Custom Sign for the Madoc Market

I'm always thinking about new ways to advertise as well as looking for innovative ways to make things portable. When I travel with my wares I'm typically packed into a minivan, which means there isn't a lot of space, so portable is an issue. 

For some time I've been considering making a new sign for myself, but as I was going through some ideas I was approached by the coordinator of the Madoc Friday Market asking if I could make a new sign. 

The old sign was a small sandwich board that stood no more than 2' tall, with some handpainted lettering that wasn't all that legible from a distance. The Madoc marketplace is located in the middle of downtown Madoc where traffic is often a bit hectic, so the sign needed to be large enough to be both visible and readable from a reasonable distance, even while travelling and paying attention to traffic. 

The sign would also be packed up and put in a car every week, so it had to be portable and relatively lightweight. 

There was also a final consideration: downtown Madoc functions like a wind funnel, channelling winds into strong gusts, so the sign had to be stable enough to withstand the wind, and strong enough that it wouldn't get damaged if it did get blown over. 

The main body of the sign is made from 1/4" plywood, stained dark to allow for strong contrast with the letters. The letters, which are also cut from 1/4" ply, are roughly 5" tall. The frame is 1 1/2" thick with a dado (or slot) cut into it for the plywood to fit into. Nails and Titebond III glue hold the body of the sign together. 

Of course, at this point we only have a flat sign with no support to sit on a sidewalk...

THe base is made from a 2 x 4 with 1 x 4s . The 2 x 4 has a channel cut into it that allows the body of the sign to fit into it snugly. A piece of 1 x 4 sits underneath to provide a solid bottom while some other pieces of 1 x 4 are fastened perpendicular to the base to serve as legs. 

The entire sign is finished with Helmsman Spar urethane to provide a waterproof finish.

The final product was well received by the person who ordered it, and has been well reviewed by the other market vendors. I still haven't decided to make a sign for myself yet, but I do have another reason to have some pride in my work: The week after I made this we had a particularly breezy market day (the sort where things go flying off people's tables). I watched a number of professionally built sandwich board signs in front of various businesses blow over, but mine remained standing (at least until the sign across the street blew over for the fourth time). 

As always, custom work is available. Contact me at mapleridgecreations@gmail.com