In more than 250 full-color photos, this book covers, in step-by-step format, the techniques used by the world's leading signmaking experts to fabricate the kinds of signs commercial signshops make every ...
A good attitude and solid business plan keep Dolphens Design and Sign smiling.
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By Steve Aust
Nebraskans have long been known as a straight-talking, independent-thinking lot. The state’s recently retired Republican Senator Chuck Hagel voted among the most moderate of Grand Old Party lawmakers, while his Democratic counterpart, Ben Nelson, consistently rates among the most conservative from his caucus. Nebraska’s most famous resident, Berkshire Hathaway President and CEO Warren Buffet, “the Oracle of Omaha,” lives in a modest two-story house despite his enormous wealth and consistently offers astute, unbiased financial counsel to corporate titans and everyday investors alike.
Perhaps the Cornhusker State’s heightened sense of equilibrium helped it earn the designation from www.mainstreet.com as the Happiest State in the U.S. The economically oriented website measures each state’s unemployment, foreclosure and non-mortgage debt rates (not residents’ propensity for smiling), but it’s hardly a stretch to correlate the state’s economic success with Nebraskans’ integral character.
Rick Dolphens, owner of Ralston, NE-based Dolphens Design and Sign, enjoys operating his signshop in such an environment. Moreover, his dual graphic-design and welding background provides experience for handling diverse signage projects. Third, Dolphens has developed an innovative product line that could help his shop serve new markets. And, finally, his son, Shaun, has joined the fold and assumed many of Dolphens’ administrative duties.
Consequently, he’s smiling and “refusing to participate in the current recession.”
Lemons to lemonade
Dolphens studied art and graphic design in high school. After having attended the Studio Academy, an art school, he sought steady employment and worked for a local welding shop, ArtFac, where he ultimately served as foreman. However, he arrived for work one day and found shop management had shuttered the company and chained its doors shut.
Recalling his scholastic fondness for graphic arts, Dolphens opened his first signshop in 1987 in Ralston: “The month I opened the shop, I had $80 left over after I paid the bills. I knew I was taking a risk, but I was sure it was worth it.”
The company produced handpainted and cut-vinyl vehicle and window graphics, banners, POP and other retail and storefront , primarily for the Half Price Store, a discount-store chain that then operated 40 Great Plains locations. The shop grew to more than 4,000 sq. ft. and seven employees.
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