Erik Sine

Thanks for chiming in Rocco. In a pinch I ended up going with Vector Design https://www.vectordesign.us/ $8.00 for the work. Can't beat that!

We have had a many books in our Industry over the years. Some good Engineering to Gallery Books. What we have been lacking are some good "Technical" Sign Design Books Sign Design Books.com is by far one of the most unique books in our Industry. They have been more in the underground but I've known about them for sometime. No book by any means is perfect, BUT...as a Business Owners stand point, this book series I would make every employee read. From the installer, fabricator and sales force. Once someone is hired, these books are handed to them. It's a very well rounded book series that is updated regularity.... I would go so far as to say it's manual of "why" for our industry. I would like SDB to write test material to go along with this series for mere employment reasons. The other Books which I don't have hard copies of are How to Draw Attachment Details and their NEWEST How to Write Sign Specifications No matter what your position is in our Grand Trade / Industry, the more well rounded and knowledgeable you are, the more valuable you are. The same goes for our employees. We have a lot of installers, fabricators, and sales that DON'T understand what the other departments are doing and "WHY". WHY Sign Design is SO much different than Graphic Design. This series will break away the bad habits of the Graphic Designer and bring them closer to Sign Design. These Books build strong bridges between departments,. For your beginner Sign Designer staff, this book is an even BIGGER plus for them to start reading before company training even starts, they'll have a big head start that may make training even that much easier Go Visit them http://signbusinessbooks.com/ Tell'em "Large Marge Sent Ya"

I'd highly recommend Matt over at Excellart, they're good people https://www.excellart.com/ #2 https://www.signcomp.com/

Anyone know the name of the business that used to be advertised on the web or Brochure mags that would convert raster images to vector? Something like "Vector Done Cheap"? They were like $45 or something. Having a hard time trying to remember

Anyone know anyone flying out from one of the restricted travel areas and if it will make it hard for them to come to the this years ISA Expo which is about a month away? I might possibly come down this year last minute but also wondering if the restrictions are going to significantly shrink the show. From the sounds of it, it appears so. I've been talking to quite a few people in China the last couple of months. The Chinese New Year pretty much shut the country down resulting in late 3 to 4 week responses with government forced Holidays. Then the virus hit and all those videos I'm sure most have seen surfaced of police vans stopping at residential homes and forcing citizens into vans for quarantines. In back and forth correspondence with factory reps I was notified that the government sent them notices of forced factory shut downs, so communications and responses again have been delayed. Now those travel restriction areas have widened. Maybe I'll just sit this one out this year and plan a "Staycation"

Oh yeah, forgot...there is her too Seriously though... ....Let's stop mentioning her, otherwise she'll just end up asking for a raise

I'm going to talk to my mom about that

Does their state have a Contractors Lic? If so, let them know you will be contacting the board if not paid from the og invoice date.

You guys are killing me. I appreciate your thoughts and posts but I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary. The Sign Syndicate fills a bunch of gaps and potholes this industry has or has created but....members mainly fill those by simply staying active and passing on information, which wouldn't normally be allowed to be said elsewhere....honestly I can't take credit for that. Thanks though, it's mainly you guys....in either case, just reading this made my day

That's awesome Tim, good to see you finally made that jump. Now I have to stop by more often and find out from you what a lot of those differences/changes are as you go along. MET sticks more to the OSHA guidelines and standards whereas UL goes on their own tangent going far and away and as told by one of their former inspectors "out of boredom". The cool part is MET will also accept a wide variety of listed products from different laboratories, something UL does NOT do, which means you can get lower cost components and integrate them in your wholesale signs that you produce for your customers. They will even accept expired listed products as long as the components are safe. They will also be there for you should you have any issues of acceptance. Good to hear!

Just a thought. One aspect or movement our largest Sign Association (international Sign Association) can champion for the industry since they have at least tried to do it in other areas when it comes to "De-Regulation". I wasn't a fan in some areas of their De-Regulation movement where they have tried to please their large membership of franchise sign shops like Fast Signs who are mainly Non-Licensed Sign Shops to get into Sub Contracting Licensed sign shops in certain states like Texas. (Don't get me wrong...some "Fast Sign" shops were in the trade prior and just converted over to these franchises). Biggest reason, you can't walk into a trade and buy your way in, biggest flaw, it sells away protections to the consumers disrupts accountability of Primary & Subcontractors and all those who have investments in the field and trade. That was one movement I cheered to fail. A BIG gift ISA can at least attempt to give back to the trade it strives for, would be trying to De-Regulate U.L. and their SAM's strangle hold on us. It's just pay to play, let's be honest. When I first walked into this industry in the 90's it was perfectly okay to use Non-UL SAM specific listed products. It could have been a product that achieved approval in ANY OSHA approved laboratory. No need for a special niche "Marking". UL Green...FAIL. UL LED Retrofit/conversion....FAIL Little by little this industry and it's leadership let a Environmental Product Safety Moment get out of control, and look where we are and what it has done. It's helped kill existing products in our industry with exuberant added cost to maintain business, and it's killing dreams or efforts to try or invent something new. The costs to test and maintain is ABSOLUTELY.... ridiculous. But to say it's there for the reasons of... insert a word like "Safety",... "The Environment", or "Children" to disguise the real reason (boredom & revenue), and people shudder. To oppose the effort or challenge the movement....you're seen as "dirty" and "non-caring" I'd like to see not only ISA and it's foundations "educate" city divisional services about aesthetics of signs, permitting issues, EMC Boards.... but how about educating building departments about the over-regulation of U.L. Some states are still fortunate enough to not have the over regulated requirements and as long as they see a listing lab marking...You're Good! I would like to see, and hope for some effort in this, small baby steps even. Bottom line, as shops we already pay to be a UL48 Shop or other listing lab because our city or state requires it....personally it's more for lazy inspections where they just want to drive up....look for a label and sign off. Real inspection processes open everything up and look more for NEC code than UL. To top that, we ALSO have to pay an additional UL Fee whether we see it/know it or not when we purchase these components covered by the SAM. Who do you think pays the UL SAM Listing Fee, the MFG or the consumer (us)...? C'mon... Like we pass on fee's to consumers (Insurance...wear & tear), the MFG passes on their fee's and costs to us. As you know, if that product or partial product is just sitting in our warehouse, well.... How I miss those times in my neck of the woods. Let's not even mention "California"

