CM SignBlog

City Arts Market in Lancaster

2008-05-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Come join all the artists and food vendors Saturday , May 31.

Music, Organic Produce, Delicious gourmet Foods, and over 40 art and craft vendors!

I will be there at the Lancaster Indie Arts booth with some new handpainted work that I have been developing while on hiatus from blog posting.

Still Alive!

2008-04-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a long, long time since I have posted! In the meantime, Googlr took over blogspot, and it just took me over a week to regain access to my blog. What a hassle! Anyway, I wasted all day dealing with that, and now I have to go to work, but I still wanted to check in, and will begin more regular posts ASAP. For now, Though, I'm still ALIVE!

Step Right Up...

2006-09-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

It was a banner week here at the shop. If you live in California, you may see 2 of the banners we did this week. All you have to do is find T-Ray's Museum of Oddities. When you do, tell him how much you like his new banners! They are 3' by 8' and 4' by 6' vinyl banners. They shipped coast to coast in about 3 days.

Sideshow signs are always fun, whether they are for actual use with a show, or hanging around the house, shop or dorm. We strive to keep that old fashioned midway feel to our signs, and spend alot of time doing research on style, colors, content and lettering.

Where can you find the strangest human on Earth....?

By Request...

2006-08-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been getting alot of requests to have our stock designs customized by changing colors or sizes, or by adding a name or text to a bar, shop or sideshow sign. Because all of our signs are designed and fabricated in-house, we can accomplish this while keeping a natural look, rather than a last minute add-on. The customers also save on custom design services.

Click on images to enlarge

Fence me in!

2006-07-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS FENCE PROS!!
Fence Pros of Collegeville PA made the most of their advertising dollars when they decided to get a 3-color lettering job done on their new truck. Thousands of people will see this advertising every time they drive to a job! We wish them all the best in their new business - give them a call, the number is on the truck!

On another front, we got a very nice letter from one of our first Sideshow customers, Mr. Ses Carny - artist and performer. Here's what he had to say:

"These are some of the highest quality signs I have ever seen! I am proud to own a few of Cinda's signs and even more proud to display them on stage in my show. Keep up the good work. The quality is right where it should be and I will be back for more! "- Ses Carny (Sideshow Performer)

We've seen Ses' show, and enjoyed it very much, Thanks for the feedback!

Prayhard Jr. Sprintcars

2006-07-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

The guys at Prayhard Racing Needed a little something to spruce up their new "RV", so who did they call?

Palace of Wonders

2005-10-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find a script font that I liked for James Taylor's Palace of Wonders sign, so I added his signature, instead.

"... Looks killer, too. And digitizing my signature to acompany the text for the Palace of Wonders sign is a hoot..."
-James Taylor

Habla Espanol?

2005-10-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Bilingual signs create a welcome atmosphere for a whole new group of prosective customers.

Stuck!

2005-09-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Vehicle lettering is a great way to advertise. Possibly thousands of people see your vehicle every single day. Think of the advertising potential! There are also reasons why the small business owner may not want to have lettering applied directly to their vehicles. That's why the folks at The Pickled Brothers Sideshow decided to go with vehicle magnets. They are inexpensive, can be removed after hours, or moved from one vehicle to another (Making them an even MORE economical advertising tool).

Sign here please...

2005-09-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

While making the easel signs for this year's Sideshow Gathering,
I also made 2 small signs, with only a carnival style border, and the heading "Sideshow Gathering 2005". As the different performers came by my booth, I asked them to autograph the signs. I gave one to the show promoter, and came away with a nice peice for my carnie themed dining room!

A Turd By Any Other Name...

2005-08-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

Would a rose by any other name still smell as sweet? Yes, it would! But a turd-bag sign is a different story. I found this sign (That's right, I did NOT make this one!) in a new, rather upscale housing development. It stands in front of a mansion like abode, across the road from a country club. What a splash of class, right? As you can see, it's not only ugly, it's ineffective too. Properly designed, this sign could encourage people to dispose of their bags in a more fitting place. This one almost asks for turd bags! Someone made this gem on their home computer, obviously frustrated over the unsightly accumulation of litter on the curb. Now there is an unsightly sign pointing out the unsightly accumulation. A good signmaker could have helped here, at a cost of under twenty dollars. Much like the Tattoo shop policy signs I posted earlier, a well designed, politely worded sign would actually make the neighbors feel BAD about leaving the doggy bags in front of the McMansion, and not just make the pile look even worse. If you need to discourage the dog walkers from decorating Your street like this, please e-mail me. We can fix it at a price you will like - And, we ship world-wide.

A goat, some ink and a good sharp needle!

2005-08-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

We met at the PA State Fair, and I knew right away that I had to do his portrait! Mixed media scratchboard on masonite, coated so that it needs no glass (cheaper to frame, my dear), thousands of tiny line carved into the surface, creating a very luminous surface.The horns are slightly tinted. It is really tough to capture the detail that goes into this with a digital camera, but here it is.

Pet portraits, freak animals, circus art, poster, sideshow, carnival, agriculture, illustration, banners, signs, gold leaf

Zen and the art of Tattoo Shop signs

2005-08-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tattoo shop signs are a perfect fit with our shop. We enjoy working in retro style and colors, and we also find that tattoo folk are fun people to work with. A Policy sign doesn't have to be so cold and demanding - add some quirky graphics and a nice old fashioned font, and it takes on a friendly attitude. Your customers will get the point without the attitude! The tipping sign always gets a smile, if not a laugh, and helps put nervous customers at ease. One customer told me that one paid for itself the first Day! My tattoo signs are all original designs, other stock designs include Cash Only, No Checks, A whole assortment of parking and piercing signs, Age and ID policy, etc...If we don't have what you need to say in stock - we can always make one to your specs!

Sideshow Fun!!

2005-07-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned getting ready for the Sideshow Gathering. The Sideshow Gathering happens every year on Labor Day weekend, in Wilkes Barre PA. It is a weekend of sword swallowing, fire eating, whip cracking and other unique entertainment - All Live! There are freaks, Tattoos, vendors of all sorts, and lots of fun for all ages. Here are a couple of pics from past Gatherings. Sword Swallower Johnny Fox ordered a custom sign for his Freakatorium in NYC. Crispy and Ukelele Loki, of The Crispy Family Circus, pose with me, with the first sign in my carnival series - "You Must Be 59 inches to Ride Yourself". You've seen this one at the local fair, I'm sure.

CM Signs is on the web!

2005-07-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

CM Signs! is located in Sinking Spring Pennsylvania. We are a small custom sign studio. We design and fabricate custom signs, banners and vehicle & window lettering. We have been involved in some strange projects in the past, and always enjoy an unusual challenge.

No Job Too Odd!

Right now we are busy preparing for the annual Sideshow Gathering in Wilkes Barre, PA, Labor Day Weekend. I might not have time to write alot til then, but I'll try to get some pictures up for you to look at.