Fetch Sign – Woof 2

Files are ready! – our HDU is on the MultiCam table and we’re ready to cut. We are going to end up with a 3″ sign panel once the two halves are glued together so we’ve planed our 2″ HDU down 1/2″ then cut the face.

We’ll insert out steel tubing, glue the panels together and our panel is done. Now it’s on to “The Bone”.

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Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.

Fetch Sign – Woof 1

It’s an exciting day here at KDF. We were asked by our good friends at Fetch Bar & Grill in Warwick, NY to update their sign based on a new logo that was just refreshed by our favorite designer, Nanette Hoey.

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After some quick sketches we designed the internal frame that will be made from welded 1″ steel tubing – this will be incredibly strong and make for a very simple installation.

InternalFrame

Our files are created in Enroute Pro and prepped for cutting. We like to have all of the elements assemble in 3D before going to cut to ensure it’s exactly what we want.

New Bone closeup

New Bone Side view

Next step is to start cutting! Stay tuned.

 

Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.

The Sign Invitational Retrospective ( Part 2 of 5 )

Aubrey Gealsha, our newest team member and Illustrator extraordinaire, took the time yesterday to write about her first ISA visit and getting exposed to the sign industry in such a big way at ISA 2016.

I leave you with the words straight from her mouth. ( She’s pictured on the left… )

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The past two months here at Synergy have been a non stop crazy adventure. We have been working long hours not only as contestants but as event organizers as well. Relaying phone calls, emails to finish up our contest piece.

I honestly haven’t mixed that much clay in my life, and painted so much in one day. It was a learning experience and I pretty much had to jump head first into the sign world, having only been recently hired. I had no idea so much went into each piece and how much is fully involved and used to create these fantastic works of art. Not only is the art that is produce fantastic and amazing, but the people behind the art are equally fantastic and amazingly talented artists.

Over the past week, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with and share meals and fun with some of the top sign makers in the industry. It was fun to pick their brains learning how they found sign making. They equally embraced and welcomed me into this world by giving me tips and trick and open invitations to their sign shops any time. I honestly have never been in the same room with so many talented, humble and friendly people in my life and I am truly thankful for a wonderful experience the Sign Invitational was.

After driving 14 hours to Orlando our adrenaline must have been pumping as we unloaded and unpacked the sign sculptures, many of which I had not seen yet. With each crate being open in the chaos of forklifts, drill, hammers and people running around everywhere. Everyone in the Multicam booth took a minute and stood back to see this art emerge from each crate. Each amazing in their own way and reflective of the style of each sign artist.

I had never been to a trade show in my life let alone exhibit in one and I am very thankful Jim took me along. I learned so much, saw so much and met so many amazing people along the way. I was so inspired and so excited I was sketching ideas on the way home. I was also looking up hand carving techniques to practice on samples of HDU that Coastal Enterprises was so generous to give me.

It was a very eye opening experience and shows that sign making is not all just decals, banners, and car wraps but it can also be considered a true art form in the 3d realm as well as engineering marvels.

-Aubrey

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Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

The Sign Invitational Retrospective ( Part 1 of 5 )

If you would have told me in September 2015 that this crazy idea Dan Sawatzky and myself hashed out in Denver would turn into this amazing event, I would not have believed you.

This past week, the Synergy crew spent the week in Orlando setting up, organizing, and tearing down what was one of the most exciting things we have ever been involved in. Over the next few days, Aubrey Gealsha ( recent hire and illustrator extraordinaire ) and myself will be writing a series of articles here on the blog showcasing what went down in Orlando at The Sign Invitational 2016.

For Now, I leave you with the results of the competition and pics of those entries.

Multicam USA

Coastal Enterprises

Enroute

Signcraft Magazine

1st Place – Peter Poanessa, Keene Signworx
2nd Place – Roger Cox, House of Signs
3rd Place – Jim Dawson, Synergy Sign & Graphics
4th Place – Phil Vanderkraats, Signs By Van
5th Place – Peter Sawatzky, Imagination Corporation

Peter Poanessa of Keene Signworx with his winning entry
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Roger Cox and Periandros Damoulis from House of Signs with the 2nd Place finish
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Jason Bair, Aubrey Gealsha, and Myself standing with our 3rd place entry.IMG_0088

Phil Vanderkraats and Donna Shriver from Signs by Van took 4th place
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Peter Sawatzky from Imagination Corporation took 5th place with his Artistic Android
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-Jim

Published with permission from Synergy Sign & Graphics. Source.

Last name plaque for workshops

We’ve decided (after much deliberation) that the Sculpture Magic Workshop we are holding at the end of this week will be the last. After ten years and hundreds of eager students it’s time we give it a rest. It was a difficult decision as I am aware of many who still wanted to come.

The last workshop (like most of them) will be a full house. We had a flurry of last minute sign-ups and so we are busy making a few more name plaques. That too has been a fun and learning experience with over 300 unique name plaques designed and routed through that decade. The last name plaque for the workshops belonged to Ron. Like most of the others the design is one that makes me think a little and used a variety of functions in EnRoute. The vectors were created in EnRoute of course.

I first created a flat relief that was 0.6″ tall.
Then I modified this flat relief using the dome tool and a pill shaped vector that was drawn around our relief.
I then used the subtract from (flat relief) tool to drop the centre portions around the diamonds and lettering outline.
I then imported a sandblasted woodgrain bitmap (from the TEXTURE MAGIC COLLECTION ) and enlarged it before applying it to the sunken portion of the relief.
I then used the bevel tool to create the diamonds at each end of the name plaque.
The last step was to use the bevel tool to shape the letters.

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.