Signs Over Miami

The past 18 months have exacted financial hardship on many small businesses – large corporations’ woes have been quite well documented, but small businesses pro-vide most U.S. job growth. And, of course, small business encompasses virtually the entire sign industry. Both anecdotally and via ST’s State of the Industry reports, news of shutdowns and consolidation has become rampant.

Against this backdrop, I embarked on the 2010 International Sign Contest with some uncertainty. Several regular contributors bemoaned the lack of any projects “worthy” of this year’s contest. Others scaled back their normally prolific submissions.

Thankfully, the quality and resilience of many high-quality sign vendors resonated against foreboding economic clouds. Although this year’s submission tally declined significantly – 312 versus 430 last year – the quality among the field astounded. Many that didn’t make it beyond the preliminary round struck me as potential winners in prior years. Many thanks to the 76 companies that participated and helped make the contest an annual labor of love.

Several companies earned multiple honors. Lorenc+Yoo Design, a Roswell, GA-based, environmental-graphic-design firm, earned plaudits in Sign Systems, Electric Building Signs and Electronic Message Centers. Stoner Graphix (Hummelstown, PA) earned second-place honors in the Commercial Monument Sign and Commercial Freestanding Sign categories. Gordon Sign (Denver and Cheyenne, WY) earned first-place awards in the Commercial and Electric Monument Sign categories. Rousing choruses of “Rocky Mountain High” and “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” may be in order.

Baltimore’s GableSigns earned the contest’s coveted Best of Show prize for its production of the Miami Beach wayfinding system. The comprehensive program features a series of vertical pylon signs with color-changing accent lighting; a sleek, modern entry-monument icon; and a lean, clean typeface reflective of South Florida’s go-go playground.

Without further blathering, ST proudly presents the winners from the 2010 International Sign Contest!

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The Judges

 

Erik Brown, Brownstone Design
A 1990 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Erik worked for RTKL, SDI and Copeland Hirthler before founding his own firm in Cincinnati in 1999. His experience includes developing wayfinding, retail sign programs and special-event graphics. Erik’s portfolio includes Churchill Downs, US Cellular Field (home of the Chicago White Sox), Northern Kentucky University and the Izod Center at New Jersey’s Meadowlands. He and his wife, Meredith, are currently undertaking their most challenging project with the “18-year development schedule” of their children, four-year-old Maddox and two-year-old Vivian.

 

Lenny Diaspro, Cincinnati Sign Supplies
Lenny Diaspro works as sales manager and VP at Cincinnati Sign Supplies, where he’s worked for 21 years. He belongs to Cincinnati’s Business Advertising Council, where he serves as secretary, and he also serves as an active member of the International Sign Assn., the Midwest Sign Assn., the American Sign Museum and the Central OH Sign Assn., where he’s a past president. He’s also a proud charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Peru, IN’s Circus City Festival. In his spare time, Lenny enjoys snow skiing, playing ice hockey and cheering on Italy’s national soccer team. This was his second time judging an ST contest.

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Paul Shoemaker, Creative Blast Co.
Paul Shoemaker, founder of the Creative Blast Co., produces sandblasted, routed signage. In 1990, he left his job as an engineer to found the Creative Blast Co. with a friend. A year later, he assumed the business as a sole proprietorship. Today, Paul operates a 7,000-sq.-ft. facility near downtown Cincinnati that employs four full-time and two part-time employees. Creative Blast manufactures wholesale, sandblasted signage for approximately 25 other sign companies, as well as real-estate developers and property managers. He said, “It’s always a pleasure seeing signs I’ve made as I drive throughout the city.” This was Paul’s third stint as a judge.

 

Joe Smallwood, Triumph Sign Co.
After having attended the University of Tennessee, Joe Smallwood began his sign-industry career as an installer with Sign Vision (Cincinnati). For four years, he learned the trade while installing neon channel letters and highway signs, among others. Then, Joe accepted a sales position with Cincinnati-based Holthaus Signs, where he worked with Anthem Blue Cross, Argosy Casino and the Mills Group. In 2005, he became regional manager for Triumph Signs (Cincinnati), where he coordinates the design and execution of local, regional and national sign programs with his own crew and nationwide installer network.