OK - ARE - YA - READY ????

Leo Voisine

Member
Messages
5,703
Location
East Freeetown, Massachusetts
This one is gonna be big for me.

I am going to make a sign - lots of new things I will be learning as well as you guys watching me go through what I go through.

This might get long winded.

Maybe by now you may have noticed I can be long winded - but I do hope it's fun as well.

First - PLEASE - understand - I am in NO WAY - a master or a craftsman - or even well versed in sign making. I will be leaning EXTREMELY heavily on the REAL professionals at 3D Sign Forum. I will be posting there as well - but not the same stuff I will be posting here. I will be asking for help there. This post will make it appear that I know what I am doing - but in reality - this thread will just be me - doing what it is that I do.

In making a sign there are a lot of things to consider. Text size - how far away the reader is - context of the area - traffic flow - COLORS - of the sign - materials - how the sign will be mounted. Lots of other stuff I have not mentioned.

In the area where this sign will be mounted the design will need to be presented to the city for approval due the the fact that DownTown New Bedford is registered as a national historic district. Ohhh - I could go on with that and my interest is my home town and the history of New Bedford. I gotta stop on that now - so many thoughts flittering around in my head.

REALLY - this is going to be a ROYAL - FASCINATING PROJECT -----

It is so often that I also will be watching this project unfold - because LEO - does NOT yet know the story either ---- It will be happening as I watch just as you watch.

I will try to video and post it as well. I will also be good and not show you my hippy side with bare feet in the shop.

I will need to put the house remodeling on hold a bit.

This IS a paying job. It also IS very much a fun hobby job - to a paying customer - and very much professional.

OK - so are we ready????? NUFF already with the introduction. LET's get started.

I think I will go get a video intro going - just a quickie. You will probably wanna watch me working too.
 
Looking forward to this, the little tidbits you've thrown out about the design process has my mind racing already, hadn't thought about some of those aspects, but guess they apply to their space just as much as a piece of furniture in it's space. :lurk:
 
I did a video - just gotta clean it up and post it.

It's just an intro - but talks a tiny bit about where I am going.

The sign needs to get approval in the City before I can make it.

It needs to be done for a June 2015 time - so I am starting out under the gun a little bit.

I am cleaning up a few things on my desk - and clearing the slate to work on it.

I also have another sign that I started that I need to finish and deliver to New Hampshire (charity)

Gonna be a busy beaver in the next few months.

All good stuff.

I will be posting and this will be active -----

Like I said - I need to clear the slate first. It'll be a day or two before I get full into it.

One thing I like to try to accomplish is to gain materials into my collections with these jobs. I figure, the job pays for materials but I don't just charge time and materials - I sell on value. I like the Letterhead fonts, but they sell for $50 - $100 per font. I will add to my collection on this, as well as adding HDU to my stock. I will be buying a full sheet of 1" thick HDU for this sign. I will talk more about all of this as I go along with the process.




Sample-1.jpgSample-2.jpg



There are elements in these two samples that will be in the design of the new sign



store-1.jpgstore-2.jpg

This is the store front. Notice the cobblestone street and brick and slate sidewalks. The building was built in the early 1800's as New Bedford was in the height of the Whaling industry. Turn right and a 3 minute walk and you will be in the water - where the New Bedford Whaling industry was feeding this nation with oil, for oil lamps and lubrication. This was a HUGE industry and made New Bedford a very rich port. New Bedford Whalers went all over the world. The historic district is in a MAJOR development upswing and is a very large tourist attraction. This is on the Main Street in the heart of the district.

The sign will be above the three windows. It will be 8 feet long and about 18" high - maybe 3" thick. It will be basically all one piece.

My machine will handle 24" x 24".

Vectric Desktop can make the sign I will be making - maybe - or at least 95% of it. I'm not sure I will go beyond that capability. If I do - I will definitely point it out. I am going to describe every detail along the way.

I will also be bragging about the historical aspect of the city and showing pictures all along the way.



So, just for some beginner braggin.

The Charles W. Morgan was a Whaler from the port of New Bedford. She was docked down the street 1/4 mile away from this storefront. She was build in New Bedford in 1841 about 2 miles from this site. She just underwent a major rebuilt at 7 million dollars and via woodworking methods that were as close to original methods as possible. I have lots of pics of that too. Last summer she sailed from Connecticut to Boston in a historic 38-th voyage. She was parked at the navy pier next to the USS Constitution for a while. What a sight seeing the two ships in such a historic setting. She is the last wooden sailing whaler in the world.


 
I grew up in the Mystic, Ct area. Been on the Morgan many times as a kid. Many hours on the Mystic River in various types of small boats. Some powered by me. Some powered by a small outboard. All this in the 4th - maybe 7th grade age area.
 
I have a annual membership to Mystic.

Mystic shipyard did the rebuild - they are working on the Mayflower as we type this message. I will be there in a week to take pictures of the Mayflower up on the ways and undergoing the repairs.
 
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