TOOLS OF THE TRADE…

Over the past (30) plus years we have seen the sign industry evolve from having a "box" full of brushes and paints in the back of our vehicle, (and staring at the substrate/vehicle for hours and hours while hand-lettering) - to the machinery in use today.

When I purchased our 1st vinyl cutter, my mentor at the time told me that this machine is good, but don't forget that it's a machine and you still have to think like a "Signpainter" – This machine can either help you make nice signs, but it will also make bad signs "perfectly". You still have to choose good fonts, kern them (adjust the spacing of letters) and design a nice layout for the vehicle/substrate that you are lettering.

I had a mechanic tell me that I was "cheating", because I wasn't "hand-lettering" a particular vehicle. I thought about it for a moment, and asked him why he could use his air gun to pull apart an engine, or remove and install tires and misc. parts as needed? He told me that was different…

Mechanics today utilize air tools; carpenters use a variety of saws, and equipment in lieu of their old "Handsaw"; the roofers use nail guns, and high lifts - which make their jobs faster, easier, safer, and often times "Better". If it weren't for the machinery available to us today, we would never keep up with the work and projects that we are asked to perform on a daily basis.