News How to Design Exceptional Signs in 20 Minutes or Less

[Blazera]

I am used to using Adobe Creative Suite to create elaborate artwork and illustrations, but I am now using Flexi to make quick signs. I have been given only a few minutes to produce any given sign, despite interruptions from phone calls, customers, crafting signs, etc. So how can I make the best of my time in Flexi, which may only be only a few minutes per design?

 

[Gino]

Is this some kinda joke or what ?? Anyone worth their salt knows it only takes about 4 to 7 minutes per design. Double sided, add an extra 2 minutes. 20 minutes...... whose ever rule this is..... is being quite generous.

 

[Joe House]

I'm not sure I understand your question, but if you're trying to learn how to use Flexi, there are quite a few free videos on YouTube from SAi. They also have training classes at various times around the country. Check out LearnFlexi.com. Mark is a great instructor who knows Flexi inside and out.

 

[bannertime]

If you're dedicated, spend some available time on running through the menu options. Learn short cuts, set your own short cuts. Especially all the Ctrl - #s options for alignment. Learn the "Break Apart" and "Join Together" text options. Spend time learning the path tools, as I strongly feel it's one of the best path editing tools out there. Build your own color swatch. Setup your tool layout in a fashion that works for you. These will help you speed through simple task.

20 minutes is a long time to setup a 2-3 color text based sign. So if you're having trouble doing that, then you may need to figure something else out till you can get faster.

 

[Rick]

Describe exceptional...
What I see on your website is typical bang-it-out layout... some signs probably took longer to draw the shape out than it took to type the copy.

I have Flexi and used to design in it some 20 years ago. Bannertime pretty much describes how to maximize the software.

What I see most shops do is design bad layouts over and over again, or great layouts that look the same... over and over again... don't fall into the trap of rehashing the same layout formula, develop a few styles.

I use Illustrator in scale for my layouts, some layouts take 5-10 minutes, some can take hours. I think working in a production shop has made me fast at simple signs, working at an environmental graphic design firm taught me how to layout an exceptional sign. You can maximize your software all you want, but developing an eye for typography, color and use of space will get you where you need to be on designing better layouts in the short time you are given. Like any business owner, I struggle with designing in a timely manner, but I can't let crap layouts go out the door, so I will take a few more minutes on difficult layouts.

 

[Johnny Best]

I have a 5 minutes, 15 minutes we get the Suri up and running with type in Photoshop.

 

[GAC05]

20 minutes seems about right for a nice receptacle sign

 

[Johnny Best]

 

[Marlene]

you are kidding about the 20 minute design time right?

 

[Billct2]

20 minutes design time per sign? That makes about as much sense as $20 per sign.
I agree with Rick about the repetitive design trap, good or bad.

 

[Marlene]

20 minutes design time per sign? That makes about as much sense as $20 per sign.
I agree with Rick about the repetitive design trap, good or bad.

as far as the repetitive design, there's a guy most sign people know that has made a living off the same design done over and over again. if it is a good format and you can sell that all of the designs will have a guy doing something ie holding a wrench, holding a hammer and so on, add an angle of color and words, go for it.

 

[Johnny Best]

as far as the repetitive design, there's a guy most sign people know that has made a living off the same design done over and over again. if it is a good format and you can sell that all of the designs will have a guy doing something ie holding a wrench, holding a hammer and so on, add an angle of color and words, go for it.

Your right Marlene, ha ha, never realized that before, probably takes longer that 20 minutes to design those. "If it is not broken, don't fix it".
Lets see how my math is, 3 designs per hour, 8 hours, 24 designs, 40 hour week, 120 designs.
I remember when I worked as designer in a sign shop before computers, everything was hand drawn, 24 designs, not roughs but hand designed type to scale, in a day would be a full day for sure. Some designs needed color rendered so that slowed the process somewhat. To keep that pace would be hard work. Making $6 an hour in 1969 doing that

 

[Gino]

Your right Marlene, ha ha, never realized that before, probably takes longer that 20 minutes to design those. "If it is not broken, don't fix it".
Lets see how my math is, 3 designs per hour, 8 hours, 24 designs, 40 hour week, 120 designs.
I remember when I worked as designer in a sign shop before computers, everything was hand drawn, 24 designs, not roughs but hand designed type to scale, in a day would be a full day for sure. Some designs needed color rendered so that slowed the process somewhat. To keep that pace would be hard work. Making $6 an hour in 1969 doing that

Hahahahaaa....I know who she's talking about, now. Actually, that shoe fits two that I can think of. Like you said, they're making a killing off of just the same old thing one after another. Just change out the Monopoly man or change the girl's dress and bing-bada-boom...... ya got it.

