We always allow for extended deadlines to complete our projects for several reasons. One of those reasons is to enable our customers to add to their order if needed. One of our favourite customers, Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Nebraska, decided they needed three more good-sized signs and features in this year’s order. We measured out the feature frames to ensure we could squeeze these extra pieces on the truck and confirmed we had the time to do the projects and still meet our original promised delivery date. In the last weeks, we have made substantial progress. Today, the entire crew tackled the sculpting of the rock work. We made great progress and will finish up this giant section of the tower tomorrow. The top stone crown is underway just to the rear and should be to the same state of progress by week’s end.
Sign Invitational 2026
When I was in Las Vegas last week, many of the sign makers I met asked if we would bring back the Sign Invitational. After some discussion with my good friend Jim Dawson, who co-hosted the fun contest in years past, we decided we would.
The Sign Invitational’s purpose is to inspire and encourage creative sign makers to create a sample dimensional sign for their showroom. The sample signs of those who take up this challenge will be displayed at next year’s International Sign Association EXPO and will be judged by attendees to the show. In the past, this display was popular with more than two thousand signmakers casting a vote for their favourite. We’ve invited some of our friends who are among the best signmakers in the world, and then opened it up to anyone else who chooses to participate. There will be a maximum of twenty sign makers allowed on a first-come, first-served basis.
In years past, the pieces were very large and extremely elaborate, but over time, the cost to transport the pieces across the continent became prohibitive, especially for smaller shops. The solution was to downsize the pieces enough to be transported inside a checked bag. The smaller envelope will undoubtedly still allow plenty of room to be creative.
Each participant is asked to adhere to the following guidelines…
All entrants are asked to create a double-sided, dimensional pub sign which hangs from a supplied post and bracket. The name on the sign will be “__________ TOAD”. You can fill in the adjective to suit your theme. Examples would be “Ugly Toad”, “Loyal Toad”, etc. Be creative with the adjective and the theme of TOAD! The maximum size for your sign is 16” wide x 24” tall.
I hereby challenge all of my sign-making friends to participate. Here’s the design you need to beat…
The best is yet to come!
It is normal for us to be designing at least a year out. Some of our customers like to plan two or three years away, which we love. And it isn’t uncommon for a few of our projects to be phased over a year or two to make them manageable, with the planning always done at the start. In the last year, things changed dramatically, as we are working on some major projects that won’t start for at least a year and then will carry on over another five years or more. The dilemma is that even though these projects are extremely exciting, we can’t talk about them - for a while yet - as we chug through all of the planning, engineering and regulatory permissions that are required. We dreamed up and illustrated scores of wonderfully wild projects this past year that will have to remain under wraps for the time being... but as soon as we are able, we’ll begin revealing the news. Our best work is yet to come. Stay tuned…
