Sad, Sad, St. Petersburg

Posted on December 2, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

So our hometown – my hometown – was named the ‘saddest’ city in America.  That makes me smile…

Straub Park At Sunrise

Image from Robert at www.gulfportsunrise.com/

Today, the weather was 72 degrees with brilliant blue sky.  I wore shorts to work.

Last Saturday, we fished from the Pier at Fort DeSoto, named one of the best beaches in America – 20 minutes from our front door.

On Thanksgiving, we had dinner for 15 on the patio and enjoyed an awesome breeze with our good company.

We visited our city’s Christmas Tree and holiday display at Straub Park, one of the finest downtown waterfronts anywhere.

Boating in St. Pete

Image from http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc6512.php

We’ll likely put the boat in the water this weekend for a slow cruise and maybe a cheeseburger and a beer at a waterfront restaurant.

In the Eagles song, The Last Resort, Don Henley wrote ‘you call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye’.

Thankfully, it’s just another sad day in St. Pete, America’s saddest city.     ;)

 

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/magazine-says-st-petersburg-is-countrys-saddest-city-tampa-not-far-behind/1203866

http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc6512.php

http://www.gulfportsunrise.com/

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Digital LED Signs and City Regulations

Posted on December 1, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

Katherine Snow Smith recently wrote an article for the St. Petersburg Times published here. The article concerns LED signage for businesses, and the misuse of those signs according to the City of St. Petersburg. The article is an interesting read about a battle between the City and business owners who have already invested heavily in digital LED signage. The City’s perspective is that full color, flashing graphics are disruptive and garish. They have regulations against certain types of signage and certain images that can be shown on that signage, and failing to meet those regulations results in your business being fined. They are trying to keep the city clean and driver’s eyes on the road. Clean, safe streets are a good thing.

And from a business owner’s perspective, they are simply using whatever means they have at their disposal to attract new customers. Not all business is booming, and if a business heavily invests in a digital LED sign as a means to attract new customers, they should be able to use it to its full capabilities. They would not have spent thousands of dollars on the sign if they knew ahead of time they would never be able to use all of its features. They are privately held and perfectly legal and reputable businesses, and the city should not dictate their marketing initiatives.

Two separate parties with two separate sides of the debate.

I can understand where each side is coming from, but I have a bit of a different perspective. I am a small business owner myself, and my business is selling signs. Like I said above, I can see where both sides are coming from. As the city, I can understand wanting to limit distractions for drivers. I can understand not wanting to turn business districts into large, flashing billboards. Too many digital signs would be over the top, and would harm the city’s image. And as a business owner myself, I can see how a business would be quite upset if they invested thousands of dollars into something they could no longer use how they intended.

As a sign guy though, I want every business in the city to call me and ask for a $30,000 sign. From purely a business perspective, I am absolutely for more signage, wherever possible. Signage is my business, and creating new signs allows my business to stay afloat. If more customers wanted more digital signage, and wanted to use a local company for the project, that would absolutely be good for me.

There are many different moving parts when talking about such a large project, though. It is not a simple debate with parties whose views are in black and white. My own view consists of many shades of grey. Every city has different rules and regulations regarding thousands of different aspects of daily life. City regulations regarding digital signage have been in effect for years. They are always changing and adapting to new types of signage and advertising. In the source article, there is a paragraph that troubles me as someone in the sign industry. That paragraph is:

Animal Hospital by James Borchuck

Photo by James Borchuck

“Mark Scribano, a vet and owner of the animal hospital, got a permit for his sign and admits he didn’t read all of the ordinance, including the fact graphics are not allowed. His application stated he paid about $30,000 for his sign. He thinks the permitting office should have realized he was installing a sign that allowed graphics and wishes they had alerted him to the restrictions deep in the ordinance.”

As a sign guy, I can’t help but think the sign company who provided the $30,000 sign and helped obtain the permit for Mark is partly at fault here. Sign companies should know the city regulations regarding the products they sell. There is absolutely no way the sign should have left the door of that sign shop without the owner knowing exactly what he was allowed to display on his sign. A sum of $30,000 is a large investment in Mark’s business, and the fact that he was not told by his sign company there may be future issues regarding his investment is unfortunate.

