Frequently Asked Questions
These frequently asked questions concerning hand painted window splashes are provided for your convenience in an effort to provide you with all the information you need to make your decisions about splash window advertising.
If you have further questions, please contact me or call 817-545-8947.
First I like to ask a few questions to learn more about how I can better serve you, and how you like to do business. We have to make sure that we can work together, benefiting both of us in the process.
I stay up to date on paint technology and continue to develop psychology that helps in designing hand painted window splashes that brings customers into your business.
Design takes alot of time and thought in application of the product. As this takes alot of time you should always leave the artist plenty of time to finish the product for the best results. Please check our pricing page for details about pricing.
Have been an Artist from childhood.
I have hand painted windows splashes and signs for businesses of all kinds, including restuarants, salons, bars, barber shops, auto dealerships and on and on.
Holiday Specials for 4th of July, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas painted decorations for businesses. They truly Loved It!
Check out their abilities with a sketch of your idea and see if they have the talent and skill. Always have them submit a bid.
The understanding that their customers see their windows first from the parking lot. Or they entertain in the visual or desire a certain look or effect.
- Sign dimensions - Single or double sided - The exact text or copy
- Number of colors we need to match (you can provide examples or we use the Pantone coated book for reference)
- Font name (if you need us to match a particular font) • If you want effects on fonts (such as shadows or outlines).
- If you want a logo (a jpg logo file or even a crude drawing helps)
- If we are painting directly on a wall, then we need to know the wall surface (i.e. smooth drywall or rough stucco). We may have to visit the location to determine "how rough" unless you can provide detailed photos.
Detail is more of an issue than size. We estimate our time for painting, design, construction, and how many colors we need to match. We then figure in material costs and travel if we're working on location. Single color letters with no effects are the quickest to paint. Drop shadows usually take about half as much time as painting the original letters and outlines about the same amount of time. So a line of text with an hour long paint time would take 1.5 hours with a drop shadow or 2 hours with an outline.
Yes, we actually prefer to work within budgets, especially if we are designing. So if someone wants to spend $400 versus someone who wants to spend $1,600 we can design accordingly.
Yes. You can reference the Pantone coated chart or tangible examples such as paint chips you provide. If you don't have a Pantone book, you can look at ours. We use the actual printed Pantone book as reference - trying to communicate colors across computer screens is a useless endeavor. We mix by hand and eye and can get very close to Pantone color choices, but we can't promise scientific precision!
If your design is in digital format we'd like the artwork as a vectorized file (.eps or .ai work nicely), to the exact sign dimensions, with all the type "outlined". But we can work from detailed, scale drawings as well. If the sign is very large, such as wall lettering, then the art should be at 1 inch = 1 foot scale.
You can bring visual references to our shop or email us digital files of designs you like. Patience is important as the back and forth design process can take time. We'll do all we can to encourage you to describe to us exactly what you want your hand painted window splash to look like - because then you're more likely to get it.
</divOther than window glass, we usually paint our signs on MDO or DiBond. MDO is a plywood made for outdoor use sign-boards bound with marine grade adhesives and epoxy-sealed paper faces. We seal the edges with an elastomeric sealant. For double-sided signs and A-frames we use 3/4" MDO and for single sided signs we use 1/2" MDO. DiBond is thin - about 1/8" - nylon sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum. We use MDO & DiBond since they are made for outdoor signage, and have smooth faces for our lettering quills. We can also paint on most anything you bring in. We've painted on antique fireplace screens, bikes, airplane cowls, and plenty of other surfaces, so just tell us what you have in mind.
We rarely source reclaimed wood but can paint on it. Keep in mind that if the wood is raw that we'll have to seal underneath the lettering with a primer layer (unless the paint soaking into the wood and spreading a bit is an effect you're looking for) and if the wood surface is rough, painting takes longer than on smooth MDO. We will take these factors into consideration when making a bid. Building Resources in San Francisco and Urban Ore in Berkeley may have reclaimed wood.
Usually 3-4 weeks. We are typically booked up to 2-3 weeks in advance and actual sign production takes about a week. If you need a sign sooner, ask and we may be able to move our schedule around.
1/2" caps are about as small as we feel comfortable going. Truth is: we're not exactly calligraphers. Our tools and skills are tailored toward inscriptions larger than a notebook page. We're willing to attempt tinier work, but the imprecisions of our craft, at larger sizes might help to imbue a certain hand-crafted charm. At smaller sizes they tend to devolve into...well, just imprecision.
Yes, I do vinyl banners.
It's not a good idea to paint the translucent plexiglass faces of interior lighted signs (cans). When the sign is lit from within, the brushstrokes show and a flat field of color is not possible.