Process Notes: Coffee Shop Sign (Patreon)

If you live in Cleveland, you know Phoenix Coffee. They're a major local brand with five locations around the city, generally in the hippest neighborhoods. So, when I got an opportunity to make them an interior sign for the store near me, I was excited. 

The company has just completed a major re-brand with a new logo and different aesthetics for EACH location. It's ambitious and a good opportunity for someone like me. 

Here's the old sign made using the old logo. It's not bad, but you can see why they want to update it. 

Here's my Photoshop mock-up of the sign I'm making, from the designer's new logo. I'm no graphic designer, but you get the idea.  

The company wants a 3D effect from the sign and they want it to give more depth to this otherwise dull wall. So I'm making the sign out of 3/4 inch MDF. Some people don't like this material, but it cuts and sands very nicely and with a good finish, it'll look good for a long time. 

I started by printing out a full-size pdf of the design and tacking it up on the wall to make sure the size and proportions are right. 

When the CFO signed off on this, I cut out the logo and glued it down to a sheet of MDF. You can see it chopped up into small pieces. I did this so that I could get each piece in the bandsaw and maneuver it to get good cuts. 

After using a jig-saw to do the rough cuts, I got the pieces onto the band saw and carefully sawed close to the lines. Then, I reassembled the pieces  to get an idea of the finished product. 

Not bad. Now, I'll peel the paper off, and sand all the edges right up to my line. Then, I'll seal the edges with joint compound, seal the whole thing with shellac and spray it with the customer's color. 

There's still a ways to go, but the project is shaping up nicely and this could be a big break for me. Working for a major local brand could open up a lot of doors for me...if it comes out right. 

Wish me luck.