posted
Okay, so there are sign people who have been doing signs before the age of computors and there are the ones who started after computors. How about an "Offical" title for each of them. I usyally tell my customers that I'm an Old School sign painter, the real deal. But maybe out here in Letterville, someone who has a bigger and better grasp of words or adjetives that I have can come up with a better phrase. Hummmmm, I'm just to ignorant, I can't think of anything ,,,good. Ah, this turned out to be a stupid post. I gotta get back to work.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3816 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
BC & WC- before computers & with computers!
(actually, clients don't really care what I think I am, or should be called- the question they're interested in is 'can I do for them what they're needing to have done?')
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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A commercial man was someone who could do all functions of the "trade" before the computer. Beginning with show cards and paper banners,hand lettering with paints on any surface, screen print, cut out letters or decorations,installs of various types,all the fancy stuff, gold leaf to engraving and probably scads of other duties. If you worked in a electric shop you would also bend tin,install neon operate cranes and be able to use any tool in the shop. All in all, the journeyman made really good money if measured by todays standards with less equipment needs and usually a signwriter was as fast if not faster with way less waste product at the end of a simple project, and have a lot of fun and not worry about a certain color roll of vinyl or an ink cartridge running out to soon. And the material costs...?
So...maybe it would be: Sign Painter Computer tech.
Jack
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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posted
Signwriter was the most common terminology here in Canada in the day. It is also the standard in Britain. In some of the old US Sign Painting books, I've seen Signwriters referred to as Sign Mechanics, but I've always thought that was pretty odd. Signmaker or Sign Technician is common these days.
posted
geez, for over 50 years I've only been called a pinstriper or striper but for signage I have used the term Sign painter when speaking about persons who use a brush to do signs or if you're into vinyl I think Sign maker is what you'd be called. Either way I've heard every term there is depending on which side of the pond you're on. And in the mid forties on up it was appropriate for some to be called Truck Letterers as that was their bread and butter and a tough act to follow because many did just that while utilizing gild, gold and paint and nothing else.
I guess these days the scenario is a bit different but whatever the term to be had, there are still those who walk to a different beat
-------------------- HotLines Joey Madden - pinstriping since 1952 'Perfection, its what I look for and what I live for'
posted
Ohh, I like the term "Sign Mechanic" Okay, for now on I'm a sign mechanic. Even better,,,, "Lady Sign Mechanic" Let's see how this sounds,,,"Hey, what are you?" "I'm a "Lady Sign Mechanic" Hmmm, not bad. I might just go down in the shop tonite and put that on the driver's door. Let see what kind of commemts I get fron that one.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3816 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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Ahhh...errr....hate to tell you....but....in the old days ....a sign mechanic was one who was skilled with a brush and quill....but...had no ability for design and layout!
Large shops employed a couple of "mechanics" because someone else could make the patterns and hand it to them with the colors to be used.....they then cranked out the signs.
If aske to do a sign on their own ability, you would get perfect letters on a sign that looked like "nephew art".
-------------------- Si Allen #562 La Mirada, CA. USA
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Brushasaurus on Chat Posts: 8831 | From: La Mirada, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Sign Maker for a one man, or one woman, operation. A Sign Company if you have more than one person working on signs. As far as old vs. new. Sign painter if that's mostly all you want to do. Graphic Artist specialized in signs if you use computers. I just woke up this is straining my brain. It will bug me all day.
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