Pricing Help for a Hand Painted Sign

[kroemer]

Hey guys, tomorrow I'm heading out to give a quote on a hand painted sign job. The sign is roughly 10' x 2', wooden, and currently has lettering that will need to be covered prior to painting on new lettering in an early 1900s style. I've been in graphic design for years but not in tune to pricing of hand painted signs (but do have experience painting/creating them) just haven't done much custom work. I'm very curious to know what a sign painter may charge for work like this so I can at least have a reference for what's in the ballpark. A picture is attached of the sign that will be painted. Thanks for your responses and let me know if you would need more information! But overall looking for insight on how you might give the quote and ballpark pricing. Would you provide options with different price points like number of colors?

Daniel

Edit: The copy will remain the same "Old Sugarlands Store" but the lettering will be more unique and vintage. No simple black on white, likely a solid colored non-white background with 2-3 color lettering job to give it some dimension.

 

[OldPaint]

1ST OFF...........why does it need to be hand painted? has no design elements, no scroll work, its black on white.......so no color fades......
i see its INDOOR. can you take it down? or can the owner do that. would be the easiest.
i am guessing the letters on it are PAINT?
TAKE THE PANEL to your shop, sand with 280-320, prime with kilz, repaint white topcoat with a gloss white. let dry well.
make a pattern for your letters, pounce the panel and break out the #8-12 quill or with that lettering you could use a 3/4 truck flat. get some good black ronan paint.
money wize:
2 x 10=20 sq foot, sand, repaint background $5 sq ft........$100.
lettering 2 X 20 at $8 sq ft......................................................$160
$260.00
vinyl letters instead of paint......bout $60 less

 

[SignosaurusRex]

1ST OFF...........why does it need to be hand painted? has no design elements, no scroll work, its black on white.......so no color fades......
i see its INDOOR. can you take it down? or can the owner do that. would be the easiest.
i am guessing the letters on it are PAINT?
TAKE THE PANEL to your shop, sand with 280-320, prime with kilz, repaint white topcoat with a gloss white. let dry well.
make a pattern for your letters, pounce the panel and break out the #8-12 quill or with that lettering you could use a 3/4 truck flat. get some good black ronan paint.
money wize:
2 x 10=20 sq foot, sand, repaint background $5 sq ft........$100.
lettering 2 X 20 at $8 sq ft......................................................$160
$260.00
vinyl letters instead of paint......bout $60 less

 

[kroemer]

1ST OFF...........why does it need to be hand painted? has no design elements, no scroll work, its black on white.......so no color fades......
i see its INDOOR. can you take it down? or can the owner do that. would be the easiest.
i am guessing the letters on it are PAINT?
TAKE THE PANEL to your shop, sand with 280-320, prime with kilz, repaint white topcoat with a gloss white. let dry well.
make a pattern for your letters, pounce the panel and break out the #8-12 quill or with that lettering you could use a 3/4 truck flat. get some good black ronan paint.
money wize:
2 x 10=20 sq foot, sand, repaint background $5 sq ft........$100.
lettering 2 X 20 at $8 sq ft......................................................$160
$260.00
vinyl letters instead of paint......bout $60 less

I appreciate the response. The point is to make the sign much better though. It won't be a simple black on white, should have mentioned that. Would likely be a solid colored, non-white background with a two-color lettering job. They hate how it looks now and want something more unique and vintage looking. Also, nothing NEEDS to be hand painted, but some people appreciate the art and quality, and this is a place that happens to do so.

 

[Gino]

Looks more like a 1' x 10' sign. Hand painting the exact same thing would probably be around $350. not counting taking it down or putting it back up. If new copy is going on, it would help us....to know what it is in order to help you.

 

[kroemer]

Looks more like a 1' x 10' sign. Hand painting the exact same thing would probably be around $350. not counting taking it down or putting it back up. If new copy is going on, it would help us....to know what it is in order to help you.

Thanks, the copy will remain the same, "Old Sugarlands Store" - but in a more vintage lettering and will have a drop shadow. Basically they want something more unique and interesting to fit the time period.

 

[rjssigns]

Faux finish background then "age" the lettering. Or I'd start with a new panel made from barn boards. So many options/finishes it's tough to price. Ballpark I'd be around $500.

 

[Jean Shimp]

Don't forget to charge for your design time. If they have a certain "look" in mind you may end up doing a few different sketches before they decide on what the sign should look like. I would charge more for the design time and the hand painting ($92 per hour) than to take down the sign, prep and paint ($75 per hour). I am guessing the design and paint time would be 3 to 4 hours - depending on how much detail they want and how picky they are to deal with.

 

[OldPaint]

ok....thanks for clearing up a lot of knowns.....
knowning all of this......iam more inclined to increase to the $300-350 range...quicky layout..

 

[Gino]

Folks, let's not get carried away here. It's only 3 words which the customer wants 'unique'. Design time can't be much more than 15 or 20 minutes at most. To hand letter those three words, maybe 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and another 20 minutes for a drop shadow.

If you can find ways to make this sign cost so much and take so long, how do you justify what you get for something really involved, like a nice 2 sided sign or the lettering on a vehicle ??

 

[kroemer]

Folks, let's not get carried away here. It's only 3 words which the customer wants 'unique'. Design time can't be much more than 15 or 20 minutes at most. To hand letter those three words, maybe 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and another 20 minutes for a drop shadow.

