CARVED WOOD SIGNS DELIVER A COMPELLING MESSAGE

Carved Wooden Signs Deliver Unique and Compelling Messages

by Thom Inman - Master Craftsman Carving Custom Wood Signs for 60 years

Do you want a compelling welcome sign that will distinguish yours from all the others you've ever seen? Whether running a Country Inn, a Lodge with rustic cabins, an old family General Store, or simply a Lake Cabin, second home, or RV, a custom wood sign will provide you that unique distinction that will set you apart from others. It will also make a statement for those who visit your business, arrive at your home, or extend a Hello to those visiting. Everything about your sign speaks volumes about you and your uniqueness.

Because there are thousands of fonts and styles, a professionally designed wood sign becomes a composition. For instance, a casual font is often used to convey a rustic look deliberately; different, even simple, font choices of the exact text will profoundly change the balance and harmony of the sign. The right font can determine the overall look, which, in turn, can make the message on the sign more appealing. Remember, your overall goal is to grab the attention of potential customers, guests, visitors, or neighbors and give them something to remember. Since your sign will likely be one of the first impressions of your business, lake home, cabin, or house they will see, the way it appears is a crucial part of customer attraction, personification, and identification.

The message on your sign is just as important as its look. It's a statement you want to make to your audience - a way to express your warmth, personality, and affection. You want your sign to be something they will remember, something that defines you, or at least something unique about who you are and what you have. So, choose your words carefully because your sign reflects you.

If you are still only imagining how your sign ideas will look, consult the person who will create them. Consulting directly with the sign designer-craftsman is the most powerful tool for customizing or tailoring the right message for balance and harmony. Proofing with scale renderings and collaboration with a skilled sign designer bring your sign idea to life. Once you realize what you want, you can approve the custom carving of your sign design. You often don't know what you want, but you’ll know when you see it! I believe design collaboration with scale proofs is the most critical component of custom wood sign carving, and it should be without an additional fee because it is part of what you are paying for when hiring a sign design artist and wood carving professional.

Many designs can help present your message. The one you choose should complement the message on your sign. If the message is simple and rustic, go for that design. If you are going for something more complex, designs are also available to fit those types of signs. It's all in the presentation. Avoid vendors who have a page of images from which you must select. Or a few fonts you must use. Worse yet, how many letters per line are you restricted to? It requires much more than counting letters on a fixed shape and sized panel and then hoping folks will notice your message.


May the Forest be with you

 

CEDAR IS THE ONLY CHOICE FOR CUSTOM WOOD SIGNS

Carved Cedar Signs Speak to Nature, Harmony, and Environmental Reverence

by Thom Inman - Master Craftsman Carving Custom Wood Signs for 60 years

When contemplating a carved wood sign, you should first consider the material from which it will be created. If you are looking for a carved wood sign, the only legitimate choice is Real Western Red Cedar. It speaks to nature, harmony, and environmental reverence. If your sign is placed outside, you will need wood that will withstand various weather conditions without becoming cracked, damaged, or flawed over time. Western Red Cedar is the top choice and is used exclusively at the Cedar Sign Company to create the finest custom wood signs because of its excellent attributes.

Cedar is dimensionally stable - its durability is legendary. This means it lies flat and straight without warping or cracking like almost all other woods will do. This also means it will withstand all that nature and weather will conspire against it and still look great over a long time. This is the stuff West Texas fence posts are made from! Western Red Cedar was used to construct King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem circa 1000 BC. The use of Cedar is mentioned in The Iliad. Western Red Cedar is used mainly in applications requiring resistance to weather, such as shakes and shingles - Totem poles, for heavens' sake!

Cedar also won't decay, nor does it rot. Western Red Cedar is the first and clear choice for carved wooden signs. The natural oils it contains prevent deterioration from happening as they preserve the wood from decay. Cedar also has a beautiful aroma, thus adding to the rustic feel of your home, lodge, cabin, or business. If you choose Western Red Cedar as the material for your next personalized carved wooden welcome sign, you will be able to keep your sign for a very long time. Whether you decide to refresh its finish or just leave it in its natural state, you will be happy with the many great attributes of this wood. Although unfinished cedar will change colors over time, the slow metamorphosis can be appealing, too.

