Danthonia Designs HDU Sign Invites Wine and Cheese Crowd

Inverell, NSW, Australia-based Danthonia Designs exported its whimsical brand of building signage across the Pacific, and an entire continent, to this Boston bistro. As Danthonia’s fame has grown (we’d like to think in part from its many International Sign Contest victories), it’s begun fabricating signs for a growing number of international clients.

Donal McKernan, the son of Danthonia owner Joe, designed the sign with Adobe Illustrator 15 software. Its fabrication team plotted the design’s pattern on Gerber paintmask with its Roland Camm-1 Pro cutting plotter (a shop staple for many years). The shop carved the sign on18-lb. Sign*Foam® 3 HDU (a more stout substrate was likely necessary to combat New England winters) with a Festool 1400 EQ handheld router, Pfeil chisels and other handcarving tools. To install the sign, the face was bonded with 3M adhesive to a PVC backing layer.

After having prepped the sign for coating with Resine quick-dry primer, Danthonia decorated the sign with Dulux Weathershield paints and Liquitex artists’ acrylics. To add an elegant air, the shop decorated a 3-D banner (also made from 18-lb. Sign*Foam) with letters adorned with 23k goldleaf.