If you can find ways to make this sign cost so much and take so long, how do you justify what you get for something really involved, like a nice 2 sided sign or the lettering on a vehicle ??

I appreciate the input, but not sure how you could pull off the "15 to 20 minutes of design time" and a half hour for the painting unless it's subpar work. I haven't measured the sign, but the guy tells me it's about 10 feet long and 2 feet high. He's looking for quality and something that will set the room off, not some single stroke slung up there as quick as possible - not to mention having to sand and paint the base color. I just don't see where you're coming from.

Edit: Although I just saw you also posted for the $350 range - so I'm sure experience comes into play and you work much quicker with a steeper hourly rate.

 

[kroemer]

From what I've gathered (and I have to drive over an hour out to get the sign, assuming I can take it with me) I should be charging in the neighborhood of around $450 + travel, design and install/take down. He wants something hand-done, not a pre-made font, and wants to see several options beforehand. So around $600 or so total cost I would think.

 

[OldPaint]

if you can get $600.........glory halalouya brother.......reality $400 is tops.....

 

[Gino]

It's real easy. First, ya throw all the artsy-fartsy computer stuff out the window. If ya can't draw 2 or 3 thumbnails in a few minutes, then you're already defeated. Once they pick one of them, you refine it a little further. If someone has contracted you from 50 miles away, then they must realize, they'll hafta pay you travel time. However, if they can't give you something more accurate than they think it's this size or that, it's on them and you must explain a site survey charge on top of it all, and then re-quote it. When you look at the surrounding things, and take into acount perspective, that thing is about 9 or 10 times wider to it's height, not 5 times as your suggesting. So, it's either 1' x 10' or 2' x 20'. Anyway, back to the fabrication of it. Once he picks a design, you just quickly draw a top line, bottom line and sketch your letter style in that you created which is unique. You paint what is called off-the-brush. You build your letters as you go. You put all your touches and nuances in it and by the time you get to the end of it, you can work over top of the wet aint and lay down a shadow.

No, this isn't my first rodeo. I painted signs, lettered trucks, walls and many other things in all kinds of positions for many years, before the computer phase came along.

Now, if you can't hand paint and are gonna make patterns, stencils and use all kindsa other gimmicks and tricks, then it's not really got a hand-lettered feel. It's just little hand jerks with a brush following a line pattern..... pretty much like when you were a kid and colored in the lines of a coloring book...... or are you too young to remember those ??

So, it's not sub-par work, but just knowing what you are doing and being able to perform. I'm rusty at it, but any real sign painter/writer can do what I just said.

One more thing...... there are so many unique type styles out there, this thing is a joke being hand-painted, unless your customer thinks it's supposed to make it cheaper. This should be done with computer and die-cut vinyl and tastefully executed so he doesn't know if it's hand painted or not. Add a pinstripe border and you're on your way. I'd tell him to make an exact measurement of the sign, and tell him you'll bring an overlay over after he pays you.

 

[Billct2]

Your sketch doesn't look vintage
do a little research on hand lettered signs from the era you are recreating

 

[kroemer]

Your sketch doesn't look vintage
do a little research on hand lettered signs from the era you are recreating

That's not my sketch, that's the original sign that they don't like.

 

[nashvillesigns]

thoughts

The sign is ten feet long? i would automatically charge more for that. you also forget the "marketability" of your services. Sure, you can charge 350 for this sign. lets say you put two and half hours into it. what is your profit in this? 60 bucks? 80 bucks? that is way too low for a unique, marketing sign that is completely custom painted.
Ask 630. take 540. explain that you are NOT rushing this masterpiece. put two coats on it. hand paint it. see if you can get some 23K gold leaf into the design. Build up the design so you can make more. Gold leaf? extra 200.


Now, you got a sign....

 

[Gino]

The sign is ten feet long? i would automatically charge more for that. you also forget the "marketability" of your services. Sure, you can charge 350 for this sign. lets say you put two and half hours into it. what is your profit in this? 60 bucks? 80 bucks? that is way too low for a unique, marketing sign that is completely custom painted.
Ask 630. take 540. explain that you are NOT rushing this masterpiece. put two coats on it. hand paint it. see if you can get some 23K gold leaf into the design. Build up the design so you can make more. Gold leaf? extra 200.


Now, you got a sign....

You're only get an extra $200 for 10' worth of gold ?? Now, we're going the other way.

 

[nashvillesigns]

why do people take what i say literary

If you are designing a sign with gold accents in it. i am pretty sure i mean just that. you must be a democrat.

 

[Gino]

If you are designing a sign with gold accents in it. i am pretty sure i mean just that. you must be a democrat.

Excuse me, but where did you say gold leaf adornments or embellishments ?? What's that...... oh, you didn't. You also made it sound like the lettering job would be gilded.


why do people take what I/you say literary ?? Well, here on a forum, such as this, none of us are any better than what we communicate with one another in writing and writing alone. There are no inflections, raising or lowering of voice [intonation], no singing, no accents or anything else to help you along, so, if you write like a slob, you'll be understood to be a slob.

Democrat, Independent or Republican have no bearing on your smarts or how well you communicate, but I do see how that could be misconstrued.