Im a 17 year sign design veteran who has been looking to relocate to Florida.
I have used google maps and this site to locate companies all over the state.
I am amazed at the amount of shops there are. But whats more amazing is the poor
designs I see in the portfolios .
I guess if you have enough money and an idea to open your own shop, can operate a pc ,then youre automatically a Sign Man.
Or the owner just hires someone off the street ,pays them 10 bucks an hour and the result is a town full of bad truck lettering and crap signage. The standards needs to be set higher people.
You can thank the ex-corporate people in "transition" as they call it. They buy a franchise and have NO CLUE about signs, nor do they want to learn. They then hire $10.00 an hour people and think they are going to get rich! I long for the days when signs were an art and you were proud of what you did. Seems like so many sign shops today are all about margins, cheap products, and near term money and all the other fluffy terms they bring with them.
You Get What You Pay For. To Bad The Rest Of Us
Have To Wake In The Morning , Go Out Into The World
and Have To Endure The Visually Retarded Designers
Out Of The Can Graphics That Support Their Own Egos.
Good Thing For Us Old Pros That The Drug Companies
Are Still Making Pills For The Migrane Headaches That
These Morons Are Causing !
I live in Florida and I am a 25+ year sign designer. I would have to agree that the standards and creativity I was taught has gone to the way side. Now any kid with a laptop is a sign designer???
It used to be a respected trade and designers were an asset to a company. not anymore especially in Florida from what I can tell.
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I Hear what you are saying. I have fought this battle since i opened my shop.As a designer, i cringe at the thought of someone "shopping around" because many shops will undercut to get the customer.
the design usually suffers,unless they see or steal your design & see what you were offering.
i try to educate a customer between cheap/fast & good & well done.
I would say about 10% of my customer comes through the door with an appreciation for better design, many people simply do not consider that there is a designer doing all these designs.
I try to educate them on different ways to tackle the sign needs. but there is always 2-3 choices between cheap & nice & i try to let them decide.
usually they get somewhat overwhelmed & let ,me offer my opinions.The education gives them the power to make an educated decision. Some of my best projects have come from that 5 minute conversation in my showroom. I feel that if the customer enters your shop that they are here to buy. The showroom answers all the questions about the touch/ feel aspect of purchasing a large product like a sign. Also it alleviates any questions about your credibility. The downside is that it has high rent & a lot of time wasters., a lot.
The sign industry used to be a cherished skill, like a blacksmith or a dentist. Now with computers involved, it has become a commodity. Signs are being sold by the square foot, like carpeting.
Typically, i refuse to give a square foot price on anything. it really cheapens the product. i usually reply that pricing is on a per job basis.
You can estimate that way, just dont say... "oh that sign is $12. per sq. ft" it is not floor tile in a box.
enough on that rant...Ijust wanted to let you that things are not going to change. You just have to rise above... you wont die rich, but you will take pride that your work will represent this generations sign makers that give a crap about quality (all 10% of us).
My business has survived because my core customers know that i live/eat/breathe the sign business & art/design.
another strugglig artist.
Erik Michaud
Spectrum Signs
557 elm street
Biddeford, Maine
207-294-6388