#Skills
I have done the same type of work since 1974 and tried to keep up with the ever changing technology in the my industry even though it seems to change every year. What I am talking about is, the Sign Industry as related to, designing signs, logos, lighted signs, magnetic s, banners, etc. mostly for businesses.
I actually started this long career way back in High School, where I took all the art classes I could, through out middle school, high school and a while in college. All this training gave me the fundamentals of design, balance, color correlation and the ability to take a rough idea and translate it into a design or 3-d sign.
I carried these fundamentals with me as I entered into the USAF (United States Air Force), where I was assigned to work in the graphics department for TAC (Tactical Air Command) in Virginia. In the Graphics department I made flip chart briefings, attack profiles of attacking fighter jets including the F15 Eagle near the end of my stint for the generals and top brass. I also made 3-d color slide presentations to brief the on subjects that ranged from base systems, c-130 deployments, changes in the flight line maintenance and what ever was needed to brief the upper echelons on.
After the service, I began working with a few different commercial sign companies located in Newport News and Hampton, Virginia. I started off in these companies as a sign painter, where I used hand lettering brushes and lettered each sign with brushes made of squirrel hair and sign enamel paint. Each design was hand sketched out with chalk or a light pencil line to make sure the lettering would fit the area available.
It's amazing how times have changed, in 1993 I purchased my first sign computer, the computer at that time used a hot tip to cut the adhesive vinyl sheets into the design from the screen. The hot tip left a large ridge and make it hard to transfer the lettering to the surface. They eventually came out with a small carbide cutting blade which is where things are now. The next step would be to remove all the unwanted vinyl (weeding) to leave the parts you wanted to transfer to the surface of the job you were working on.
The next step is to cover up all the left over lettering with a transfer tape which will stick to the lettering only and not the silicone base paper. Once the transfer paper is squeeged down to make good contact, you pickup all the lettering at once and place it into it's final location on the surface surface. Squeegee out all the bubbles and pull off the transfer tape and your done.
So much for past history, I have been doing signs, magnetics, banners, license plates, T-shirts, koozies, sand etching and more ever since. I now work out of the house, and will be modifying whatever toy hauler I buy, so I can work out of the garage area while I'm on the road.
I will design and make custom cabinets to store the vinyl, heat transfer materials, as well as a Murphy table or two. I will have to reorganize the rest of the space in the toy hauler to make room for t-shirt press, laminating machine, compressor for sand etching, and storage places for all the hand tools. Right now, as of August 3rd I am still looking for a tow vehicle, as soon as I buy one, I can start looking for a toy hauler that will meet my space needs.
Once on the road, I hope to be doing vinyl graphics for other nomads, banners, magnetics, sand etched custom glassware, T-shirts and whatever is needed. I can also do general designs I can sell to local craft stores, flea markets, etc.
Basic Layout of Fold Down Table
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Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions, fire away.....
JT The Wandering Biker