Category Synergy | The Sign Invitational

April 24, 2017 by Jim Dawson

The results are in. The Sign Invitational 2017 was a huge success!

The 2017 ISA Sign Expo was held this past week at Mandalay Bay convention center in Las Vegas. The show was very well attended and directly translated into an all out mob of traffic for The Sign Invitational located in Multicam USA’s booth for the second year. On display were pieces from Peter Sawatzky and Dan Sawatzky ( Imagination Corporation ), Doug Haffner ( Haffner’s Fantastic Creations ), Aubrey Gealsha and Jim Dawson ( Synergy Sign & Graphics ), Doug Hancock ( SignPro of North Florida ), and Janey Freid ( Atlas Signs and Plaques )

While the show was not as big as it was last year, competitors clearly pulled out all of the stops and created some amazing pieces this year.

In the end, after over 900 votes were cast by show attendees, Dan Sawatzky came out on top with his awesome train design. Finishing second was Doug Hancock by a mere 25 votes. Doug’s piece literally defied gravity with his awesome levitating sign design that payed homage to Nicola Tesla. Rounding out the top 3 was Jim Dawson’s piece with his mash up design called Poe’s BBQ Pit and Pendulum.

Doug Hancock and his Tesco Levitating Sign

Dan Sawatzky and his Magical Train

Aubrey Gealsha and Magical Palmistry and Fortune Telling piece.

Doug Haffner and His Sign Magic piece.

Janey Freid and Her Rabbit with the Magic Hat

Jim Dawson’s Poe’s BBQ Pit and Pendulum build.

The 2017 Competitors.

Huge thanks to all of our sponsors once again this year. Multicam USA, SAi Enroute, Coastal Enterprises, Signcraft Magazine, and Laird Plastics Akron. Without all of you, this contest doesn’t happen.

We all had a blast this year and cannot wait for next years competition. The theme will be Marvelous Machine. Do you have what it takes?

-Jim

April 26, 2016 by Jim Dawson

More Awesomeness from The Sign Invitational 2016

More pictures from The Sign Invitational 2016.

Noella Cotnam’s (farmsigns.com) amazing nesting sculpture

The Multicam Booth was the talk of the show. We had a steady crowd for most of the show along with periods of an all out mob!

Roger Cox’s gas pump and Dan Sawatzky’s Sign Police in the foreground.

Phil Vanderkraats (Signs By Van) whimsical ” The Art of Design ” piece with Doug Haffner’s (Haffner’s Fantastic Creations) Rat Fink mouse trap in the background.

Manfred Didier’s ( Timber Signs ) attention to detail was second to non.

The wining entry from Peter Poanessa ( Keene Signworx ) was a masterclass in Goldbergian design.

Peter Sawatzky’s (Imagination Corporation) Artistic Android was a master class in character design.

Who doesn’t love a robot chicken. Xpressive Graphix’s entry from Dave Mattingly and Tony Rose had everyone chuckling.

Roger Cox’s ( House of Signs ) tribute to Rube was amazingly detailed and displayed some awesome finishing.

Dan Sawatzky’s (Imagination Corporation) piece showcased why Dan is at the pinnacle in carved sign design. He always tells amazing stories with every piece.

Jim Dawson, Bryan Gray, Aubrey Gealsha, and Jason Bair from Synergy Sign & Graphics sure do know there way around tentacle sculptures.

in Dan Sawatzky / Doug Haffner / Keene Signworx / Noella Cotnam / Roger Cox / Signs By Van / Synergy / Timber Signs / Uncategorized 0 comments

April 24, 2016 by Jim Dawson

Congratulations to Peter Poanessa, The 2016 Sign Invitational Winner!

Voting was extremely close and the competition was fierce. The Multicam USA booth was the talk of the entire ISA 2016 show. We received tons of compliments and have already decided to expand the show for next year. Details on that soon.

Back to this year. Peter Poanessa showed up with his amazing Acme-Goldberg Autosign machine and pulled out the win after some very close results in the voting. The best part was we were all able to meet some of the top sign makers in the world, share ideas, and build lifelong friendships with our fellow sign makers.

Here are a few pictures to hold you over until we get home and edit the rest.

Thanks to all of the contestants, sponsors, and fans who made this a smash hit!!!!!

1st Place – Peter Poanessa, Keene Signworx
2nd Place – Roger Cox, House of Signs
3rd Place – Jim Dawson, Synergy Sign & Graphics
4th Place – Phil Vanderkraats, Signs By Van
5th Place – Peter Sawatzky, Imagination Corporation

Peter Poanessa of Keene Signworx with his winning entry

Roger Cox and Periandros Damoulis from House of Signs with the 2nd Place finish

Jim Dawson, Jason Bair, and Aubrey Gealsha from Synergy Sign & Graphics finished 3rd place

Phil Vanderkraats and Donna Shriver from Signs by Van took 4th place

Peter Sawatzky from Imagination Corporation took 5th place with his Artistic Android

Stay tuned for more pictures and the rules and theme for next years competition.

-Jim

in Keene Signworx / Roger Cox / Signs By Van / Synergy 0 comments

April 19, 2016 by Jim Dawson

Ready to ROLL!

Today we loaded everything into a trailer and packed up for Orlando. The trailer currently houses the ballot box and stand, Peter Sawatzky’s entry, Dan Sawatzky’s entry, a sculpture for Coastal Enterprises that Dan made, Peter Poanessa’s entry, Phil Vanderkraat’s entry, Synergy Sign’s entry, number plaques for all of the entires, Xpressive Graphix’s entry, and various other tools, thank you plaques, and other things needed to pull this contest off.

( 5000 ballot entries for the voting process. )

I hope everyone can make it out to ISA 2015 and see these works of art on display for everyone!!!