Sustainable Wood Signs Add Charm To Heritage Building

Tucked behind Kitchener’s High Tech Hub, otherwise known as Communitech at the Tannery, sits another heritage site that has been transformed into a tech office space. The building at 5 Michael St. in Kitchener Ontario was once shoe factory. It is situated between Victoria Park and Downtown Kitchener, which makes it great place to be when you want to be in the heart of the city. There are many historic features that make this building unique, and give it much of its charm. Choosing custom wood signs for the building’s exterior made for a great fit. These outdoor signs were created to match the look of the building and serve as a warm greeting for this landmark. The selection of wood enhances the exterior and creates sustainable signage for the century old construction.

Sustainable Wood Signs

The trend in the Canadian Construction Industry is headed back to wood. The properties of wood make for strong structures and is one of our country’s top renewable resources.

According to Architect Michael Green in a Global TV interview from earlier this year “The North American forest grows enough wood every four minutes to build a 100-foot, eight-storey tall office.”

Additionally, our custom wood signs, made from western red cedar, are rot resistant. This gives companies the confidence that their signs have a lot of longevity and will not need constant replacing. Even if the sign did suffer some damage, often we can repair it, then add a coat of fresh paint and it looks brand new. We are proud that our wood signs stay out of landfills and are made from a sustainable material.

Branding a Building with Signs

As in the case of 5 Michael St. the exterior signs also serve as a branding tool.

The signs are clear and concise. The choice of fonts with the gold leaf finish eliminates the need for graphics and gives the signs a classic clean look. With these highly visible signs adorning the building’s exterior, it gives those arriving a sense of what they can expect once they enter the doors. These signs represent the sophisticated space that pays tribute to the hard work that the building was known for. Make sure your signage reflects your brand and lets potential clients know what they can expect from your company.

For more information on exterior business signs, be sure to visit our CONTACT US page connect with our expert sign designers.

This Custom Wood Sign Will Have You Wanting to Climb Every Mountain

When it comes to sandblasted cedar signs we have created a many custom wood signs with a variety of images. There have been beach scenes, cottage and lake views, wild birds, family pets and farms just to name a few, but this request for mountains was truly special. We were contacted through our facebook page about creating a mountain and water scene with an address number and a family name. In addition, the mountains were to be snow capped as that is how the back drop of their vacation home looks in spring. We wanted to climb every mountain to make this happen.

Our expert sign designers created a sign design to match the required expectations and our sign-makers went to work on crafting the western red cedar sign for them.

Sandblasted Western Red Cedar Signs

For those not familiar with western red cedar, it is also known as thuja plicata, a rot-resistant wood. This makes it the best choice for our custom wood signs.

All of our cedar signs are created to handle all kinds of weather. Knowing it would be going to an area that has snow covered mountains had everyone here thrilled to know that one of our signs would be going to such a different climate. The process began with a cedar blank that was cnc router cut to the requested shape. Then it a sandblast stencil overlay was applied prior to sandblasting. After the sign was prepped it was ready for the sandblasting. The process of sandblasting wood involves sandblast grit carving the wood through the use of a pressure hose. After the sign is carved to the preferred depth, the sign was sanded to create a smooth surface for finishing. The exterior grade paint finish was then applied to sign to complete the project.

Rocky Mountain High

After the sign was shipped, the customer installed it at their vacation property and sent us this image.

You can see the snow covered mountain range in the background which are highlighted on the sign. We were over the moon, or should we say mountain, when we received this picture. You might say we were on a Rocky Mountain High!

If you need a custom wood sign made, please visit our CONTACT US page.

Custom Wood Christmas Decor Item Contest And More Gift Ideas

Custom Wood Decor Items In Time For The Christmas Season

The holiday season arrived a little earlier than expected in 2014. With all this winter weather upon us it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It makes you want to curl up in front of a wood fireplace and get ready for the festivities to begin.  Now speaking of fireplaces, perhaps your mantel could use a little holiday decor? Or maybe there is another spot in your home that could use a little something festive.  Our Custom Wood Santa Block could be just that little touch of something special! Be sure to enter the contest at the end of this post and perhaps our 6″x6″ custom cedar Santa decor item might become yours!

Looking To Get A Jump On Christmas Shopping From The Comfort Of Your Home?