Remember having to do several color renditions on tissue paper for the customers who couldn't visualize anything. That stuff was a b!tch for colored pencils, huh ??

Anyway, your math is good, but you're leaving out morning breaks, afternoon breaks, lunch and potty breaks. Some of us really go a lot. Can't count that against us.

 

[bob]

Sign design? Really? Is this some form of euphemistic transubstantiation? By calling what has been know for time immemorial a 'layout' a 'design' makes it something more or different than it actually is? Like 'refuse disposal technician' for 'garbageman' or 'mentally challenged' for 'retarded' or 'differently abled' for 'crippled'?

Regardless of your chosen euphemism, if it takes you 20 minutes to layout a sign you should give serious consideration to a career change.

 

[Gino]

Sign design? Really? Is this some form of euphemistic transubstantiation? By calling what has been know for time immemorial a 'layout' a 'design' makes it something more or different than it actually is? Like 'refuse disposal technician' for 'garbageman' or 'mentally challenged' for 'retarded' or 'differently abled' for 'crippled'?

Regardless of your chosen euphemism, if it takes you 20 minutes to layout a sign you should give serious consideration to a career change.

I'm just happy to see no one calling them logos. It's hard enough to get people to call these things typefaces and not fonts, but most of them are too stupid to know they're calling something..... it is not.

Maybe they could get a job as an elevator operator. ​

 

[Marlene]

Hahahahaaa....I know who she's talking about, now. Actually, that shoe fits two that I can think of. Like you said, they're making a killing off of just the same old thing one after another. Just change out the Monopoly man or change the girl's dress and bing-bada-boom...... ya got it.

Remember having to do several color renditions on tissue paper for the customers who couldn't visualize anything. That stuff was a b!tch for colored pencils, huh ??

Anyway, your math is good, but you're leaving out morning breaks, afternoon breaks, lunch and potty breaks. Some of us really go a lot. Can't count that against us.

colored pencils brought back memories. drawing out a design/layout and having to hand color it only to be asked "can I see it both red and green?", ugh so glad we have 'puters. anyone longing for the good ole days is crazy

 

[Billct2]

When I was first doing full size paper patterns for pouncing I would have three or four difference color pencils so my corrections wouldn't get confusing. I swear I waste more time on sketches now that everyone expects to see scale color proofs of even a parking sign. Back then a quick scratch on a piece of paper was usually sufficient.

 

[Gino]

Yeah, we're really getting off track, but back then, when you could just muster up a quick thumbnail or two in like a minute or two, add some serifs and a person could see their future sign coming to life in a matter of seconds..... they knew they could depend on you to deliver. Another neat thing was, if they said, can you this or that and you just drew it in and they said..... yeah, that's it !!!

I still depend on thumbnails and do more than 3/4's of my initial proposals that way. I price off of that and if they accept, then I turn it into a computer file. Doesn't take long at all. Saves a lotta time and grief being able to draw a complete layout/design in under 2 minutes.

 

[Johnny Best]

Sign design? Really? Is this some form of euphemistic transubstantiation? By calling what has been know for time immemorial a 'layout' a 'design' makes it something more or different than it actually is? Like 'refuse disposal technician' for 'garbageman' or 'mentally challenged' for 'retarded' or 'differently abled' for 'crippled'?

Regardless of your chosen euphemism, if it takes you 20 minutes to layout a sign you should give serious consideration to a career change.

bob, Intellectual disability is the new term for mentally challenged or retard. So we should not call anyone a designer but a layout technician? You can call me nonplus.
Every day I am in the Sign business I give it serious thought for a career change, especially when dealing with sign people.
No colored pencils or tracing, tissue paper for me, those prismatic color pencils cost too much, watercolors are a lot faster. Yea, break times, lunch, goofing off, forgot about those. That means a layout in 15 minutes!

 

[bob]

bob, Intellectual disability is the new term for mentally challenged or retard. So we should not call anyone a designer but a layout technician? You can call me nonplus.
Every day I am in the Sign business I give it serious thought for a career change, especially when dealing with sign people.
No colored pencils or tracing, tissue paper for me, those prismatic color pencils cost too much, watercolors are a lot faster. Yea, break times, lunch, goofing off, forgot about those. That means a layout in 15 minutes!

Those that are 'intellectually disabled' are every bit as slow as those that are retarded. A metabolically challenged specimen smells just as bad after three days in the sun as a corpse.