quote:More of us need to sit down and re-evaluate what we are doing and whether we still have passion for our choices. Or are we just going through the motions and headed no where.
I too wonder how many of us in the sign business fall into this category... I know I have from time to time. When it happens we need to sit ourselves down and have a serious think... come up with a plan and then put our new plan into action. Life is much too short to do otherwise. I've seen so many unhappy people in my life who lost their passion and were simply going through the motions, surviving and no longer living.
In my own life there seems to be a 10 year pattern to the cycles of interest/passion. Although the changes are gradual and the 'slightly different careers' overlap some there are definite cycles. Past cycles have included window spashes/flat sign work, fine art, murals, and large scale theme projects. Currently we are in the midst of changing our business from primarily large theme park work to dimensional signs for a more conventional market. It was to be a five year transistion but that kinda got bumped up by the current economic climate which effectively dried up our large scale work.
While there will hopefully be one or two more large scale projects in my future, we are putting more of our energy into developing a market for the new smaller scale work - something I am currently passionate about and hope to be for a while yet.
Looking forward to the next cycle in Yarrow...
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Where I thought I was headed may be changing someday, and not by my choice, I always thought that the products I use would always be there, like leaded lettering enamel, Bon Ami cake soap, etc. But as time goes on I sometimes wonder what I'll be doing in 10 years. I really don't want to be sitting in front of a monitor designing and then hitting the cut/plot button all day long. Just think of it Dan, if one day the Goverment said that unrethane foam is to be banned because it's bad for the environment. Or that wood products can only be used by those in the construction business. If anything, I've learned, or am still learning, is to just go with the flow, and try to make a living at something I enjoy. My one hope is that there will always be a need for signs and those who need to advertise what they are selling. For those people, I have something to offer.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3814 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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While in school I was always interested in art and creating things with my hands. Its something I got from my dad.
I can remember as a kid that I hated this business. I really did. My dad would wake me up at 5am on a Saturday and take me with him to go letter a window or a truck on site. In my late teens, he would drag me down to help him with lettering a billboard or a brick wall. What I once enjoyed became hot miserable work.
After college and a stint in retail sales and looking for a better job, I was asked if I could help out at the shop. Nothing permanent. Just for a couple weeks. That was 22 years ago.
During those first two weeks, I got to leaf through some of dad's SignCraft magazines. The sign bug bit.
But in the last 10 years, my interest in the trade has begun to wane. I suppose part of it is due to just simple burn-out. Another is funds of course. Another is my own limitations. While my father is a natural-born artist, I never really inherited any of his skills.
At 47, both of my hands tremble. Trying to pinstripe is useless. I've lost roughly 20% of my hearing and its slowly getting worse.
Then there are the financial pressures. In our market, trying to make money in this business is getting harder and harder. Too many shops willing to work for free.
So I've been turning to alternatives - screen printing, design, web, marketing. Basically trying to emulate much of what Dan Antonelli has done.
This change in direction has been something of a relief. I don't have to fight building inspectors who tell you one thing one day and then tell you something different while you're in the middle of an install. No killing yourself as you try to dig footings through rocky soil in 90f heat with 80% humidity. No listening to a client bitch about the paint fading on the temporary sign you made for them 12 years ago (yes, its true).
I look at what some of the work guys like you, Alicia and Charles Borges de Oliveir do. You're inspiring and depressing at the same time.
You're inspiring because you make me want to be better. And you're depressing because when reality sits in no matter how hard I work at it, I will never reach your level and I know it.
So I'm slowly taking heading in another direction in a similar field. So far, its been much more profitable than signs. And the sense of satisfaction I once got from working in the sign industry is slowly returning. A client called me on my cell phone at 8pm last night all excited. He credited me with with his success in landing an account that he had been after for years. He did all the hard work. I just made a few suggestions and helped him redesign his company's image. Still, I'm happy. I have a sense of success I haven't had in a long time.
I'm off to set up a photo shoot for the next big project. The journey continues.
posted
A few scattered thoughts, so bear with my ADD.
One of my favorite sayings is If you're not growing, you're dying. Glenn's situation is a perfect example of growing your knowledge base.
The world evolves every day. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm much rather turn up the radio & ac & drive my pickup down a paved road instead of sweating my butt off in a horse & buggy on a dusty, rutted road. You can evolve with it or get all negative & do nothing but bitch because you chose to stop learning anything new 20 years ago.
Attitude is everything.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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I spoke with a letterhead about this today. My business is dead right now....I've not had a meaningful job in 6-8 weeks.
I allowed as how I started limiting my work to just dimensional/sandblasted stuff, several years ago. I thought I was doing the right thing...you know, doing what I love the best....but the work dried up.
The person I spoke with said he was busy as could be, and after an hour or so of talking I realized that he had diversified enough so that one part of signwork falling off did not hurt the entire shop, because he was doing a little of this, a little of that... I, however, was stubbornly trying to do just one thing.
