I'm using my forced sitting time (on account of my broken toe) to prepare for some talks I am to give at a sign conference this coming fall. I was going through some old pictures today and came across the very first piece of commercial art which I did at the age of fourteen way back in 1968. I had decided painting store windows for the Christmas season would be a great way to make some spending money. I dug out some of the Christmas cards my mom always saved and used those as inspiration for a book of designs I drew up. As Christmas approached I hitchhiked into town and visited the merchants. Each store owner got to look through my design book and my pressure tactic was to offer exclusive designs to them. Once a design was chosen I wouldn't do it on another merchant's window. The first merchants to sign up also got the first pick of my available times. My plan worked beyond my wildest expectations! I made a whopping six hundred dollars in the next few weeks, after school and on weekends. It was a fortune in 1968 - especially to a fourteen year old kid! This is a picture of my very first window which I painted for fifteen bucks. It took me about an hour as I recall which was a fabulous wage in those days and a whole lot easier than shovelling driveways or mowing lawns!
Sidelined (temporarily)
While we work hard on a daily basis I find it much, much harder to not work - especially when our crew is busy doing the things I feel I should be doing. Yesterday evening, I dropped a large piece of steel on my big toe and the x-rays today confirmed it was indeed broken. I'm not going to post a picture of my foot. It's purple and black, a little larger than normal and I'll even admit to it being a little bit sore. Janis is keeping me firmly planted in my recliner (with many dirty looks when I make like I might get up) and I get to watch the crew working out the window.
They will of course do a fine job (as always) and Peter is more than capable of leading the charge. But all of that doesn't make it any easier to just sit here and RELAX.
Definition of a sign
We define a sign differently than most people who create them. To us a sign can be 'anything that draws attention to a product, service or business.' This can include a whole lot of things. It is about turning heads, attracting interest and sending a clear message to prospective customers. While many concentrate on a board with letters we instead look at a much bigger picture. What part does the building play in this message. And of course the landscaping is important too. And then there's all the other things we can offer.
By carefully implementing our definition of a sign our street side presence is massive, even though our actual sign is quite small (as governed by the local bylaws). Since our shop is at the back of our property (300 feet from the road) we put a lot of effort into the house up front and the landscape also plays a very important role. By paying careful attention to the buildings and landscape we effectively multiply our presence many times more than a conventional sign might.
