To access the 2012 International Sign Contest form, click here.
For more than 30 years, ST has conducted sign competitions. The winners often reflect the visual-identity trends of an era. Some honorees, such as a submission to the 1982 Commercial Sign Contest (Commercial and Electric competitions were unified into a single entity in 2002) for a Godfather’s Pizza location – the sign featured a handpainted Godfather’s logo on wood with an attached pizza pan decorated with simulated bullet holes — that earned a fifth-place finish, would probably be less well received if submitted today. One wonders if Herman Cain had any say in the design of this sign.
However, many recent submissions that have earned contest accolades often underscore the financial commitment that leaders of large public institutions and broad-minded private corporations have made to create a dynamic visual identity. For example, Dimensional Innovations (Overland Park, KS) earned Best of Show in 2006 (see ST, April 2006, page 140) for its behemoth wrap of the garage at Kansas City’s main public-library branch with a wrap that depicts 22 supersized depictions of hardback bindings of such classics as Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!
Last year, Mellow Mushroom made history as the first end user to have two of its signs win awards in the same contest. Snyder Signs’ (Johnson City, TN) display for the Pigeon Forge, TN location earned First Place in the Electronic Message Center category, and Sign Systems Inc. (Hickory, NC) pole sign for the chain’s Hickory location earned Third Place in Electric Freestanding Signs. The latitude that Mellow Mushroom’s Atlanta corporate office provides for its sign fabricators was very evident in the signs’ divergent treatments (see ST, April 2011, pages 79 and 88).
With marketing budgets increasingly strained, and the cacophony of visual clutter that encroaches on our daily life, signs continue to provide the most cost-effective method to provide an advertising message. But, you already know that. Although some customers will be unswervingly fixated on a low price, others with means and vision will embrace creating memorable signage and environmental graphics to drive business.
For those types of projects, we offer our contest as a forum to celebrate signs’ far-reaching possibilities. The deadline is December 6; access the entry form here. Please contact me at steve.aust@stmediagroup.com or (513) 263-9308 if you have any questions.