This end-of-year sign painting work in National City in the San Diego area takes advantage of this large building area to create a focal point for the business. The client requested 42” high letters for their name, a 60” (5 ft) logo, and 24” letters for the secondary text. Of course, challenges arise with the corrugations, the texture of the surface. As always, my task as sign painter is to make it appear as if the texture is not there — the eye should read the logo and letters as if printed on while our brains dismiss the other details.

All of the work was hand painted, using oil-based enamel paints. Here are progress photos…

The client’s logo came as six colors (two basic blues, a lightened version of those colors inside the ship on the right side, a different blue for the four “compass points” at 45˚ on the outside, and a different blue outline on the main logo, as well as the white ship graphic). All of this means that each color was painted carefully over the ribs of the metal wall maintaining continuity of the lines to appear correctly.

Next, the paper pattern was applied, and lettering began.

It probably shouldn’t, but it still surprises me a bit how something that’s pretty large looks normally sized when you step back. A 5 foot tall logo and 4-1/2 foot tall main letters, 2 foot tall secondary letters look just about right on a 100 foot wall. Here is the final result:

You might be thinking about getting this kind of project done, Do you know where to start? I can tell you - contact me, Paul Borne (president of Big City Signs) to find out more.

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