If you don’t want to bother travelling to the mall or other retailers for that extra special present, we have lots of gift suggetions on our post TOP 10 PICKS FOR CUSTOM WOOD SIGNS AND CHRISTMAS GIFTS. There you find a variety of unique items ranging from custom wood cottage and residential signs 

to family fun items that can all be customized to your personal taste.

When ordering a personalized item that you are looking to have ready in time for the Christmas season, be sure to get your order in before the last minute rush begins.

Ordering Your Custom Christmas Gifts In November Can Save You Money

For all orders with deposits received in November 2014 we will reward you with a 10% discount upon project completion. We thought it would be a bonus to save you some money just because you are on top on your game! Being prepared for Christmas 2014 will not only save you time this year, you will be saving cash too!

How To Order A Custom Christmas Item From The Sign Depot

Visit our CONTACT US page and Email The Sign Depot with the item you are looking for.

Be sure to include

1. The size you require
2. What text and graphics you need (or if you need our expert designers to help with that)
3. When you need it ready for

These steps will help to fast-track the process and get your project quoted.  Once the quote is signed off and the deposit is received that your custom Christmas gift will go into production.

Now that you have all of your prep done, take a moment and enter our contest (it may take a minute for the rafflecopter form to load) for a Custom Wood Santa Block, made from sandblasted western red cedar and finished to show off how jolly Santa is!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Damage Control – Where Menno S. Martin Contractor Ltd. Goes When They Need A New Custom Sign

Custom Signs Can Be A Hot Topic

It all began with a twitter conversation.  After both The Sign Depot team and the Menno S. Martin Contractor Ltd. team attended the Sign Painter Film we had a lengthy twitter conversation about custom sign making. This turned into a meeting in our showroom and plans to manufacture their sign when the time came.

Mother Nature Works Wonders

The winter of 2014 was a memorable one. Ice storms, lots of snow and hazardous driving conditions.  Unfortunately the mix of weather resulted in Menno S. Martin’s sign meeting with a vehicle.

@TheSignDepot looks like someone had it in for our old sign. Might need a new one sooner than we thought. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/AEPSwgJpWK — Trent Bauman (@trentbauman) January 4, 2014

This pushed the timeline forward for their signage requirements. Shortly after this incident production began on a new custom wood sign.  

Creating A Custom Wood Sign

  The Menno S. Martin Contracting Limited  custom sign began with cut rubber stencil for the raised letting and logo on the sandblasted wood sign. This process gives the sign dimension and shows off the natural wood grain.   After the sandblasting process the custom sign weas prepped for paint finishing.     Once the custom wood sign was finished all they needed to do was wait for spring to arrive.   When the spring thaw began their craftsman went to work on installing the new sign for the business.      

Cheers To A Custom Wood Projecting Sign

Innocente Brewing Company Makes Their Mark

Now that Innocente Brewing Company has announced their location opening in Waterloo Ontario they decided to mark their territory.  They chose to brand their building with a custom wood projecting sign.  The idea behind a projecting sign/projection sign is that the double sided sign stands off the building to where it is affixed.  The reason is to catch the attention of passers-by. This type of eye-catching sign is often used in the beer and liquor industry, so it was a good fit for a new brewery.

Creating The Custom Wood Sign

The Innocente Brewing Company sign was crafted from western red cedar.  Known for it’s rot-resistant properties, cedar is the best choice for outdoor wood signs. The first step was to sandblast the company name and logo into the wood to give it dimension.

After the sandblasting step had carved the image and text into the custom sign, it was treated with an outdoor grade cetol finish to enhance the wood grain of the sign. Next it was primed to ready for the gold leaf and paint finish.

23K Gold Leaf was applied to give the sign luster and shine.  The gold leaf finish is suitable for interior signs as well, but it really stands out when it glistens in the sun.

 A custom paint finish complete with premium vinyl graphics were applied to the cedar sign to complete the sign making process.

