours. So the discussion turned at this point to us enjoying a mini holiday... but neither of us were particularly fond of the idea of shopping and sight seeing in Bellingham for two whole days. The more we thought about it the more we got into the mood for a real holiday. We hadn't had time off in quite a while. We wondered if it was possible to instead head a little further south to our favorite place - in the name of research and inspiration of course.  So we looked up the price of air flights to Disneyland... and found an amazing seat sale.  Reasonable room rates were also located.  The few days quickly turned into a week... just to make it worthwhile.  

As luck would have it, being as we were booking t the last minute, the only flights we could get left on a Saturday and came back the following Saturday. Oh well, it worked for us. The arrangements were made. We needed a holiday... er working trip.

Eventually the subject came back to the cutoff saw.  It turns out the tool store is closed on Saturdays - the days of our coming and going to the airport near the tool store. We wouldn't be able to buy the saw on our trip after all. But we decided it wasn't a big deal. We have plenty to do before the trip and since we will be gone for a week the saw has no big rush. We'll think about that saw when we get back.  :)

-grampa dan

The hurrier I go the behinder I get

Next week I'll be in Disneyland for a few days with Janis, soaking up lots of sunshine and inspiration. I like to call it work but we will manage to have some fun too for sure.  :)

As you can imagine that means a whole lot of last minute craziness here as we scramble to get ready. Just to make things a little more exciting, my new Mac laptop arrived in the nick of time this afternoon. Much of today was spent loading files and programs onto it in preparation for the trip. It's my hope to post a couple of blog entries there but then again we'll just have to wait and see how things go.

Not much real work got done here today, between the scrambling, last minute shopping, and a few calls and visits from customers. But while the computer programs were loading I snuck in a few minutes at a time of sculpting on the Blue sky project. I was happy with the progress too.

But now it is time to get back to packing my suitcase.  I wonder where the sunscreen is?

-grampa dan