Just to give an update and some may have already seen, but in the polls added for new companies we now have a 3rd questions that asks if these companies are getting you sign Lien Release, NDA's or others that might deny payment, or prolong payment. It's going to take some time, but I'll update all other listings

Don't sign it. You're giving up your only guarantee to get paid. You're supposed to be getting paid after your completion of the work you were hired for BEFORE they get paid. They are in a bind because you're being used as a extension of their "line of credit" and using you in a way their not supposed to....maybe dragging payment from 30 days to 60...90...180 days In my state Subs need to be paid within 30 days by the primary contractor and as a Primary Licensed Contractor CANNOT wait to pay subs before a customer pays them. Primaries are supposed to secure their own line of credit by other means to pay suppliers and subcontractors by a bank etc if they don't have the working capital. Subs are typically required to fill out a Lien notification, a notification that reaches the customers and banks (Before work starts) that a sub has been hired to perform work. Once the work is finished the sub signs a Lien Release stating that the work is done and they have been paid. It sounds like right now, a customer or institution wants verification that everyone from subs to suppliers have been paid so they are not held liable by someone who has been short changed, or unpaid. Once verified they will pay the Primary You sign, and you're telling the primary contractor's customer or institution you have already been paid. That risk is yours If this was happening in my state, the Contractors License Board would be all up in the Primary Contractors Business for trying to obtain a release before payment, that's illegal and they could lose their License

I'm going to close and lock Reviews for the following companies in our National Sign & Service Review Forum Icon MC Sign Company StarLite Keiffer We'll start new ones since these companies merged, we'll also leave links to visit the past and links to visit the new in the old reviews so nothing is missed Icon | MC Keiffer | StarLite

Read this topic on a Social Media Platform. We've discussed this in the past but it's been some time. It reminded me about a fellow vendor who visits some large sign companies all around the US and how he had to fill out NDA's before he even stepped foot inside the front door or warehouse. It's also a another big reason why most of the topics, comments here on the SS are mostly made/done by Business Owners and less by Employees. Admittedly sometimes I even get calls or emails from some of our members in panic telling me I need to go in and delete a truth or two otherwise the boss will "whack" them I mean, sure it helps to protect business accounts, the supposed "Trade Secrets", keep relationships going that shouldn't be "exposed". It's not only done for employment, but also for vendors and suppliers. Has common sense and decency gone out the door where there's too many loose lips and NDA's are a must for everything? What has your experience taught you about having or not having, the horror stories perhaps of NDA's?

Glass Pumped Neon so ambient temps won't affect the light is my two cents, and it won't degrade

Oh boy, trouble came back

I watched in slow mo too. I can see what looks like the right pole twisting and folding as the sign falls. Doesn't look like it was cut all the way. Then the boom snapping back

Guessing it wasn't rigged right or someone forgot to torch something, but ouch. Going to be a whoooole lot of work now to refurb that thing https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article240058378.html

Never too late @bonehead This seems a be a repetitive question. Any particular brand? Thanks!

I want to give a big Welcome to The Sign Syndicate's newest Board Vendor, and that is Elrod Engineering Elrod Engineering offers a pretty wide variety of services from Sign Engineering for those special wall sign projects, monument signs, pylons signs, and even those stressful highrise signs. Wind calcs, attachment details, all those fine details city developments need and want to have, most importantly making sure you're building and attaching a safe project. Their services can help fine tune your quotes and bidding process. Elrod Engineering has been around since 1983, and carry a license in just about every state Structural Engineering, they also engineer for New Buildings, Walls, Monuments. Sign Program Management, they can assist your company with managing your sign programs, re-brands, daily sign related issues. Visit https://www.elrodllc.com/ and contact @roballey for any inquiries you may have for their services

Correct. The letters are mounded to the wall using 1.5" alum spacers. Shops that mount the LED to the back of the pans pointing towards the plastic and walls tent to make weird reflections and make shard like displays. You can almost cram LEDs in small reverse channel letter backs with only 50% unblocked light and still no shadows .

I want to give a big warm welcome to Sign Tracker, our newest Sign Syndicate Board Vendor. Joe Arenella @Sign Guy Joe has been a member here on the SS for some time. He's a good guy and I've even run into him on occasion on the floor at ISA Sign Tracker is a Sign Shop Management Software that can help you get organized with customers, estimates, contracts, scheduling, complete with many interactive features. Probably something I myself need to look into instead of using a notepad for everything and losing somewhere. If you want to give it a try, they a have a FREE 30 Day Trial. Sign Tracker https://www.sign-tracker.com/ Video on how to do a Free 30 Day Trial

From what I hear, France Lighting Solutions has some VERY nice ones and they've been selling theirs for years now. We know the name France

Thanks! Same white, the narrow letters will just provide a different more focused backlight over the broader wider cabinet in backlighting Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk