Sign Update

How about as sign makers we don't do jobs, that other sign makers have spent time doing artwork for, at a reduced rate just because someone else has put the effort in with the artwork.

That's my ideal world anyway.

Hi Rog. Felix is my name , from Wallasey ,Merseyside.
Originaly from Malta (& yes i am here legaly) ha ha.

Im a one man band sign maker,from srart to finish....

Quoting your self in the article on the latest issue of the S-U-Magazine "I don't suppose we will ever sort out the problem , but between us we could give it a try."

I just do not agree as im sure that if my system is enforced by all ( or most of ) us ...... Problem will be solved.
Let me elaborate a bit .... When a client walks to me & says that he is after a sign ... I just take some ideas of what he wants & call him when I got a design to show him ..... I do not give prints out unless its a go ahead job or got a deposit. I also do not send out emails of the design as some clients might say that they want to show the design to the wife , mistress or friend!!!. I just say, " cant mate , bring them all inn & design can be seen on my Pc !!!!

I think that its all down to common sence, we all have it but not all of us use it. Thats my view and I have to end this now as I have to make some designs on the pc !!

Regards.
Felix

Sent from my iPhone

Roger,

To avoid people copying designs is almost impossible, but it is easy to make life more difficult for them. For this very reason a few of our customers always send out designs for approval as jpg bitmap files which are useless for production.

One also adds a note along the lines of "This design has been created by Bloggs signs, if the same or very similar design is used by an alternative sign company the customer will be liable to payment of a design fee of £250" or something like that.

Col

Hi Roger,

Regarding the above scenario, the ideal situation would be to ask for an up-front payment or payment on delivery of the initial design. However, as we all know, asking for payment even though we deserve it, can be difficult and / or embarrassing, we all know it’s a cut throat world out there and the last thing we want to do is put an obstacle in the way of winning the business.

However, there are a couple of things the signmaker could do. Firstly, never supply a final full resolution image. If the final image is going to digital print, offer the client a low res Jpeg as a proof. If this is accepted then the signmaker can rightly produce an invoice for the design work. Secondly, protect the image with a watermark. If you look at image libraries you will see that the images used for previews all have watermarks on them that cannot be removed. The only way to gain access to the image without the watermark is to purchase the image. I believe there are watermark products available on the internet.

Unfortunately the end result of either of the above solutions is that you still have to present the client with a design that you have worked on and they can run with but at least it’s not the final product.

Just a couple of ideas that may help.

Regards

Guy Wales

Roger,

Following your comments in the July/August copy of Sign Up Date regarding the time spent in creating visuals of signage for potential clients, we as indicated in your article like many other companies, have fallen foul of "the please can you produce a design for our approval prior to the order being placed" statement, only to discover that our designs or slight variations of them have been used by other sign companies, which in many cases isn't their fault.

As a result we now tell our clients, both existing and new, that we will make a small charge for design work which we will then discount off the total sign production and installation cost as and when the order is placed.

We have been operating this policy for about 6 months now and it has been quite successful with some clients, but of course not all!

I realise that some companies will argue that the "free" design work may secure them the order, but they could potentially become the victims of the same scam detailed in your article, and if it becomes the trade standard to charge for the design work then all companies will still be subject to the same levels of overheads etc. as everyone else and not incur a loss for any design work.

kind regards

Trevor Scott