just a rant I can't avoid... We spent a lifetime learning to make thigs decorative and pleasant and adding color and proportion. We learned to draw letters either with a stick of charcoal or a brush. We learned where to add flourishes and not over do it. We learned how to exaggerate letter corners and rounded tops and bottoms so they worked after we quickly calculated how much factoring in size and distance viewed from and speed. We have labored to apply all this with heart and caring and to make it so much more that earning a living. And now, here is a generation that wants black and white google fonts.
[ November 09, 2019, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: Rick Sacks ]
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
Yesterday I got a call from a fella that wants a memorial cross sticker for his truck. He sent me a picture and it is terribly complicated. Where do people get these overlaid designs that you just add/insert the name and date? I began digitizing and called him back with a realistic design cost. Well, hey, he got this one at the mall for 30 buckos. I wouldn't touch it for 100. He just couldn't understand that.
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
Rick, Your 'rant' reminds me of a SignCraft article by Bob Behounek, "The artform we call hand lettering", September/October 2012. It is well worth the read. A very nostalgic article.
One positive to being the age we are (I am 67), is that we really don't have to deal with this at all if we don't care to.
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
I had a guy who's wife was gonna design some lettering for me to paint on her husband new log truck. I gave her a bunch of crap, in a nice way, haven't heard back from her. She did ask me about what type of fonts to use. So, I sent her to Letterhead Fonts. "Off with her head"
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Have any of you seen the new guidelines book explaining the virtue of the new Century 21 logo? They have over 140 pages and the first ten or more don't call it a logo, they call it a wordmark and explain its virtue. Have you any idea how much they were paid for this?
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I hear ya. The computers have enabled anybody to be an expert. The cute "girlie script" might be the most overused one here lately, the wraps I see out on vehicles brings to mind a phrase Steve Stanford once used to describe overdone paint jobs on custom automobiles, "wretched excess" and of course the race car scene where I once plied my trade trying to make them show up on the backstretch, now the trend is to put a black number on a black car......ponder that one for a while. lol Curt has it, we're old and don't have to put up with them. lol
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
One thing I've observed over the years is that change is the only real constant you can depend upon. As folks age, the natural tendancy is to resist change, and Lord knows, I've been guilty of that resistance. Another thing I've also observed, is that there is value in being a dinosaur, and posessing old-time skills that aren't available "on line" or from the latest piece of software.
For those into nostalgia, consider seeking out architectural firms who tend to specialize in restoration work. Those firms can and will pay top dollar to have a window transom lettered in genuine gold leaf. When no one else has a clue as to how to do such a job....you basically get to name your own price, which they'll gladly pay. Just a thought for those lamenting those changes that have occurred.
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
You got that right Ken,,,,,I just hope we experts are here and able bodied to do the job when the trend turns in a different direction.
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
Hey, I just looked at the brand page and the explanation. What logo? Thats just type. Not even kerned well.
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
Back in the olden days (51 years ago) when I first started, everything was done by hand. I started out doing seasonal window splashes for the holiday season, then branched out to do real signs. It was trial by error and I had so very much to learn!
The local sign painter had a hate on for me back then. He wasn't afraid to tell me that I was under charging and that my work sucked too. Looking back, he was right on both counts. He offered me a job, but on hearing his offer I refused for I believed I could make much better money on my own. In retrospect that was a good decision although I'm sure he could have taught me a whole lot in way less time that it took to learn on my own.
Over time I did improve and increased my prices more than a little as well.
Now, we are the old timers, bothered by this new pesky generation who know nothing about design or crafting a sign.
Some things never seem to change.
That old timer I knew back then survived me and a hundred other new guys who came along. I too, am doing just fine these days, never worrying about the new folks coming up. They will do what they do - just as I did back in the day. I charge much more than they do, and hopefully know much more through of years of experience. We stay busy with only the very best and most creative projects. For that I'm grateful.
The rest I happily leave to them.
-grampa dan
[ November 15, 2019, 03:06 AM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
The computers have enabled anybody to be an expert. The cute "girlie script" might be the most overused one here lately, the wraps I see out on vehicles brings to mind a phrase Steve Stanford once used to describe overdone paint jobs on custom automobiles, "wretched excess" and of course the race car scene where I once plied my trade trying to make them show up on the backstretch, now the trend is to put a black number on a black car......ponder that one for a while. lol Curt has it, we're old and don't have to put up with them. lol