Sign companies may be the perfect partner for both the city and its business owners, if they are knowledgeable about city regulations and are forthcoming about those regulations to their customers. We want to sell lots of signs, but we also want those signs to be viewed as professional, effective communication tools for the businesses that purchase them. We are the experts on issues such as visibility, functional design, and effective communication, and part of being an expert in those areas means we need to be sure every one of our customers has the information necessary to make an informed decision about their signage. Helping customers make those informed decisions and finding a product or service of ours to meet their needs is what we do.  Business owners should operate and market their businesses in ways that are responsible and reflective of the community they serve, and the city should bend over backwards to help each and every business owner accomplish this. Sign companies like mine should be in the middle, supplying valuable information to businesses to allow them to make an informed decision, and in doing so helping the city inform their businesses of each and every regulation regarding their signage.

There are many different viewpoints on the issue, and it will be an interesting debate to keep an eye on in the coming months. Take a minute and read the article. Let me know what you think and what side you are on. And if you ever have any questions about any of your signage as it relates to city and county regulations, feel free to give us a call. Part of our job is to make sure our customers get exactly what they want, and giving them the information they need to make an informed decision is step one in that process.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article1203284.ece

http://signaramatampabay.com

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mmm…Thanksgiving

Posted on November 23, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

I don’t know anyone who does not love Thanksgiving. Family, food, football, cooler weather (although the high here today is still 80 degrees, it is about perfect at night). Every year, I head to my parent’s house, meet up with family, and begin a full day of festivities. I’m sure many households have the same stories to tell, and have very similar experiences. Thanksgiving is a pretty straightforward holiday for me, but that’s why I love it. No surprises, same thing every year. It is just a day to hang out, something I thoroughly enjoy doing. There is one aspect of Thanksgiving that is often overlooked though. No, I’m not talking about spending time with family, or the parade. Those are given a sufficient amount of looks. I’m talking about something that occurs the day after Thanksgiving. After spending a whole day filling up on turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pie, one of my favorite things to do the day after Thanksgiving is to do it all over again in the form of the leftover sandwich.

The leftover sandwich is quite simply…amazing. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a bit of cranberry, on two Thanksgiving rolls. It is almost like extending the holiday, or having Thanksgiving twice. I’ll eat leftover sandwiches for days after, enjoying them each and every time. They are one of my favorite parts of the holiday.

We all have our own favorite aspects of each and every holiday. Whether you look at lights or go caroling at Christmas, play touch football in the yard for Thanksgiving, going to the beach to watch the fireworks at the 4th of July, everyone has an aspect of the holiday season they enjoy most.

What’s yours?

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Halloween Sale at Sign A Rama

Posted on October 26, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

The holidays are quickly approaching! Let us help you get into the holiday spirit with some holiday inspired signs!

Haunted House Sign by Jelle Drutys

All banners, a-frames, yard signs, and vinyl orders placed and paid in full between today and Halloween on the 31st will receive an extra 15% off. All you need to do is mention it to us when you place the order! There is no limit on quantities or sizes, so order your holiday signage today and decide later what you want it to say! Whether you want a spooky sign for Halloween in a week or a festive sign for Christmas and New Year’s in two months, we can help!

Forget decking the halls with boughs of holly. Instead, deck it with digitally printed, 13 ounce vinyl banners. True that the banner rhyme doesn’t really fit into that classic Christmas song, but trust me, banners would look much better in your halls than holly.

Take advantage of this discounted pricing on banners, yard signs, a-frames, and vinyl, in addition to the already discounted vehicle wraps for all who mention the special. Instead of giving away gifts, give yourself or your business one this holiday season.

Don’t be a Grinch, give us a call if you want to take advantage of this great pricing offer. If you don’t, we’ll send a group of hooligans to toilet paper your business on Halloween….just kidding.

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How important are signs?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

The University of Cincinnati recently published an article about indoor and outdoor signage. It is a great read, and I am not just saying that because there is so much information in the article that is great for my business…really…I’m not (I kind of am). The essence of the study by The University of Cincinnati is that signage plays a vital role in how we as businesses interact with and attract customers. Signage is an essential piece of every business plan, and provides businesses with the means to stand out in the crowd in this downturn economy. Those are mostly their words, not mine, although I have been saying this for years (just without the team of researchers and hard statistics to back me up).

I urge you to read the article linked below and take a look at your own signage. Are you sending the right message to your current and potential customers?  “The University of Cincinnati analysis of a market research survey of more than 100,000 North American households found that shoppers are drawn into stores and make important quality inferences on the basis of signs.” How many customers are you missing out on, who walk by your store and are at the point in their purchasing decision process where they are ready to buy, but just do not know you sell the products they are interested in? Or that do not know you are currently running a sale, and if they buy their products from you, they could save a few bucks.

