One veteran, installation sign company owner recently told me, “Sign industry knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. It’s not taught.  It’s learned.”

That crafts are still passed down like this in modern societies is not unusual. Shaping surfboards is done the same way: it is passed down from one person to the next, that is, from generation to generation. However, in the past 15 years, or so, in the surfing industry, that has changed. Now, there are more than several books on the subject of shaping surfboards, along with DVDs, explaining the process.

Not so in the contractor sign industry. In the sign industry, what comes close to anything related to something that could teach How-To Design Signs amounts to several books on completed sign projects and other near related topics. Gallery sign books are basically nice photos of completed signs, mostly sign monuments and pylons, that are based on award-winning sign design.  They are not How-To books.

Also available for topics related to signage are books on retail sign display, not sign design. There are even some books on Wayfinding by authors who do not seemed to have ever worked for a contractor sign company.  Finally, Stallcups has some technical books on how to wire electrical signage,  and all the codes related to them. This might be good if union states could come to some kind of agreement in building codes.

In 9 years of designing signs, Chatterbox Designs has NOT been able to find one book that teaches sign design for the trade. Learning sign design was a personal struggle, something that was learned the hard way: apprenticeship. It took one year to actually “get it”. It took another 3 years to get good at sign design. Over the years, Chatterbox Designs has been given the opportunity to design thousands of signs for many contractor sign companies.

Many experienced veterans in the sign industry agree, “There is no formal schooling to teach incoming designers how to design electrical signs, or anything related to what sign companies do.” It is an ever-frustrating aspect to the business that no one has ever addressed. Sign company owners are trying to run a business, not write books. They do not have time to teach their designers, yet they do, with a great deal of stress and frustration.

Today, there are literally thousands of sign companies. Thousands! (See Home page, "Industry Overview").

Hiring and teaching graphic designers the sign design trade seems to accrue a lot of wasted time for companies. Why? Because there is no training or reference manual for the trade. Hence, a lot of wasted time.

At Chatterbox Designs, we specialize in the area of sign design, understanding materials and fabrication techniques actually used in the sign industry.  We also understand how sign companies prepare and print digital media with their applications.

Summary

You only have from 8am to 5pm to make money. After that, people go home. They do not want to answer the phone. It’s dinner time.

What are you doing with your design department to speed up and streamline production?

Solution

Click the Contact button to learn more about how Chatterbox Designs will assist your company on how “not waste time” with your designer and the design process.

We get it! We got it! We want to give it to you! Contact us.