July 2000


Sign of the Month for July 2000
goes to Tony Vickio of Vickio Signs
Watkins Glen, New York


Mark Fair
.


The Artist's Details..

Here are some photos of a sign we painted on asphalt at Talladega
Super Speedway in Alabama. I know this is not the usual type of sign that
you display on your Sign of the Month page, but it is an interesting
project! The layout was very critical. As you can see there are long
arcs. To make it look perfect from the air this was a major project.
Sign measures 126 feet x 57 feet

Mark, Thanks for choosing this project for your sign of the month.
This sign was a huge project. It could not be attempted alone. I had
Steve Hughey of Hughey Signs in Corning, NY and Larry Orr of Orr signs
in Lindly, NY to help on this project. I also had Mike Dean go along as
the a helper, or what we called the "victim"!

Instead of using a grid system on this sign I decided to go with a three
point system. I had Steve Tinker an engineer in Ithaca, NY do a layout
in AutoCad 14 of the logo. We have two points 10 feet above the logo,
126 feet apart. One is "a" and one is "b". Then every point on the logo
has two coordinates. Say the bottom right side of the "T" measures 60
feet from "a" and 120 feet from "b". One man with a 20 foot tape comes
down 60 feet from "a" and the other man comes over 120 feet from "b".
Where they meet, we place a mark on the asphalt. This gives us the layout.

You have to trust the layout because from ground level, you can not see
the layout. Everything is distorted!

Once white background is down, the layout of the lettering and arcs can
be laid down. When this is done, we decided the only way to get a crisp edge
was to tape them. We used 50 rolls of 1" 3M tape! This was laid down
with a tool invented by Larry Orr.
 We called it the "ORR". 

It is a tool attached to a long handle that dispenses tape as you walk. It had to be
burnished into the asphalt. That is where Mike Dean or the "victim"
comes in.

We used Latex paint that is manufactured by Gower Paint, located near
Talladega. It is awesome paint!! Two coats of all colors were used.
 It took 129 gallons!
I am in Talladega twice a year. They pay us an hourly rate, expense and
materials.
In October I will be back there, they want two more of these logos on
the front straight. They will be about 9,300 sq. feet each!
We are very proud of this job. It was a challenge, but with Steve, Larry and Mike
this was FUN!

Thank you,
Tony Vickio
The World Famous Vickio Signs
3364 Rt. 329
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
.
This Month's Sign and Graphic Design Website

signit-signs.com
.

Past Winners
.
About the Judges
.
Sign of the Month is brought to you by...
Sign DNA



"Absolutely the best fonts on the web,
No font collection would be complete without hand lettered fonts
from Sign DNA !"

 Mark Fair
.
If you would like to enter your sign for "Sign of the Month",
 simply e-mail Mark Fair Signs
attach a .jpeg or .gif image  to your e-mail document.

We accept all types of signage.
Creativity a must!
Photo must be a good one.
Try to keep file size limited to 75 kb.
If you win, I will notify you by e-mail.
Just because I don't select your sign as "Sign of the Month"
does not mean you don't have a great sign.
Try again.

Monthly Winners will be posted by the 10th. of each month.






Sign of the Month Awards presented by
Mark Fair Signs 

© 1999 Mark Fair Signs / all rights reserved

 

For all you wanted to know about Sign Artists but were afraid to ask...



Thanks, Steve & Barb Shortreed "The Letterhead Website"

12/22/98

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