The 2021 Sign Invitational rules are as follows. We are excited about this one!
Theme: GO FISH! Use your imagination. 🙂
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
Congrats to Amanda and Rusty Gibbs on their big win this year. Your piece was awesome! You can read the whole article here.
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.
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 pictures from The Sign Invitational 2016.
Noella Cotnam’s (farmsigns.com) amazing nesting sculpture
The Multicam Booth was the talk of the show. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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.
Big thanks to Mr. Jason Nale on our logo design. Check Jason out at http://originaledesigns.com
Happy New Year all!