There is a lesson here...at least for me. Be flexible !
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Hmmm. The sign business is commercial art- not fine art. One of the main differences between the two is how we get paid. In commercial art, there is an agreement with a specific piece of art with specific materials, done at a specific time with a specified dollar amount. In fine art, the artist is free to choose the art, the materials and the time frame. Typically, there is no agreed upon dollar amount and the artist hopes that someone will buy the kind of art that he/she likes to do. (I realize that there is some overlap and gray areas here but generally speaking, this is how it works).
I tend to forget that the customer is half of the agreement. AHH...Balance, Glenn.
-------------------- Nancy B. Bennett Walldog Public Art 317 N. 13th St. Centerville, Iowa 52544 Posts: 95 | From: Centerville, IA, USA | Registered: Mar 2000
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Here's some scattered thoughts of my own to add - hope you don't mind. Alicia gives us something to think about, with our sign supplies and materials often changing, sometimes by regulation. It's scary. However, I remember when vinyl came on the market, and then inkjet printers... we all heard this: "All you Sign Painters will go out of business if you don't buy into these new products." That did not come true. So, I believe we will always be needed and have a job Alicia! All great statements: The world evolves, Interest/passion goes in cycles, and Be Flexible. Keep on learning, and sharing what you learn - I like it!
-------------------- Kathy Weeks Weeks-End Signs & Graphics Lake Elmo, Minnesota Posts: 249 | From: Lake Elmo, Minnesota | Registered: Mar 2009
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I agree with Kathy that we will always be needed because since I've retired I seem to have more work than I can handle by myself. This weekend proves what I say by me inviting Jeff Crank up from Redding to help do the Oregon Gold Wing rally. They practically begged me to consider this and so we will be there tonight through Sunday.
I believe there is a wide difference between vehicle art including pinstriping and commercial sign work.
I've always asked others in this business what is the amount of money they would like to make monthly rather then the answer being ' as much as I can ' I find that having a set number so to speak gives you room to promote yourself as well as a strong family life. If you're really good at what you do, stay on top of things and find the paints you need than you shouldn't have problems, well into the future, if not C'est la vie
I've done my thing for well over fifty years
-------------------- HotLines Joey Madden - pinstriping since 1952 'Perfection, its what I look for and what I live for'
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I'm twenty five tears in the business this year. If there's one thing I've learned, it's not to put all the eggs in one basket. When the construction industry was flying here, I treated all my other customers with equal importance as the large construction firms. Thankfully, even though business is well down on last year, I have enough of a client base to survive with the construction related clients all gone. Admittedly a lot of the work now is boring correx stuff. But, it pays the bills for now, and I'll settle for that.
-------------------- Kevin Gaffney Artistik Signs Kinnegad County Westmeath Ireland 044-75187 kevingaffney@eircom.net Posts: 628 | From: Ireland | Registered: Oct 2003
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Things change... Six years ago, the lion's share of our work was dimensional signs - mostly carved, with several large jobs using gilded Gemini letters - and jobs in the 10k+ range were not uncommon.
2003 was a high-water mark for those types of jobs. While I still do dimensional signs, and customers still ask about them, most of them opt for lower-priced options.
This means that design becomes more important than ever. Most of the shops in my area are turning out vinyl or printed signs with limited fonts and frankly, limited imagination and creativity. That leaves me an opening to offer a more appealing and creative approach in my designs, and the justification to charge more for them.
This is also were brushwork and hand-lettering becomes invaluable. Because I'm not limited to what my plotter can churn out, I can add a lot of value to higher-end signs without a lot of investment. A lot of what I do with a brush and paint would require most shops to have a $10,000 digital printer to reproduce - and those that have that equipment mostly end up using clipart and photo-imaging instead of designing something original and creative. That niche doesn't have to be especially big to be comfortable. But it does mean putting your time and energy into developing your design skills and establishing your reputation, rather than sweating over how low the competition will crawl to sell letters by the pound.
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I am in the same camp with Cam. We have been in business in the same area for over 81 years and I have 5 generations before me to draw upon. My knowledge and ability to utilize many different materials and techniques allows me to take on projects that no one else will attempt. We have stayed in business by adapting to the market as it evloves as well. While I may not embrace all new technology, I have always taken the time to learn about it, even more so after 1982. My infamous last words that year after attending the introduction of the Gerber III (prior to the IVa and IVb) "nice toy, but we'll never need it in our shop" I of course have eaten my words and hope to not make that mistake again. I still evaluate each new concept as it relates to our operation and our market niche. As the saying goes, "change is inevitable, except from vending machines". So I embrace change and try to fit our operation into each change as it occurs.
-------------------- Kent Smith Smith Sign Studio P.O.Box 2385, Estes Park, CO 80517-2385 kent@smithsignstudio.com Posts: 1025 | From: Estes Park, CO | Registered: Nov 1998
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