The word “signwriters” is somewhat strange in a way, because at Platinum Signs, as Sydney signwriters, we don’t actually “write” signs.
But then, lots of words in the English language are strange when you stop to think about them. For instance, take “retailer”. Retailers run shops that sell products. They don’t fix new tails on to animals that have lost them!
As far as we know, you cannot buy iron at an ironmonger’s. But you can buy fish at a fishmonger’s!
And you can also buy custom signs at a Sydney signwriter’s. Signs serve a number of purposes. Some are created simply to provide you with directions. Or they may be telling you what you can or cannot do, such as “Do not cross the road when the light is red”.
However, the majority of signs are there for the purpose of promoting or selling something. So, if you do happen to run an ironmonger’s, you will want a sign over your shop which tells people what you do and persuades them to come inside and buy the products that you sell.
What this means when you are looking for a signwriter is that the said signwriter must be, first and foremost, creative. They must create ideas that tell people who or what you are and persuade them to take whatever action it is that you want them to take.
There Is a Lot More To Signage than Meets the Eye
However, there is a lot more to being a signwriter than that. The following is a list of skills and knowledge that is required by a signwriter and is shown on the British government website for their National Careers Service:
Skills and knowledge
You’ll need:
- design skills and knowledge
- knowledge of engineering science and technology
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- analytical thinking skills
- persistence and determination
- the ability to use, repair and maintain machines and tools
- thinking and reasoning skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
We wouldn’t necessarily have put them in that particular order, because we think that analytical thinking skills should probably come first. When you come to us to design and produce your signs, we sit down with you and discuss what it is that you want to achieve with the sign. You may not have given this a lot of thought yourself, because if you are going to open a restaurant called “Mac’s” you may just have thought of “Mac’s Restaurant” for your sign.
But maybe “Mac’s Fish Restaurant” would tell a better story. Or perhaps “Mac’s Mackerel”? We are just playing with ideas here, but can you see why creative thinking is so important? If you’re looking for a real restaurant in Sydney, check out Blue Fish Sydney. Yum!
As Sydney signwriters, that is the first thing that we do: play around with ideas so that we can come up with something that tells people what it is that you do and why they should deal with you. After that, we then have to sit down and come up with a creative design, using the words that you have agreed, that will have the most effect on the people that you are seeking as customers for your fish restaurant.
Only then, can we physically begin to create your sign.
