Best Sign Systems of 2011

FIRST PLACE

Fabricator
Dan Sawatzky
Imagination Corp.
Chilliwack, BC, Canada
(604) 823-2216
www.imaginationcorporation.ca

Designer
Dan Sawatzky

Client
MultiCam Western Canada Division (Langley, BC)

When MultiCam wanted its Langley, BC-based technical center to have environmental graphics that reflected its CNC routers’ capabilities, it enlisted Sawatzky to create distinctive 3-D graphics. He perfected the sign program using SA Intl.’s EnRoute 4 3-D software, and built the signs using 30-lb. (yes, 30-lb.) Coastal Enterprises’ Precision Board HDU on his shop’s MultiCam 3000 router. Sawatzky says the MultiCam “M” logo appears approximately 120 times throughout the system. For pieces that required extra effects, Sawatzky formed 3-D elements using Abracadabra’s Smooth & Sculpt epoxy molding compound. For illuminated components, Sawatzky installed Heico Lighting’s LED modules. To build some specialty components, such as the dinosaur desk, he used a MultiCam 3000 plasma cutter to machine mild steel, which was welded and sprayed with acid to create a rust patina.

 

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SECOND PLACE

Fabricator
Danthonia Designs
Inverell, NSW, Australia
(612) 6723-2100
www.danthonia.com.au

Designer
Nancy Kaiser
Danthonia Designs

Client
Liverpool Plains Shire Council

Selling Price
$62,700 (14 signs)

After having changed its name from Quirindi to Liverpool Plains Shire, local officials ordered new entry signs for the shire’s seven municipalities. Danthonia’s skilled fabricators carved the pieces from Sign Arts Sign•Foam 18-lb HDU with Pfeil chisels. After having created paint masks on its Roland Camm-1 Pro plotter, Danthonia primed the signs with Resene Quick-Dry primer and painted Dulux Weathershield Acrylics on the main panels and Liquitex artists’ acrylics on the artwork. To enable nighttime readability, Danthonia applied Barloworld Coatings’ White Knight Reflect-all, a clear coating that contains minute, glass beads that reflect car-headlight illumination. Danthonia coated the marine-grade aluminum posts with Akzo Nobel’s Interpon powdercoating, with an additional coat of Lacnam Two-Pack to match the brown color.

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THIRD PLACE

Fabricators
Design Communications Ltd. (DCL)
Boston
(617) 542-9620
www.dclboston.com

Fluoresco
Phoenix
(602) 276-0600
www.fluoresco.com

Designer
Selbert Perkins Design
Playa del Rey, CA
(310) 822-5223
www.spdwest.com

Client
Manhattan Capital

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Manhattan Capital, which owns several minor-league clubs across the U.S., hired Selbert Perkins to develop environmental graphics for the 10,000-seat Reno Aces ballpark and the adjoining Freight House entertainment district. The program includes main-ID and wayfinding panels, concession and kiosk signage, and environmental graphics that identify all park destinations and nearby entertainment venues.
Fluoresco built the stadium’s comprehensive signage and wayfinding system using 3A Composites’ Alucobond material that was direct-printed using an EFI-VUTEk QS-3200 printer and 3M UV-cure inks. DCL fabricated the stadium’s baseball sculpture, which measures 20 ft. in diameter and is suspended with aircraft cables 14 ft. above ground underneath the main-entrance canopy. It comprises 2-in.-sq., aluminum tube that’s painted with brushed-aluminum, metallic paint, with red, vacuum-formed polycarbonate and LED internal illumination.

HONORABLE MENTION

Fabricator
Brooks Signs
Brantford, ON, Canada
(519) 753-6106
www.brooks-signs.com

Designer
Patrick Berry Graphic Design
Burlington, ON, Canada
(905) 335-7600

Client
Clarence Dental Group

Selling Price
$42,500