Lawn maintenance companies putting out lawn signs in the yards they work on, or handing out flyers or brochures to other houses in the neighborhood when they are out on a call. A dentist partnering with an orthodontist and keeping a stack of business cards in each other’s offices, which is a great way for referrals. A company who has been around 20 years, hanging a banner to celebrate that milestone (which has several positive effects, a major one being credibility to potential customers…20 years is a long time). Signage is an awesome way to build your business. A good outdoor sign many times is the difference between attracting a new customer and losing a potential sale.

So let us help you take advantage of a huge opportunity to earn more business and attract more customers. Give us a call to chat about some of the options we have available, or about some of our other customer’s success stories, and how those stories can help your business as well.

http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=14348

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The Business Card Book

Posted on September 27, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

We have a whole book of business cards in our lobby. When customers walk up to the counter, they can flip through the book’s pages, looking at the hundreds of designs, colors, fonts, styles, textures, and companies on the cards. You can tell the difference between cards we created and placed in the book over a decade ago when we opened, and the ones we placed in this morning. It is almost a bit like looking back through the history books of our shop, seeing customers whose businesses have long since relocated, changed names, changed numbers, or closed up shop. And then on the flip side, there are customers who have been using us for business cards and other signage for years and years, and watching how their business cards, and their businesses have evolved over that time period is kind of cool.

There are such a wide range of companies in our book, and there is no way I can name them all. We have realtors, security companies, and interior designers. We have attorneys, cleaning services, and manufacturing companies. We have hair salons, lawn care companies, and churches. And that is just on the first few pages.

I like to page through the book every once in a while, remind myself of some of the neat designs, cool logos, and great customers we have had over the years. We have built some great relationships with great people in the 10+ years we have been in business, and a great many of them are displayed in our book.

Stop by our shop or give us a call, we would love to add your card to our book. Let us help you design a card that matches your business and its goals. No matter your intended use or target market, handing out in mass at an event, or more personal encounters, with space for handwritten notes, we can help meet your each and every need and expectation. So stop by and chat with us a bit, flip through our book, and maybe 10 years from now, and thousands and thousands of business cards later, you can come back and look at your very first card design, still in our lobby and still being shown daily to many of the customers who walk through our door.

Mike Mangone*

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Project Spotlight – Interior Graphics for Seasons

Posted on September 12, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

Season’s Café & Bakery opened a few months ago on US 19 near Parkside, and has been getting rave reviews. They have hundreds of items on their menu, including Vietnamese sandwiches, chicken wings, Boba teas , incredibly refreshing milk flavored shaved ice and a variety of bakery items.  They also have numerous daily Lunch Specials (listed on a very cool sign holder that we did for their register area if I might add). It is a great restaurant that has been getting a lot of attention.

Before they opened, they gave us a call and told us about their vision and goals for the restaurant. They had an extensive menu, design ideas and direction, and a need to pair those great design ideas with our custom sign solutions. Throughout the past several months, we have worked closely with Kim and Brian on numerous projects designed to get their Café & Bakery noticed. We provided channel letters, window perf, A-frames, business cards, flyers, menus, interior graphics, and much more….including thousands of sandwich stickers!

One of our favorite projects was what we called the leaf wall. Their goal with the project was to provide a little separation between the front kitchen and cash register and the back kitchen, while keeping it open enough so that the back kitchen was still visible.

We decided to use ½ inch cut acrylic panels, attached to an existing wall and pillar with custom stainless steel standoffs. The panels by themselves looked good, but we were not done yet. We used a theme from their restaurant, fresh and natural, to design graphics to go on these panels. We settled on bright green leaves blowing in the wind. It gives a really cool effect to the panels, separating the kitchen but still letting light through. It also reduced the noise the kitchen makes on the restaurant.

They turned out to be great pieces, and fit in really well with the atmosphere of the restaurant. It is one of the first things you notice when you walk in the door, and it gives a great impression.

We still have numerous active projects with Seasons, and are always trying to find sign solutions to fit their great ideas and direction and to help them build their exciting business.  There are few times during their busy day, which lasts until 12:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10:00 p.m. during the week, when we can meet to discuss their projects but as we do for all our customers we keep our schedule flexible.

If you have design ideas of your own, give us a call and let us help turn them into great signage for your business. Signage and graphics are incredibly important in identifying your business and brand. Make a good impression on current customers, and attract new customers with updated interior graphics from Sign A Rama.

