Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008 - (Page 62)

One of the early challenges Vitous faced was living up to the creativity and skills of the business’s founder and previous owner, Jim Pulaski. Sign schooltrained Pulaski started Custom Designs back in the late 1960s and found plenty of success—initially through hand-painting and hand-lettering and later through expanding to the latest technologies— in working on a lot of great signs around the southern New Hampshire area. Three years ago, Pulaski decided to retire, so he put his business up for sale. Vitous happened to be living in Keene at the time, so needless to say, he jumped at the opportunity. “I just wanted something where I could stay in the area,” he says. “I’ve been around the world thirtyseven times, and I never want to jump on another airplane again.” Globetrotting is the farthest thing from Vitous’s mind right now. The town of Keene currently boasts a population of 25,000 people, but if you count the surrounding small towns around the area, that number jumps to 40,000—and that’s not even counting neighboring Vermont and Massachusetts. (In fact, Boston is only a mere two hours away). “There are four other very good sign guys in town, and each has their own specialty,” says Vitous. From one of the first large sign projects in the area—for Howards Leather Goods installed in 1971 (a classic sign that still stands today and is in great working order)—to the projects they’re completing today, Custom Designs keeps going strong in the market. The Set-Up Housed in a condo-style unit, Custom Designs boasts about 2,000 square feet of space (80 percent work area and the remainder devoted to offices and vinyl production). They currently use two production computers and SignLab® software, as well as a Graphtec thirty-inch plotter, a 52-by-60-inch Camtech 5260 router (which Vitous deems a “workhorse”), a panel saw, and an eight-foot brake. Since this company has the biggest shop size in town (and as Pulaski was the first sign builder in the area to adopt vinyl, then a plotter, and next a CNC router), they’re able to handle the larger jobs that others around can’t—accounts such as the local hospital, college, and shopping mall. The business has always featured any- uper Bender Profile Channel Letters Traditional Channel Letters Channelume (LetRedge) Letters We’re Changing the Market Trim Cutter/Bender Over 10 Different Types of Notching Angles Specially Designed Rotary Tools SDS Inc. 10035 Carroll Canyon Rd. “E” San Diego, CA 92131, USA Phone: 858-537-9803 Email: easychannel@hotmail.com 62 Sign Builder Illustrated October 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008

Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008 Contents SBI Agenda Quotes & Comments Contributors Revving Up for WrapQuest Dispatches Sign Show Sandblasted and Dimensional Sign Rescue, Part Three UV Ink and Printer Update, Part One Black is Black! Makin' Money With Molded Letters Making a Monster A Custom Built Sign Shop The Evolution of Architectural and ADA�Signage Finishing That Makes the Cut Maximizing In-store Signage and P-O-P Displays Wide Format Opportunities Panel Saws: A Precise Cut SBI Marketplace Q&A

Sign Builder Illustrated - October 2008

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