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My first business window job!

skittles

New Member
I am a graphic designer and I recently got into vinyl. I had plans to only do interior wall decals, but people keep offering me jobs to do vinyl on glass. I watched a ton of Youtube videos, and asked a lot of questions on here. (Thank you for this great forum, and thanks to those who offered advice!) I learned a lot, and I feel more confident now.

So, here it is! I did the red stripes with white lettering, 2 door logos (back door too) and the extra lettering on the front door. The owner is very happy!
 

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DizzyMarkus

New Member
Great job -- I hate glass :0) hehehe looks stunning and definitely adds to the store front appeal :0)

Markus
 

skittles

New Member
Thanks! Yeah - it really pops! I did a mock up over a photo of the front, and the real thing blows it away. I'm so glad it's over! LOL I was stressed out!
 

skittles

New Member
First, I tried installing wet with some stuff called Window Juice, and a regular plastic squeegee. The logo is 20" in diameter and had a ton of bubbles.
I made myself a large felt squeegee and applied it dry the second time. Everything came out as smooth as can be! I also switched my app tape from paper to clear. I think that helped.

Normally, I only do wall decals with Oracal 631, so this was very new to me. I lost a lot of sleep. LOL
 

Circleville Signs

New Member
You did a really nice job, especially considering that it was your first! I think even more importantly is that you are bring good design sensibilities to the table. So many people get into this business and have NO CONCEPT of design. You did a great job not only with the installation, but with the layout as well.

There are a few things in the future that you can try and do that would definitely make your life easier though. The biggest one being to stop layering your vinyl, and just have one of the many awesome merchant members here digitally print for you. I'd recommend Insiqnia Signs off the top of my head.

Great work though - if you keep it up you'll be a welcome addition to the community!
 

jfiscus

Rap Master
Very nice work, looks great actually.

X2 on what Circleville Signs says; if you can find a supplier that will print for you (an Edge print would be best in a case like this) your life would be much easier.

Just one question; is that within the city's sign ordinance qualifications? I know a lot of the small businesses in locations like that have a SF allowance of exterior signage based upon the total width of their building frontage. Therefore, you normally have to reverse-cut and apply from the inside of the glass in cases like this. Just a fore-warning if you didn't know about the ordinances (looks like you're used to interior signage), and I know you don't want your friend to get into trouble.
 

Justin

New Member
There are a few things in the future that you can try and do that would definitely make your life easier though. The biggest one being to stop layering your vinyl, and just have one of the many awesome merchant members here digitally print for you.

I have a question for you, and maybe the others here.. Doing smaller stuff with 1-2-3 colors like what was done here is it actually cheaper to print it, or do traditional vinyl cutting? If you printed it wouldn't you have to laminate it? Wouldn't having to laminate it drive the price up? How much would something like what was done here cost to print vs traditional vinyl cutting/layering?
 

tsgstl

New Member
I would still choose to do it out of cut vinyl.
Material costs would not exceed $20.00
Extra time (labor) maybe 15 minutes
I would guess you would have at least that much emailing and dealing with the shipping/outsourcing locally.
Before I printed most shops charged somewhere around $30.00-$40.00 for a logo laminated that size and that was 5 years ago.
Even if you have your own printer/laminator the time is close to a wash.

Cut vinyl in my opinion looks better in this case plus the colors would be spot on with the rest of the install (even whites aren't always consistent)
Cut vinyl has depth and just looks sharper. Not to mention this could last 10+ years with a good quality cast vinyl. Any print would be lucky to get half that time depending on inks.

EDIT: Really nice job!!! That is portfolio worthy, a lot better than most can say about their first job.
 
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