Look what @TheSignDepot dropped off earlier today…what great work! Thanks Peter! pic.twitter.com/Xy5wJBClge

— Steve Innocente (@Innocente_Brew) February 14, 2014

 

Landing On The Mark

 

Once the weather co-operated our install crew headed to Innocente Brewing Company to attach the projecting sign to their establishment. We think it serves as a great landmark for this new brewing business

 

Look what the fine folks @TheSignDepot installed today…looks da schnizzle! pic.twitter.com/yYDaQ8f1nW

— Steve Innocente (@Innocente_Brew) March 28, 2014

Custom Wood Signs – The Fruit Of Our Labour

Happy Pi Day

March 14th is known as Pi Day.  Pi is a measurement tool, for our purposes, it’s the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, approximately 3.14. Pi Day celebrations often include the baking of actual pies. We thought it would be best to celebrate this year’s Pi Day with our E.D. Smith custom wood sign, being they are well known for their pie fillings!

Crafting Custom Wood Signs For Big Businesses

Many big businesses choose custom cedar sandblasted signs for a variety reasons. The ability to customize the sign to fit their company image is just one of those reasons.  Customization in terms of size, shape, colour, graphics, text, font and finishing techniques are what makes a wood sign unique and allows businesses to stand out from others in their industry. Crafting a sign from western red cedar is what the sign experts here at The Sign Depot excel at. They have been carving wood signs for two decades.  You know with that kind of longevity making custom woods signs is a labour of love and signs like this E.D. Smith sign shows off the fruit of their labour literally.

Thinking Of A Custom Wood Sign For Your Company?

Are you thinking your company needs a custom sandblasted cedar sign? Athough it may not be as scientific as calculating Pi, but here is the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY when it comes to wood signs.

WHO – Who will be seeing this sign? Think in terms of vehicle traffic and people walking by.

WHAT – What do you envision for this business sign? Do you have a logo ready or do you need a sign expert to design it for you?

WHEN – When is a good time for the project to begin? Do you have a completion date in mind?

WHERE – Where will the sign be situated? Does that align with local sign permit regulations?

WHY – Why do you want to choose a wood sign? We have LOTS of answers for that! Just contact one of our sign experts and they can help you choose the sign that works best for you.

Custom Wood Signs Created To Weather The Outdoors

When The Weather Outside Is Frightful, Your Custom Wood Sign Can Still Be Delightful

Depending on where you live you may see a lot of ice in your community.  The wintery scenes we are seeing all over the internet made us pause for a moment to see just how wonderful a winter wonderland can look.  Being purveryors of custom wood signs we took a look at how our wood signs stood up to the icy elements over the last few days.

Here’s a close up look at our address sign.

As you can see it the ice ads an extra layer of texture to our dimensional letters on the wood sign.  Once the ice is melted the sign will still be in great condition, as it was given an outdoor finish meant to stand up to changing weather conditions.  Knowing what your custom sign will look in all kinds of weather is another way for your sign to stand out from its surroundings.

Glisten And Shine

Another outdoor finish the sign making experts here at The Sign Depot like to use is gold leaf.  As you can see in the image below, the gold leaf finish on the sandblasted cedar sign still shines through despite the frost buildup and lack of sunshine.

Infact the layer of ice makes the gold leaf glisten.  This sign has been outdoors for several years but is still in great shape.  Custom cedar signs are made to withstand the elements and are a great choice if you are looking for a sign with longevity. Finding what works best for the conditions your sign will face is our specialty. Feel free to visit our Contact Us page for more information and be sure to leave a comment on how your outdoor space looks during these icy days!

Keep Your Custom Cottage Signs In Tip Top Shape And Other Cottage Closing Tips

5 Websites To Help You Close Your Cottage For The Winter

Wondering how to close your cottage for the winter? We have compiled a list of 5 websites with great information on how to properly close your cottage, cabin, or lake house property for the year.

1. Cottage Life – Gives a thourough two day plan on how to close a cottage
2. Cottage Tips – Has tips on both your interior and exterior property winterization
3. Canada Safety Council – Helps to prevent break ins and loss of property during the off season
4. Canoe.ca – Cottage Home & Property Showcase  – Provides info on how to keep critters out of your cottage
5. Canadian Home Trends – Adds a great checklist for those closing down their cottage for the winter

One More Cottage Tip

If you have a custom wood cottage signs, there are a few steps you can take to add longevity to your cedar signs.

• Wash it with soap and water.  A mild liquid dish detergent will do the trick
• Let it dry
• Give it a polish with a spray car wax (ie Turtle Wax)

This will add luster to the wood sign and serve as a protectant against the winter elements.