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Choosing the right sign for your business

Posted on September 7, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

Choosing the right sign for your business

Signs are our specialty. We can provide any type of sign you can think up…big, small, lighted, wood, custom, vinyl. There are so many factors and variables that go into the perfect sign for your business, and it may be difficult to wade through them all. Do I need a lighted sign? Does my sign need a permit? Do I want to be able to change it easily? There are so many questions to ask when deciding on signage for your business. Many of these questions fall into a few different categories, and answering these questions can narrow down your options, and your price range. These are…

  • How large is the sign?
  • Where is it going?
  • What do you want it to look like?
  • What message does it need to send?
  • When do you need it, and for how long?

Answering these questions allows us to provide you with several solutions that fit your needs, style, and budget. So let’s talk a bit about each question, with the hope that after doing so, you will have enough information to make an informed signage decision, finding (or helping us find) the best signage solution to build your business.

How large is the sign?

  • Knowing how large of a sign you need can really help narrow down your options. If you have lots of space, you can have a large sign. The opposite is true with little space. There are certain types of sign materials that last longer than others at a large or small scale, and knowing what size you need helps us narrow that list down.

Next question…Where is it going?

  • Where you plan to place the sign can give you a great idea about which kind of sign you need, and which material to use. Is it going indoors, or out? Up high, or on the ground? On a vehicle in motion, or stationary inside the lobby? Answering these questions gives you a great idea of the types of materials and options you have available to you. Interior materials like glass and non-laminated prints would not last very long outdoors. Conversely, outdoor products such as aluminum might not give your office lobby the professional look you had wanted. There are exceptions to every rule, though.

Looks

  • The style and design you choose greatly affects the price and materials of your sign. An old fashioned style sign, with lots of detail and colors, will cost more than a simple sign of the same size that has no dimension or color. They would accomplish the same thing in that they both would have the same information, but they look and cost entirely different. How you want your sign to look, including colors, styles, textures, dimensions, etc. has a big impact on the materials we can use to make the sign and the cost and time associated with producing it. Sandblasted or routed signs have a distinct look and feel, and also have a distinct cost associated with them.  The same is true with acrylic, pvc, coroplast, and banner material. A vinyl banner looks different than a canvas banner, and a canvas banner looks different than a nylon banner. They all are banners, and all can send the same message, but have a different look and texture to them.

Message

  • What message does your sign need to send? Will it just say your name, or do you include your slogan or phone number. Does it need to have the ability to be changed monthly, weekly, daily? How much attention does it need to grab? Should it be lighted? Identifying the best text, copy, and images to put on your sign can be a struggle for many. If you only have space for a 2’ x 4’sign, and you need to get your name, website, phone number, email address, and slogan on the sign, you may need to think about sacrificing a line of text for more visibility or better spacing. If you have two phone numbers, one local and one an 800 number, which number should you choose for your sign? Questions such as these are some of the most common questions that give customers some trouble in the design process of their signage project. If you can answer these questions, selecting the perfect sign for your business gets a lot easier.

When, and for how long?

  • There are permanent signs, and there are temporary signs. There are some signs that take weeks to create, and some that can be made in a few minutes. There are signs that need permits, and some that don’t. If you need a sign today, an emergency situation, got to have it, you only have a few different options to choose from. Your options are limited to what we have in stock and what we can easily acquire from our wholesalers today, such as banners, yard signs, magnetics, vinyl lettering, or decals. If you need a custom sign face for your pylon today, you are simply out of luck. The date you need your sign allows you to explore a wide range of options if you are flexible with that date, or narrows your options considerably if you are not.
  • How long you plan on keeping your sign is also a large factor in which type of sign you need to purchase. If you need a temporary sign, for a single day or event, then a banner or cheaper alternative would probably work. If you have that same event every weekend all year round, you may consider getting a sturdier, heavier sign or banner that will last.

These are only a few of the many questions that we will ask you, and you should ask yourself, when purchasing a sign. We walk you through every step in the process, make suggestions, and give our professional opinions on design, layout, and materials, but the choice is up to you. You set the parameters for your sign that need to be followed, and by doing so narrow your options (which is a good thing).

Give us a call and let us help you decide which signage solutions fit your business best. Hopefully, this information will help you with establishing a clear plan when it comes to your signage. We want to help you grow your business, and purchase signs that are efficient and useful. Asking yourself the questions above, and answering them when we ask them, will go a long way in determining exactly which of our signage solutions fits your business best. We have all the tools and products you need to build your business, let us share them with you.

