New Ways combined with the old

[Dan Sawatzky]

This website has many people on it who simply love the old way of doing things. They work tirelessly, rediscovering lost methods and techniques, and enjoy the task of doing things that way... because it is the tried and true method. These folks share a passion for a craft which can take a lifetime to master and perfect. I certainly respect and admire that.

The reality is that the world has moved on in the sign department. People now use computers and modern machines to make most of the signs used in the modern world. We don't have to like it, embrace it or do that type of work, but its the reality without a doubt.

But is it totally a bad thing? We love to look around and moan about the poorly designed signs we see all around and often long for the good old days when things were better. But have things really changed that radically?

I remember back to when I first started in the sign business. It didn't take much to get started in those days. I bought the colors of paint I needed for the sign at hand... some brushes, a pencil, tape measure and a yardstick and 100 (badly designed ) business cards and I was in business. EEEEE HAAAAAA! As I recall I invested a whopping $45 to start. It was all the money I had and could borrow back then but in reality it was pocket change. I wasn't doing very good signs, I knew nothing about the principles of design or even painting for that matter. I didn't even know the basics.

Even so I didn't have any trouble finding customers who wanted me to do their work. I suspect these folks knew they were getting a bargain and either didn't care or didn't understand that the signs I made for them wouldn't be up to par. But I was in business much to the chagrin of my local competitors. I know I literally stole some of their business from them... they told me so in very plain english when I bumped into them on the street.

Eventually I figured out that I had much to learn. I needed to charge more to make a decent living. I needed to buy quality supplies. And I needed to practice, study and learn the principles of design and the skills of quality painting and sign construction. It took a lot of years for all those really bad first efforts to disappear from the landscape. And before they did there was another new guy following in my footprints - doing work which looked a lot like my fist painful efforts. He was charging far too little too! The shoe was on the other foot. It was my turn to moan about the new guy... and to spend a little time educating and encouraging him to do better and charge more too.

These days it seems there are more signshops around than we can count - many doing rather bad, unimaginative work. With the modern technology and tools it sometimes seems the hard earned skills we aquired are no longer necessary... or are they? I believe they still are critical.

I learned many years ago to not sweat what my competition was or wasn't doing. I choose instead to NOT compete with them. I'd rather go my own way. As I see it, the key to success in today's business world is to find a niche, a market where competition is thin, where it would take a long while for someone new to aquire the same skills and knowlege. The secret is to do something at a WORLD CLASS level and in doing so create a demand for your craft where you can call the shots- not the newby down the street. Although it may take quite some time to develop the necesary skills and unique style I would argue it isn't really that hard to do - compared to days of old.

In fact, I would argue that it is easier today than it has ever been for those with passion and a desire to be the very best. With today's modern tools, methods and materials making signs and building a market has never been simpler. We have access to virtually unlimited knowlege... INSTANTLY. This forum is one wonderful example.

I can and do pick up my phone regularly and dial a number of someone whom I know can answer any question I may have about signs, design, materials or methods. If they don't know the answer chances are they will know someone who does. I can instantly send a digital picture and recieve one back which solves my dilema or crisis. The world is smaller, I have friends who share my passion the world over... and I can be in touch instantly. The fellowship of Letterheads means that secrets once hidden are now shared.

I can also use these wonderful digital mediums to advertise and display my work. My easily and instantly updated website is my virtual brochure. I routinely send digital files instantly to wherever my client may be. My clients are no longer just in my home town, but are literally scattered around the globe. I often hop on a plane and fly thousands of miles for a meeting to discuss the possibilities of a prospective job with a client. I do inspections, installations, and grand openings of projects many miles from home. I've left home in the morning, attended a meeting a thousand miles away and still been home in time for a late supper. If its a small project I carefull package it and dial the number for the courior... in a matter of minutes or hours its on the way to wherever... and can be there as early as the next morning. My clients instantly wire money to my account from half a globe away... after I send proof of the completed job via my digital camera... all before shipping the finished project.

Rather than limiting what I can charge, I find doing business in today's world allows me to increase my rates, for I don't have to rely on a small local market for my work. I instead can market to one in a thousand or one in a million and still have plenty of work... more than I can handle. Through a professional and world class image carefully crafted and presented on my website and elsewhere I can be the expert my clients seek... and I can even do it in my PJ's if I want.

Modern tools allow me to create ideas in my sketchbook as always, then transfer them to the computer with a scanner, rework them in the virtual world before sending them to my CNC router to turn them back into physical objects once more... fulfilling the promise of the original idea. Modern materials and paints allow me to have confidence my signs will last as they should.

Its a much different world than the one in which I started so many years ago... but I kinda like it here! Instead of fighting the modern ways, I instead select the new ways which make my job easier and better... and combine them with the ways I trust and enjoy. The end result is a lifestyle and job I absolutely love.

It sure beats working for a living in Yarrow...

-grampa dan

[joe cieslowski]

Dan,

I'm gonna print this out and chew on it for a while. I want to think on this a bit before I reply because I think you are talking about guys like me

Joe

[Raymond Chapman]

He sure uses a lot of words, doesn't he.

Just a gentle jab folks - nothing serious. Sawhatshisname and I have been going at each other for a long time and we both still respect each other. Well, kinda anyway.

[Dan Sawatzky]

As anybody who knows and loves Raymond and has talked with him at length on the phone can attest, he loves to talk - using lots of words too... my long distance phone bill proves it. I suspect he just types so slow he doesn't have time to put his real thoughts down.

Its hard to teach those old dogs new tricks...

-grampa dan

[Raymond Chapman]

"old dog"?

[Raymond Chapman]

This "old dog" may have a few tricks, too...it's always YOUR phone bill, isn't it?