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Rte. 66 Walldogs Jam

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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Site Man
Posts: 573
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:03 am
Location: Marlborough, MA

Rte. 66 Walldogs Jam

Post by Site Man »

OLD FORUM POSTS

Posted by Bill Thomas on December 04, 2001
Mike,

I'm looking for someone to help me organize and sponsor a Walldogs Jam here on historic Rt. 66 in Central Illinois.
I'm not a Letterhead, just an admirer of the work I've seen online.

What I am is:

- a heck of an organizer

- a Rt. 66 enthusiast

- a history lover (as in historic advertising signage)

I'd like to propose a Walldog Jam be held in Atlanta, Illinois (that's right, Illinois, not Georgia....) this coming Summer
2002. We are a small (population 1,600) community, located mid-way between Chicago and St. Louis, smack dab on
the Mother Road itself, Rt. 66. What we lack in size, we more than make up for in spirit, creativity, and organizational
ability.

With these assets in play, we want to find a Letterhead or two willing to help us pull off a small Walldog Jam. Can you
put me in contact with any interested parties, or perhaps advise me on where to seek such assistance?

Thanks,

Bill Thomas
Mike Jackson

Image
Hi Bill,
I linked directly to your photo on your site for this drawing above. You will get all kinds of suggestions on this issue, but let me make a very basic one:

This drawing is probably on a proportion of 8 to 10...as in drawn on a 8 x 10 sheet of paper. As sign painters, we get this all the time. For your sketch to make any sense, you need to have it drawn to "proportional scale". You say your wall will be 20' x 40'. Your drawing, in this case, might be 10" long and only 5" tall (or on a 1 to 2 scale). If you spread the two corner building from end to end on the 40' length, you probably won't have any room at the top for the rolling hills. The buildings might not even fit and get cut off.

Good luck with the rest of your quest!

Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson
Hi Bill,
I see that you are getting hammered on the Letterville board. You might be well advised to make a post related to what you had in mind for the meeting. Who does what? Who pays? Who supplies the materials? Payment to the wall chairmen? Who has control over designs? How many walls? What is the town (private, gov't, business) giving toward the efforts of the craftsmen? Fees? Meals? What's in it for you? I'd suggest that you put yourself in the shoes of the people you want to do the work and see how attractive the project sounds to you. You'd probably want to drive around and take photos of all the blank walls. Get town permission, take care of all permits, and so forth.

In other words...let's hear YOUR WORDS and not speculations by others. In many of the previous meetings, one or two sign people get together and organize the event. They spend a few hundred hours getting everything ready months in advance, and the lose a solid two weeks of work prior to the weekend and another one afterwards. Are you that person?

Don't get me wrong here. I am all for you doing this, but you'll need to be more specific on your idea and request.

Mike Jackson


Bill Thomas
Mike,

Goodness, but this is fun?! Actually, as a former public school principal, I'm very used to having folks scream in my face. Been there, done that.

Thanks for your very helpful suggestions. I spent considerable time this morning reading and re-reading all the responses to my post of yesterday. I've tried to write a helpful response that addresses the issues folks raised.

I am indeed the organizer who will help make this happen. But, as I've tried to make clear in my posts, I need someone who has worked these Jams before to step up to the plate and help me with the actual substance of what needs to be done. Then stand back and let me go.
Mike Jackson
Hi Bill,
You might want to scroll down to about 10-18-2001 on this bb and look for posts by Jay Allen. Then contact him by email to see if he has time to talk to you. He hosted the big Belvidere meeting a few years ago and has been involved with his community all along since that time. Of all the people I know personally, he would be the most qualified to get your wheels going.

I wasn't really part of the very first WallDog jams, but I believe it started on a very simple and small scale...as in only one wall or maybe two. The organizer got all the okays from the town and building owner, contacted someone to design it, and then invited a group of frinds from the immediate area for a day or two of wall doggin'.

Being simple and small has its advantages. Personally, I have always liked those best.

Good luck,
Mike Jackson
Carol
Why do you want to put on a WallDog Jam?
Bill Thomas
Carol,

You can get a more complete picture of my original request for a Rt. 66 Walldog Jam and the discussion which it has fostered by going to:

http://www.letterhead.com/ubb-cgi/ultim ... 1&t=015820

Bill T.
Carol
Why not hire a sign person to do the mural you want?
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