Never employ shellac, varnish, or polyurethane to maintain Cedar's richly textured grain with amber, cinnamon, and sienna coloring. You will find this to be true the more research time you invest, as the internet is ripe with vendors making inexpensive signs of inferior wood varieties using these shiny, spray-applied clear finishes. Etsy, Amazon, County Fairs, and Craft Expos spew shiny wood signs. That's NOT what you need. There is a way better solution to durability than these old-fashioned approaches. A green finish system that releases zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) formulated to enhance and enrich the natural durability and appearance of Western Red Cedar. You want a craftsman employing finish formulas that enhance water damage and reduce graying by incorporating sun-blocking and ultra-violet protection like our Cedar Finish Refresher.

Western Red Cedar will not bow or sag over time. This means your sign will stay straight and visible as long as you keep it up. Because of this, your sign will last as long as your application and look as beautiful in years to come as it did the day it was created. Since it is self-preserved, you will not have to take a lot of time treating it and can feel confident that you will see a definite return on your investment.


May the Forest be with You!

 

PROPER FINISHING OF CUSTOM WOOD SIGNS

Properly Finished & Refreshed, Western Red Cedar will Gracefully Weather a Lifetime

by Thom Inman - Master Craftsman Carving Custom Wood Signs for 60 years

Western Red Cedar is one of the few wood species that are just naturally at home outdoors. When properly finished, Western Red Cedar will gracefully weather for decades, even in the harshest environments. Its natural resistance to moisture, decay, and insect damage makes it the ideal choice for a surface exposed to sun, rain, heat, and cold all year round. For centuries, aboriginals have used cedar bark along British Columbia's Pacific coast to make rope, clothing, and baskets. The logs were used for canoes, totem poles, masks, and long houses. The hallmark characteristic of Western Red Cedar, its natural durability, has preserved examples of native culture for more than 200 years. For centuries, builders and artisans have valued Western Red Cedar for its natural beauty and durability. Cedar's unique aroma comes from naturally occurring thujaplicins in its heartwood. This is separate from the incense quality of Eastern Red Cedar, which is an entirely different species of Cedar altogether. It is used for closet linings and the interior of hope chests.

As many homeowners are too well aware, readying their deck for summer is all about tending to their "thujaplicins." These aren't exotic plants or endangered species. They are the fragrant natural compounds that give western red its pleasant aroma and protect the wood from deterioration. These compounds resist moisture, are toxic to decay-causing fungi and insects, and preserve the wood to give it long-lasting appeal. Unfinished cedar has richly textured grain with colors ranging from mellow ambers, reddish cinnamon, and rich sienna browns. Western Red Cedar's uniform, fine-grained texture with a satin-like luster complements its warm coloring. It is virtually pitch and resin-free, so the wood readily accepts oil-based finishes, tinted, stained, or solid coating like paint.

While cedar naturally weathers to an attractive silver-gray patina over time, it's crucial to understand that some protective finish is strongly recommended to prevent surface degradation. Weathered surfaces provide a poor substrate for solid finishes; even a few weeks of exposure can decrease cedar's ability to hold a finish. Once the finish-wood interface fails, the coating will debond, blister, crack, flake, or peel. The longer the period of weathering, the more rapidly the finish may fail. It's essential to understand that transparent, non-flexible, film-forming finishes such as lacquer, shellac, polyurethane, or varnish are not recommended for exterior use on cedar and should be avoided altogether. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, these finishes will degrade the wood due to a greenhouse effect. Regardless of the number of coats, the finish will eventually become brittle, develop severe cracks, and fail. Applying finishes that contain ultraviolet blockers can most appropriately retain the natural coloration of newly milled cedar. Finishes containing both an effective mildewcide and ultraviolet protection are recommended. Which, of course, brings us to our proprietary outdoor FINISH REFRESHER. Use it at least every other summer, and your Carved Cedar Signs will "Gracefully Weather a Lifetime!"™


May the Forest be with you

 

THE DECLINE OF THE FRONT PORCH

Is it time to Reinvent the Porch with a Welcome Sign?

by Thom Inman - Master Craftsman Carving Custom Wood Signs for 60 years

The American front porch has monopolized lucid memories for generations of families. The number of greetings and partings, comings and goings, hugs and kisses that have taken place on the porches of our lives are as countless as the tears. The kitchen may be the heart of the home, but the porch is the soul. Porch sitting is the ultimate remedy to the strife, haste, and harried lifestyle of modern living. Although our porches are nearly iconic, they are slowly receding from the substance of our lives. Homeowners are nearly clamoring for comfort, yet often overlook the obvious and abiding pleasures of the porch.

