[caption id="attachment_359" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Channel Letters arrival. Our supplier was Image National from Napa, Idaho[/caption]
We've had a new experience! S& G Carpets and More, has just moved in to Pleasant Hill, CA on Contra Costa Blvd in Concord, CA. We not only had our first experience with a monument sign and channel letters, we also had our first experience with the city of Pleasant Hill. . .
Overall, this was a positive and educational experience. All three of us took part in the project. We were given ancient drawings of the building which weren't really readable, so ended up taking new photos and making new drawings. We went there several times to trudge through the area behind the store (which backs up to the freeway) to take pictures. You must be very careful at this point to watch out for various items that were thrown from cars, or left by homeless. There are also the normal items, like broken glass, pieces of metal, and years of layers from pine needles, etc.
The pictures need to be to scale as much as possible, so we needed to find a place to take a square photo of the building and existing sign. Then a perspective measurement of letters was designed to look as they fit on the building. The drawing was made as a result of the original drawings and the way the existing structure actually exists. We chose the old fashioned method of pencil, paper and drawing table. . . After that came scanning, straightening, darkening the lines, etc. . And finally, the "Did we do it right? & I hope they will accept it" stage.
After all of our preparation and stress, we found out that Pleasant Hill was quite "pleasant" to work with! They were available and very helpful in the process. The permits were much more affordable than we expected, but we did need to purchase a city license, which seemed a little odd. Over all, it was a good experience. . .
Part of the learning experience was working with the client on city ordinances and franchise acceptable colors. At a time when the client has so many things to coordinate, it can be difficult to make contact with them, and get all of the details settled so that the proper fonts and sizes will be ordered. Working with the franchise requirements adds one more level of complication. I think our main lesson was that this is not a quick, simple project. All in all, this was a project that turned out well. The client liked it, and we hope that they will have a fantastic Grand Opening!
Channel Letters arrival. Our supplier was Image National from Napa, Idaho[/caption]
We've had a new experience! S& G Carpets and More, has just moved in to Pleasant Hill, CA on Contra Costa Blvd in Concord, CA. We not only had our first experience with a monument sign and channel letters, we also had our first experience with the city of Pleasant Hill. . .
Overall, this was a positive and educational experience. All three of us took part in the project. We were given ancient drawings of the building which weren't really readable, so ended up taking new photos and making new drawings. We went there several times to trudge through the area behind the store (which backs up to the freeway) to take pictures. You must be very careful at this point to watch out for various items that were thrown from cars, or left by homeless. There are also the normal items, like broken glass, pieces of metal, and years of layers from pine needles, etc.
The pictures need to be to scale as much as possible, so we needed to find a place to take a square photo of the building and existing sign. Then a perspective measurement of letters was designed to look as they fit on the building. The drawing was made as a result of the original drawings and the way the existing structure actually exists. We chose the old fashioned method of pencil, paper and drawing table. . . After that came scanning, straightening, darkening the lines, etc. . And finally, the "Did we do it right? & I hope they will accept it" stage.
After all of our preparation and stress, we found out that Pleasant Hill was quite "pleasant" to work with! They were available and very helpful in the process. The permits were much more affordable than we expected, but we did need to purchase a city license, which seemed a little odd. Over all, it was a good experience. . .
Part of the learning experience was working with the client on city ordinances and franchise acceptable colors. At a time when the client has so many things to coordinate, it can be difficult to make contact with them, and get all of the details settled so that the proper fonts and sizes will be ordered. Working with the franchise requirements adds one more level of complication. I think our main lesson was that this is not a quick, simple project. All in all, this was a project that turned out well. The client liked it, and we hope that they will have a fantastic Grand Opening!
