We take great pride in taking each and every one of the signs we craft way over the top. Often this means putting in more than the original design called for. We’ve found that by building to our personal standards (and raising the bar each time) we always exceed the expectations of our customers. It also keeps all of our projects exciting and FUN! The Runaway Mine Train sign is a good example.
Once I had the parts all routed it was a simple matter of gluing up the three layers with the welded steel framework encased inside. Two tubular arms stuck out the back for mounting to the building structure. I used the die grinder to even out the edges, purposely leaving a little texture of course. This same texture was done to the back of the sign as well.
About three years ago I started a demo sign project that featured a mine and mining car. Just about then we got really busy and it languished until last year. Then I used the parts to create a little mining car that became the weather vane for the water tower of the Cultus Lake Adventure Park. Now with the addition of the Runaway mine train I needed another set of mine car wheels
The next project to be created is the Runaway Mine Train sign. The file wasn’t difficult but it had a lot of pieces. The first step was to decide what would be on each layer. Much would be built as separate reliefs and then merged at the end. I then made a vector around the outside
I enjoy building complex files that take lots of individual steps to accomplish. I find them to be a real challenge and I LOVE a challenge! Today’s complex files are the wheels and tires for this jeep. Save for the raised lettering I built the entire file inside EnRoute. The tires will be extreme lug mud tires and so I first created the chevrons that go around the outside of the tire. I only had to build one and EnRoute automatically does the rest.
I thought I might show another project’s development in sketches. These were done in my sketchbook on a plane ride as I traveled home on a business trip. The drawings were quick and I filled there pages of my sketchbook in about half an hour or less. You can see the drawings were far from perfect. The client would never see them as they were just to guide our building of the feature.
One of the keys to coming up with a great and original designs is to learn to draw. While many may say they simply can’t draw I believe it is a skill we can develop to a great degree. The key is to practice, practice practice. I buy inexpensive blank hard bound books (Staples) and fill them with ideas. I keep them handy and stashed wherever I might need one.
The artwork for the Blasting Barrels sign was done months ago. A second sign which is mounted to the ride was to be built by the ride manufacturer in Italy and the owner ordered that sign spelled with a dropped ‘g’. I got the memo to change ours to suit but promptly forgot. When it came time to create the file to route the sign I looked at my original artwork and then set to work
Today was the first day of the International Sign Association convention/show in Las Vegas. The display we created for MultiCam arrived safe and sound and their people had everything perfectly set up for me. It was with great pleasure I was privileged to show and talk about how we use EnRoute in conjunction with our MultiCam machine to do our dimensional work using Precision Board. It was with great delight I talked to hundreds of wonderful people, greeting old friends and new.