727.327.7755

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A difference in perspective on gameday

Posted on August 17, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

Wow am I excited. Football is here, one of my favorite times of the year. There is little better than getting together with family and friends to watch your team on a lazy Fall afternoon. It doesn’t matter whether it is the BCS National Championship, the Super Bowl or a game of catch in my backyard, I can’t get enough.

Everyone who has been to a game knows the Footballsights, sounds, and smells. As you navigate to your seat, you pass concessions, restrooms, shops, etc. Maybe you buy some drinks, or run into someone you know from your section or tailgate. You find your row, only to look up and see that most of the row is already seated, and you’ll need to play the “excuse me, pardon me” game for about 50 feet. Once seated, you glance around the stadium, see the scoreboard, the teams running out, the advertisements, fans around you.

I have the same experiences that many of you do, but I see a few of the items everyone at a game sees a bit differently. I am a sign guy, and it is a bit difficult to not notice certain types of signs when at a game. I see vinyl banners, LED scoreboards, and PVC panels. I see menu boards, flags, and custom wall vinyl. I see screen printing, lettering, and channel letters. It is like sign overload for me. Even the creative, homemade signs fans hold up, I am drawn to.

This difference in perspective is interesting to me, because we all have it. If someone is an ex-football player, they will most certainly see their surroundings differently than if they are in the food and beverage industry, or if they are in marketing, or broadcasting, or photography, or a sign guy like myself.

So as you watch and enjoy games this fall, take a minute and look at the things around you differently. As you take your seat and begin to look around, put on your sign guy hat and check out the different advertisements, look at how large that LED scoreboard actually is, and check out the lettering with the stadium name up near the press boxes. Look at the field as if you were a sports photographer, searching for the best angle. Take a minute and walk up, if you aren’t already sitting there, to the seats way up high, and see what the broadcasters see. Head over to concession for 3 minutes, and watch how busy they are behind the counter, keeping the fans fed.

A different perspective is a good thing! Selfishly though, I want you to share my perspective. I want you to notice each and every sign in the stadium. Then, on Monday, I want you to call me and ask me about them. We all have our own perspectives, ask me about mine.

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Project Spotlight – GoToSteves

Posted on August 3, 2011 by SignARamaTampaBay Leave a comment

Anyone who has been to Downtown St. Petersburg has seen them – the iconic trolleys that shuttle people to and from cool locations in the area, like The Pier, Baywalk, Al Lang Stadium, The Vinoy Hotel and Resort, and numerous restaurants, shops and attractions that the area has to offer.  The Looper Group (http://www.loopertrolley.com/) operates Trolley 1them, and they are one of the most noticeable forms of transportation downtown, because they’re big, they’re yellow and – through our partnership with the Looper and great customers – we have wrapped many of them in full color graphics.

Recently, we completed a trolley wrap for our customer, Steve Westphal.  Steve’s company owns and operates restaurants including ParkShore Grill, 400 Beach, The Hanger and The Pub.  GoToSteves.com, his website, showcases his great eateries. Three of his restaurants, The Hangar, 400 Beach, and Parkshore Grill, were the emphasis of this trolley wrap.

Trolley 2Our design goal was to showcase the three restaurants in a cohesive, yet unique style. Each restaurant has its own atmosphere, style and menu.  We wanted to highlight those differences with each restaurant, but reinforce the GoToSteves.com brand under one umbrella. We used blue borders to transition between each sub-design, with “gotosteves.com” directing folks to the site for more information about each restaurant, including pricing, menus, locations, hours, reservations, and specials. The goal of the wrap is to drive traffic to each individual restaurant, and to build awareness and affinity among patrons of each restaurant under the GoToSteve’s brand.

The bottom line is that we love when our customers are successful. It’s through their success that we also succeed.  Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of eye balls will see this trolley over the course of the next weeks and months. All of those folks eat.  And when they’re hungry, we hope they will choose Parkshore Grill, The Hangar, and 400 Beach for an outstanding dining experience.

We are a full service sign shop – Trolley 3from trolley wraps to business cards.  Our goal is to be the one source our customers turn to for creative ideas, top-quality production and installation and professional customer service – whether those projects are small or large.  Wraps and outdoor advertising are very effective and cost-efficient forms of advertising. Let us help you take advantage of your own opportunities to reach new customers and build your business.

Check out GoToSteves, as well as Parkshore Grill, The Hangar, The Pub, and 400 Beach at the link below.

http://gotosteves.com/

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