The Challenge has been issued.

Do you have what it takes???

The 2021 Sign Invitational rules are as follows. We are excited about this one!

Theme:  GO FISH!  Use your imagination.  đź™‚

Build Envelope:  24″ x 24″ single sided wall mount sign.

Contest Date:  Wed, Apr 7, 2021 – Fri, Apr 9, 2021

Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas Nevada

Fan voting will be counted and awards announced Friday Apr 9, 2021

Contest Booth:   Signs of the Times ISA Booth #TBD

Dream a million dreams.

Back in 2015 when Dan and I sat on a grassy hill at the EnRoute summit in Denver Colorado, I would have never guessed our crazy ideas would turn into an amazingly fun event. The premise, Invite the best of the best in the sign industry and see who answers the call. The challenge, set some rules and see how creatively people can break them. That my friends is exactly what we have seen in the past 3 years. 24 amazing entries later, I would like to think we have done our little part in helping the visionaries in this business dream a million dreams. The best part is we are not done yet!!!

This year’s Sign Invitational may have been small in participants, but there was no lack of fan involvement or passion across the entries. Competing were Dan Sawatzky (Imagination Corporation), Gary Johnson (Great American Sign Co), Douglas Hancock (SignPro of North Florida) and myself, Jim Dawson (Synergy Sign & Graphics).

Everyone showed up with amazing creations that were true reflections of themselves as well as creative solutions to the guideline limitations.

Dan Sawatzky

Gary Johnson

Douglas Hancock

Jim Dawson

In end, 567 fans had voted for their favorite and Dan Sawatzky took the crown home for the 2nd year in a row.

Next years contest is going to be extremely interesting. Stay tuned for some major announcements including 2 divisions and something that is surely to be a show stopper!!!

Check out the video here! The Sign Invitational 2018

Thanks again to our amazing sponsors.

Multicam
Coastal Enterprises
Smooth-On
EnRoute Software

Class is in session.

Here it is folks.  Many of you have been asking and now it’s here.  The Sign Alchemy Class. 3 days of intensive training that covers how we do what we do.  Presented by Jim Dawson of Synergy Sign & Graphics and Doug Haffner of Haffner’s Fantastic Creations.  We’ll be covering everything from carving to finishing and everything in between.

Here is the rough course overview http://thesigninvitational.com/sign-alchemy

 

We hope to see you here in October!

 

-J

More Awesomeness from The Sign Invitational 2016

More pictures from The Sign Invitational 2016.

 

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

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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!

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

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

 

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

 

 

Two months and counting

Happy New Year all!

It’s hard to believe that it is February 1 already! Looking at the calendar there are only two months left to get your pieces designed, built and shipped out to the Sign Challenge at ISA in Orlando. We have yet to see much of anything from most of the competitors but I am sure everyone has their ideas locked down and the build well in hand. We’d love to see some sketches and pictures of progress.  The sponsors are eagerly awaiting to see some of the designs and sketches too!
Peter and I have our pieces finished, ready to palletize and ship out in a couple of weeks to make sure they are on hand in plenty of time. We are currently working on the sponsor’s dimensional signs as well as the trophy which will be presented to the winner.
We look forward to seeing all of the entries and all of you in Orlando in a few short weeks!
-dan