Right Place... Right Time

[adaml]

Last month I overheard my Supervisor at work talking about purchasing some safety signs for the plant.
I have been playing around with coroplast material at home, so I told him I know a guy that does signs...
So I throw together 3 safety signs and we agree on $50 a piece, he loved them.

Safety sign with border.JPG (28.37 KiB) Viewed 2428 times

He has now ordered (10) 18x24 triangular signs to name our storage areas after US States and Oceans @ $75 a piece.

Area Sign for Work.JPG (46.39 KiB) Viewed 2428 times

Plus they are starting to do more Safety Programs... with me providing all of the signs.
The good thing is I have and account now with a wholesale sign supply company and have been buying supplies in bulk so
I have enough vinyl and coroplast to do a ton of projects without having to buy any more.

Pretty good considering I bought the little Cricut and SCAL for doing projects for my wife's PTA!

Adam

[lkc]

Good for you!...and to be getting a decent price, too. Do you use the larger 12x24 mat?
I have to confess...I wouldn't use the Cricut for vinyl but only because we have a commercial plotter that is more accurate and faster and you aren't limited by the mat because you only have to feed the vinyl through it but the Cricut does allow some flexibility to take on smaller sign projects and does a great job for many of the projects I see on the forum.

I also have to say your signs look professional too...I've seen a few Cricut sign jobs around town here that are a little embarassing because the lettering isn't straight and kerning is poor and it detracts from the professionalism of the businesses so Kudos to you and keep up the good work!


Laura

[adaml]

Yes I am using the 12x24 mats.
Believe me I have made a few of the "lower quality" signs you speak of, just no one else has seen them...
I have experimented with vinyl on glass block, tile, plexiglass, paper, card stock etc. and have figured out how to blend
Inkscape, Photoshop, and SCAL together to make some pretty cool things. I have just learned from the failures and
applied the successes into what I am doing today. I work for a printing company so layout is crucial to what I do at work,
so "playing" around with these signs is pretty easy at this point. I have access to a 54" plotter at work but I have never
messed around with it. I am actually quite impressed with the quality you can get from the Cricut, I have made alot of
window decals for friends and sports teams in the area and you can't tell the difference between them and the "professional"
decals bought from the local companies.


Adam

[lkc]

Your print shop background shows with the design...I worked in various print shops starting in my senior year of high school and eventually went into some desktop publishing and sign work...but did a fair share of hand painting and window splash work, too.
I will probably age myself by saying I use to work on a Kluge letterpress at my first print shop job and if you don't know what that is, I'll just take myself out to the pasture now! Though I have to confess we had offset printing too, but the shop still used a linotype for some of the letterpress work. I hated onionskin paper if it got caught in the letterpress...it was a mess...ah the memories! Thanks!

Laura