Are you thinking of creative ways to add 3D elements to a relatively 2D sign? When The Zone children’s summer camp in the Catskills Mountains of New York needed their sign redesigned, they got in touch with Jim Dawson at Synergy Sign & Graphics in Strasburg, Ohio. They wanted a design based on their mascot, a camel. We asked Jim to talk us through the design and how they assembled such a large and heavy sign.
The entire sign is 5′ tall by 10′ wide and incorporates a dimensional camel head into the design. The head and neck were 4 feet tall and fabricated from PBLT-4 and PBLT-30. The letters were also made out of PBLT-30 and the humps were made of out PBLT-10.
“We wanted the camel to be its own element so we could work on it separately. We made it in modules so that it would all fit together,” says Dawson. “It was a lot of work fitting the pieces together and they finally all came together when it was close to done,” he added.
The head weighed close to 125 pounds, so Jim knew they would need steel to hold it all together. He didn’t have room to build a wireframe, so they built a steel frame and applied the head and Precision Board HDU to the outside of it. The head had a cantilever so it really had to be rigid. He glued the head and neck to a cantilever and bolted it into the steel frame. The humps were also glued straight to the steel plate. The letters were attached to standoffs on the steel frame.
“We used Textured Surface Coating (TSF-45) to give the humps three coats and then hardcoated the neck and head with Smooth-On Freeform Habitat epoxy clay,” said Jim. “The TSF-45 really gave the camel a nice texture and the hardcoat will help protect it from outside elements,” he added.
We think that Jim Dawson and his team do some really excellent work. Synergy Sign & Graphics has a highly experienced staff whose backgrounds include graphic design, marketing, trade-show design, print media, branding, point of purchase design, fulfillment, and more. Check out their website or give them a call at (330) 878-7646 to see about your next project!