Tag Coastal Enterprises | The Sign Invitational

March 27, 2018 by Jim Dawson

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

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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.

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