Signs In Dallas

My Signs and Graphics Story

I have been in the sign and graphics industry for nearly 20 years. I started with graphic design software in the late 90’s for print ads and websites. Then I took over as a graphic designer for a friend of mine at a local Sign-A-Rama. It was there that I saw a plotter / cutter for the first time and I knew I had to have one. It was an ancient beast out of the 80’s from a manufacturer that even then had long since stopped making sign equipment... the Zeta 832. A track / roller cutter with a changeable gear guide for optional friction roller cutting.

The software wasn’t much better, also a relic. Scanvec Amiable’s CasMate-pro on 3.5” hard disks; 8 of them to be exact. It was like using a fork to comb your hair. To make an “O” or a donut shape you needed to align two circles. Everything was separate layers. It was quite cumbersome but it taught me alot about vector design. Since then Scanvec Amiable software has dominated sign production, costing around $4500 at one time. Now Flexi is by subscription like every other digital tool.

I worked for that sign shop on and off for a couple of years learning everything from design and production to installation, even electrical. By the time the owner began falling off and failing, I was able to install huge 50 ft. tall signs in a bucket truck all on my own. I wasn’t even mad when I found out he had been ripping off my income taxes. I had learned enough to handle my own sign business. I started making signs on the side, working full time as marketing manager for what became a fortune 500 company, until I was ready to start taking on contracts for other local sign shops (mostly SignARama franchises, there’s a bunch of them in the Dallas area and they are not set up for large projects). I made enough to afford my own little place to make signs.

My first office / shop was less than 700 sq.ft. Located behind my good friends at Dallas Window Tint® It was basically a 20 x 20 storage unit with bathroom crammed in it and a 5 x 20 office area attached. I used my original business name, JL Global, which I still use today for media productions (www.JLglobal.com). I quickly outgrew that space and upgraded to a 1750 sq.ft. gem complete with a lobby waiting area, 3 offices, conference room, lounge/ bedroom (oh yeah I slept there alot), shower, and 10 ft ceilings in the 25 x 35 bay. It was glorious and cheap, plus I was on route to doing well over 20k per month. Where is it now you ask... I gave it all up to raise my son (a story for another time). I was about to have it all again until disaster struck a few years back in the form of a category EF4 tornado that ripped through my neighborhood in Rowlett, destroying my home and all of my possessions.

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