In the spring just wash off the wax coat and you are good to go.  Our custom paint finishes last for approximately 7-10 years depending on the area your cottage sign is located and how much sun it gets.  After that we suggest bringing it in for refurbishing.  Refurbishing means we sand it down to remove the flaking paint and then recoat the cedar sign with brand new paint.  Your sign will look like new!

Looking for ideas for custom cedar cottage signs? There are lots of personalization options to choose from. Be sure to visit our CONTACT US page to connect with one of our expert signmakers.

 

Custom Wood Sign Trends – Why Barn Board Is Hot In Artistic Sign Design

How Do Trends Start?

By definition a TREND is a general direction in which something is developing or changing.  If that is the case then we are trendsetters here at The Sign Depot.  We strive to always be unique and innovative when it comes to creating our custom signs.  We approach each project individually and look for ways to help our clients get noticed.  We have been recognized for the uniqueness of our custom barn board signs by winning Runner Up for Best Business Sign for the Spirithouse sign we created, but the real trend began when barn board started popping up in Kitchener Waterloo. When clients come in with sign concept in mind we work hard to create the vision they have in mind.  This was the case with the Death Valley’s Little Brother sign.

Bringing Back Barn Board

When Death Valley’s Little Brother needed a rustic looking wood sign that would catch the eye of passers-by we knew this would be an out of the ordinary custom business sign.

Barn board was used as a backer for the rusted finish individual cut out letters.  In order to give a lot of contrast between the wood and the letters the reclaimed barn board with given an distressed finish and the letters were pin mounted to add dimension to the sign.

And They Tell Two Friends

Once the Death Valley’s Little Brother sign was installed in Waterloo, we started receiving inquiries about rustic look wood signs.  The Truth Beauty Compay. contacted us regarding their upcoming move and wanted to have a vintage-look wood sign created for their new location.  You can read more about their sign creation over on our post Custom Vintage Look Wood Signs.

Another inquiry came from Cheeses Murphy.  Cheeses Murphy is a late night grilled cheese eatery that was about to open a second location in Downtown Kitchener.  They had noticed the custom wood signs that their Uptown Waterloo neighbours had and came to us to create a barn board sign for their new establishment.  Take a look at our Reclaimed Barn Board post to learn about the process to make their sign.

We’re Trending

Because of the many retro-look signs we have created over the past few years we are getting a lot of calls about signs made from reclaimed materials and even for new signs that have a distressed look.

It is a design trend that we love.  Using a variety of materials and fabrication methods is something we specialize in. Finding ways to create dimension through artistic signage is what makes us unique in the sign industry. What makes you a trendsetter in the marketplace? Leave a comment with your answer! We want to know what makes you stand out!

Custom Wood Signs Created From Reclaimed Barn Board – Cheeses Murphy

A New Business Signs With A Vintage Look

Our latest installation has brought us to a new area of Downtown Kitchener Ontario.  Just blocks away from the new court house is where you can find the newest location for Cheeses Murphy.  Just like the concept of this grilled cheese restaurant, the custom business sign for it needed to be unique and tasteful.

Reclaimed barn board with individual cutout letters were used in this framed sign.  The fabrication took several steps.

The wood was given a custom finish to give it a distressed look and enhanced the wood grain of the boards.  The barn board would serve as a sign backer for the business name. Individual letters were created by CNC cutting half inch PVC on our router table and they were then prepped for pin mounting.  A handcrafted wood frame was constructed to surround the sign backer and painted to match the cut out letters.  Together these pieces would create a modern sign with a vintage look.

Assembly And Installation

After all the various components of the Cheeses Murphy sign had been manufactured and finished it was time to assemble the sign and install it above the establishment.

The pin mount letters were flush mounted to the barn board backer to add dimension to the sign and the finished wood frame completed the look.

The custom wood sign was installed above the entrance-way and an additional vinyl decal was added to front door to attract the attention of both vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

What Will Be Next?

What will be next? Be sure to watch our Sign Depot Blog for updates on what else is to come from this developing area in Kitchener otherwise known as the Duke St. Food Block.  For more examples of 3 dimensional restaurant signs be sure to visit our portfolio page. There you will find a variety of sculptural signs that are sure to grab your attention!