Mark Yearwood, proprietor of Yearwood Design Works (Weatherford, OK), didn’t have to hide his passion for creating graphics from his parents. Rather, he was encouraged to perfect his layout skills and brushstrokes. After having paid his dues in two signshops – one of which was a large billboard producer – Yearwood opened his own shop 12 years ago.
After years of having plied his trade in a small shop with one full-time employee – E.J. Wolf handles many fabrication duties – Yearwood’s actively pursuing larger quarters that will allow him more space and, possibly, let him expand his repertoire.
A high-octane beginning
Yearwood cut his artisanal teeth in his father’s auto-body shop, where he relished pinstriping and lettering cars, among other duties. He designed and handpainted the shop’s signage, and his dad allowed him shop-tool use in his spare time.
“I created most of my early work with just 1Shot® lettering enamel, fitches and lettering quills,” he said. “I used goldleaf occasionally to hand-letter vehicles, but, to be honest, I was a little bit afraid of using such a delicate material. Now, I practically throw the stuff on all our signs.”
After Yearwood’s high-school graduation in 1982, Daryl Jones hired him as a fabricator at his Clinton, OK-based shop, Jones Sign Co. Jones, a skilled sign artist, taught Yearwood to improve his brushwork and design, as well as the nuances of illustration, sandblasting and installation.
Yearwood worked for Jones for approximately one year. Then, Western Sign Co. (Oklahoma City) hired him. Throughout the ’80s, Western, a leading billboard-rental company in the region, sent Yearwood into uncharted waters.
“I had worked with pictorials, letters and numerals on a relatively small scale,” he said. “When I went to work for Western, we handpainted billboards as large as 14 x 40 ft. I’d always been extremely precise when rendering details, but, in such a large format with short turnarounds, attention to detail was sometimes a bit looser. There were times when the work was more like mopping a wall than painting a sign.”
He credits Bob Pitzer, Western’s owner and a seasoned brush man, with motivating him to improve his technique and tempo.
On his own
In 1995, Yearwood migrated to Weatherford and opened his own shop. Initially, his work involved handpainted signage, vehicle graphics and building facades. However, he recognized the broader sign market’s additional potential. As residential and commercial developments burgeoned throughout Oklahoma, monument and gateway signage eventually comprised a solid majority of Yearwood’s work.
Churches, banks and retailers that seek a classic image are now routine clients. To fabricate many such sign systems, Yearwood’s woodworking tools comprise chisels, jigsaws, miter saws and handheld routers. Though he prefers traditional methods, his Roland DGA Corporation CAMM1 cutting plotter (for cut-vinyl graphics that adorn signs and vehicles) represents a concession to advancing industry technology. Recently, the company also added a Graphtec 7000 plotter.
HDU’s carveability and weatherability, plus redwood’s growing shortage, made it his media of choice. Yearwood said one developer still demands redwood for its rustic appearance, but most customers prefer HDU.
Yearwood estimates using Adobe Photoshop®, Illustrator® and Flexisign® to craft approximately 80% of his designs. For more ornate or intricate patterns, he’ll hand-sketch a piece and scan it as vector art because he trusts his own hand to incorporate nuanced artwork more than design software. He credits David Butler, co-proprietor of Syracuse, IN-based Butler Design Agency, with teaching him how to translate hand-rendered designs into digital templates.
Yearwood said, “The tools available through these software programs can really simplify the process.” But, before they pick up software, sign designers should learn the fundamental principles contained in [Mike Stevens’ legendary manual] Mastering Layout.”
To decorate most of his signs, Yearwood uses 100% acrylic-based paints, and he’s found Gary Anderson’s (owner of Bloomington, IN-based Bloomington Design) Rhino waterbased paints to be quite effective. Generally, he distrusts alkyd formulations’ weatherability.
However, Yearwood knows his limitations. He enlists local subcontractors for any digital-printing or CNC-routing job. He also jobs out installations that require a crane, post-hole digging or other heavy-duty preparations.
“I don’t have room in my shop for a CNC router, and I’m not really interested in inkjet printing at this time,” Yearwood said. “We promote working by hand, and these techniques attract certain customers.”
What’s next?
Because of an increasing “I need it yesterday” mentality, Yearwood must constantly educate customers who want a “drive-thru” architectural sign. He noted, “It’s the fast-food mindset of today. Customers have access to more information today than ever, but they still need to be educated about how I need to properly mix materials to manage expansion and contraction, wind load, cost and durability. They need to understand it’s a craft and a process. We’re making a high-quality, handcrafted product that will represent their image, and it requires due consideration.”
Recently, Yearwood added custom-logo design to his repertoire, which he estimates adds 10 to 15 annual sign projects. He’s learned from other signmakers whose would-be customers have taken custom artwork to a cheaper fabricator. He copyrights every production.
“As long as you’re upfront with a customer, it’s usually not difficult to sell them on an entire system,” Yearwood said. “We’re handling more overall image and print design, and customers like one-stop shopping. I’ve learned to sell good design first, and signs second.”
After having grown his business within his modestly sized, 1,200-sq.-ft. shop, Yearwood is searching for commercially zoned land tracts on which to build his dream shop – with a larger showroom, greater production capacity and beefed-up tools. He envisions an approximately 3,000-sq.-ft. shop by year’s end.
“When I move into a larger shop, I hope to invest in a CNC router, and we’ll probably increase staffing,” Yearwood said. “It will be nice to have room to fit everything comfortably, and to work on trucks without getting covered in HDU dust.”