Sunday 8 July 2012

Reproducing other peoples designs

Part of being a sign painter is reproducing other peoples designs, whether a designer, or business owner with the dreaded "nephew art." There's a fine line between trying to be helpful, and or offending a potential client. I've been very fortunate over the years to have worked with excellent designers and business owners who respect my opinion on what works or what doesn't. However, I've also had my fair share of  bad designs, the ones I won't be taking pictures of for the portfolio. I realize as I get older, I might not see the change in trends and taste as much as the youth and markets of  today. But on the other hand, good design is still good design. People come to me because they know regardless of how complicated or how out there their design is; I'll paint it to the best of my ability. If I see something that's not working, I may suggest looking at it a different way. The bottom line is, you're a brush for hire. I know there's no point in complaining about it because it offends my design pride. On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to suggest something to make it a little better. One thing's for sure; if you push to hard, you won't be getting the job. I've made a living painting what people want, not trying to change their minds. With the age of computers, things have become a little more challenging. Designs that are easy to create on a computers, can be very difficult to re-create by hand. What takes a click on the computer, can take hours to paint. The other problem is what looks good in print or on a monitor, may not look the same painted on a wall. The reality is, if you want to make a living painting signs the "Old School" way, you have to work with the client, regardless of the challenges. I just finished a job that was full of challenges, between the wrong clear wood sealer, a logo that challenged my brush skills, having to paint tight lines over 3 1/2' wood planks. Not to mention the weather, either rain or a hot sun with no shade. In the end, the customer was very happy, and the design was faithful to the designers' work. Not to mention I was paid to do what I love doing, painting signs. One of the big perks of this job was the ice cream, they make it from scratch.  Thanks for dropping by.






No comments:

Post a Comment

Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion