Just a tweak

At first, customers can be a bit hesitant. “Is it possible?”, “Can you include all this lettering?” and “I love this image but can it be on a round sign?”

In almost every case the answer’s yes. And once my customers know I will do changes until the cows come home, every advantage is taken. I’m happy to make tweaks to your sign, because it reflects your personality and represents your home to the outside world, so it has to be absolutely right. Five or six designs are the average, but what’s the record? (Please read to the end.)

Here’s a round up of what customers ask for most.

Images: if I’m asked for a bespoke sign I’ll look for images I can download and hope to give you a choice. But if two or three aren’t enough, I’ll carry on. Many times the one I like best is not the one the customer chooses in the end, but they’re always right of course.

Colours: if you’re not happy with the existing border or letter/number colour, it’s very easy to change. I can do any colour, although some might offer less visibility. Pink and yellow are great colours in their own right, but maybe not when a sign needs to be seen from afar.

Background: black is a traditional colour for signage, popular for forged iron signs for many years. I have to admit this pear tree sign (above) does look superior with a black background rather than white originally (below).

Font: I prefer capitals when it comes to our round signs, because the descenders and ascenders take up more space, but happy to fiddle around till the words look good. If you have a favourite font and it’s readily available I’ll use that too.

Will all my lettering fit? Unlike other sign makers, we don’t have any restrictions when it comes to the amount of numbers or letters we can include. It just means the more characters you want the smaller they will appear. This might be an issue if your sign needs to be read from the roadside, but if its location is less critical – a garden shed or beach hut – let your imagination run free!

So don’t worry about requesting a little tweak. You’ll have a long way to go to beat the record, which is 17 changes, belonging to a customer in New Zealand.