Looking for Trouble

I was given this sketch with no other suggestion than, “How much for black, white and metallic gold?” And yet the client and designer were open to suggestions of what that would be. Notice the shadow elements inside the letters. They looked a bit odd to this sign painter, but I got into a lot of trouble for altering them.

I recently completed two projects that involved working closely with a client/designer team who had just completed work on a highly-crafted trademark. In each case, I was hired to translate the designer’s vision into a physical sign. Issues of “adaptation” arose with both jobs, which resulted in mixture of success and frustration for me. The role of the sign professional can become very slippery in these types of creative partnerships. Here are some highlights of these two jobs and a few of the lessons I’ve gleaned.

Octoberfeast
I was contacted by a traditional baker who knew that he wanted a gold leaf window sign from the outset, and I was referred as the right person to do the job. I floated a fairly high price for two window graphics that featured a complicated gold leaf design. I found out that the owner couldn’t afford it. A year later, his logo designer inquired about a cheaper price for vinyl or paint, and mentioned that he had a feeling that the baker could be talked into gold. I met with them both, and I was able to increase their budget slightly by adding some premium gilding effects. It turned out that in my excitement about the possibilities, I didn’t charge enough for the upgrades. Once the job was in progress, I noticed that the shadows on the logo didn’t look right to me, so I altered them, which was a big mistake. The designer asked me to reverse all of the sign-painter “improvements.” By the end of the job, the glitzy extras that I suggested, raised everyone’s expectations to something closer to high-end gilding, and resulted in a nasty underbid.

• I originally suggested a variegated “confetti” look for the baker, which was approved. Unfortunately, I used whole sheets of variegated red leaf, which are shown in this picture. The designer was appalled by the swirling effect, and said it was distracting. This picture also shows the shadows and outlines with my alterations.

  Here is the final work. The baker has crumbled-up “confetti” leaf, which seems to be appropriate. The shadows match the designer’s proof. It was not that hard to change but it did take some time, and that’s why I say, “Sign work isn’t brain surgery but it might as well be.”

  Assess the design very carefully before the work starts in case there are debatable issues. Never alter a trademark without client/designer consultation. Provide good samples of artistic techniques and adhere to the client’s approvals.

• Don’t make upgrade deals or price work on the spot. It takes quiet time to price and plan a job. It is too easy to “be nice” and miss some hidden complexity in a spur of the moment offer.
• Keep a rough minimum or “perceived value” in mind when doing a change order. Be careful when a job is being upgraded. Some upgrades demand a completely different standard of craft that can’t be quantified as simple price changes.
• Be aware of what expectations have come into play. In this case, I felt that knowing my gold techniques was a strong point. This meant that I had to support my claims (and defend myself) regardless of whether the designer knew anything about the craft.
• Try not to want a “creative job” too much. All of the traps are waiting for the artist who is desperate to ply his trade on a fantasy job. I can do much better work when the price and time continuum are well balanced. If I go overboard, then there is a chance that everyone will be disappointed in the end.
• It is important to be humble because there is always a lot to learn. It is necessary to be prepared for a great job, but bear in mind that inconsistencies are not the client’s fault. All of the above lessons are solely my responsibility to understand. If I need to learn the hard way, it cannot become the client’s problem.

Occasio
The owner of Occasio, who prefers to focus his attention on making wine, delegated the design responsibilities to a branding specialist. Lori King of Chickadee Branding consulted me regarding an elegant logo she had designed. It was rendered in a black and white woodblock print style of illustration. She was hoping to have it built in three dimensions with some type of natural material. I envisioned the logo as a mixed-media wood sculpture utilizing found materials, which turned out to be vintage sewing machine parts.

This is the approved art work from the designer.	Detail of the logo sculpture that shows the use of sewing machine parts, faux-rust painted wood and copper leaf.	The completed project -- that could stand some very slight kerning adjustments, which I did a few days later.

I worked up a rough idea of price, which my partner Darlene raised by 25% after considering it for 30 seconds. I was taking on a challenge and couldn’t be sure how the final product should be made or priced. In order to establish a working concept, I met with the owner and designer. I wanted to make clear that this was going to be an artistic interpretation, while at the same time I needed an approved direction to proceed. Fortunately, the sculptural design process was successful, but ironically I had trouble getting the water-jet cut lettering to go on straight. It turns out there was a manufacturing flaw that made it difficult to stick to the pattern precisely, and you can be sure I heard about it from the designer.

• Try to get a second opinion that might shed some light on the price and artistic approach.
• Realize that having a three-way meeting with the owner and designer is somewhat stressful and should be considered billable time. This type of meeting can also avoid potential misunderstandings. There is no way I could have been efficient without a clear direction. I was given permission to use found parts that would not match the image exactly, but would be in the spirit of the design.
• All of my graphic design studies really paid off when I needed to work with a sophisticated design.
• I learned that not all challenges need to be a complete underbid. However, any artistic project is going to have a “primrose path”, which will amount to unpaid creative trial and error. This time it worked out OK because the project was really, really fun.
• Take nothing for granted. This job had seven acrylic letters with threads that were going off at odd angles. That might be acceptable on some jobs, but in this case, the designer was acutely aware of the typography that was to be installed on a delicate limestone wall finish. It pays to survey every aspect of the work so that it can meet the highest standards.
• Designers can be very good at what they do, but they don’t have to make sure the letters are straight on a delicate wall. No matter how challenging it may be, that is my job.