As a boy, the door between our kitchen and the screened porch, what my Mom called the "Summer Kitchen," was opened and remained that way until deep into September and early October. For many of us, our porches became outdoor living rooms. They represented the ideal place for folks to spend hours sitting and talking with friends and family. So, if the porch was such an important part of our lives, why has it started to disappear?

Technological change is one of the main things that advanced the abandonment of the front porch. As the growing number of automobiles flooded the streets, the front porch gradually failed to be the idyllic setting. Air conditioning has contributed its share of the spoilage as well. A cool environment indoors negates the need to take advantage of a shady area outdoors on the porch. Of course, television and its accouterments now focus on family life indoors more and more.

Isn't it time to reinvent your porch? No matter what size your porch is, big or small, with a little creativity, you can send out a warm welcome to guests and neighbors again. Do you have a cheerful porch? Does it say welcome? Your porch is your personality! One of the most effective ways to go about doing this is to create a carved outdoor custom wood sign that says "Hello & Welcome!"

A well-designed and crafted carved wood sign can come in a range of styles, sizes, and designs. You can have names, slogans, text, and fonts carved into them. If you want truly personalized impact, you can add an image to the sign as well. You may wish to have the names of all your family members suspended from your sign in a legacy fashion. You may want to give your property a quirky name accompanied by an image that uniquely identifies and speaks for you.

You'll be amazed at the difference a welcome sign will make to your entrance—porch or not. Put out the flag and add some potted plants. It'll make your property more homey and say to your neighbors, "Come on over!" It really is the perfect thing to bring your porch back to life so you can start enjoying and relaxing outdoors more, back in the company of your friends and family where you belong.


May the Forest be with You!

 

CUSTOM WOOD SIGNS FOR THE CABIN

Want that "Tastes like Smores" feeling in your Carved Wood Sign for the Cabin?

by Thom Inman - Master Craftsman Carving Custom Wood Signs for 60 years

If you own, operate, or even visit a lodge, cabin, or summer place, you already know how attractive and creative a Carved Wooden Sign appeals to the senses. If you are looking for that "tastes like 'smores" feeling for your eyes in your own custom sign, nothing gets done like an old-world style, deeply carved custom wood sign. Personalizing has no limitations. A well-designed, carved wood sign made of Real Western Red Cedar will create a decor piece of pride and enduring satisfaction for years to come.

Why settle for one of those typical, run-of-the-mill, painted and varnished white pine signs for your lodge, cabin, or summer place when you could invest in a well-designed, custom wood sign carved in Western Red Cedar with a proper outdoor wood finish that would gracefully weather a lifetime? That sign conveys much more than merely who you are or your cabin number. Because you could incorporate text in well-designed, balanced, attractive font stylings and include images on your carved wood sign that you've discovered through collaboration with a professional sign designer on a legacy-quality material. Carved signs like that convey traits and personalizations unique to your family, personality, and setting.

Images on your custom wooden sign will significantly increase your sign's visibility and aesthetic impact. In fact, in many cases, people are far more likely to notice and be drawn into interest in your sign if a well-designed image is featured. In many cases, people will see this image before they notice its actual text. The images on your sign could be anything from a logo, a pet, or a landscape relevant to your setting or tastes. Carving cannot be exceptionally high resolution, but carefully designed detail can be powerful.


May the Forest be with You!

Most folks don't know what they want, but they always know when they see it!

This image is a full-color scale rendering (proof) like we provide to customers who describe a project that has captured their imagination but are struggling to imagine what they are attempting to describe. We provide initial proofs to our customers to assure ourselves and them that we are all on the same page. Your card will be charged only after you approve a design created in collaboration with a skilled sign design artisan who will provide these scaled proofs until you are delighted. We only carve a sign once the customer approves the final rendering. 

Customer Review 1/25/19

Patti and Craig Bowman had this to say the other day about their recently commissioned sign project: "I had the pleasant surprise of receiving my order much sooner than I expected - I was able to give the sign as a Christmas gift even though Thom advised me it may not be possible due to my late order. The design choices were very nice, and the sign was perfect. I will recommend Cedar Signs to others. Thank you!" 

Customer Review 6/25/19

Patti and Craig Bowman had this to say the other day about their recently commissioned sign project: "WE LOVE OUR SIGN SO MUCH! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It is very special and means a lot to us. You made it beautifully. It is just what we wanted and needed.