Critique?!

[Helen Cast]

Being a relative laser newbie I would like any positive , neutral or NEGATIVE comments regarding this simple GOP promo for a shop in St. Paul, MN.
The convention starts in a few weeks and I was asked to come up with basic countertop/window displays. I can make the attached model in about two hours and material cost is under $20.
Is this professional looking enough or is it missing the mark? What price might I ask for one or a dozen of these? I apologize in advance for asking you to indulge my design insecurity but before I show any work to the shop owners I figured the CREEK could take a look.
Oh, please keep the political comments :rolleyes: to a minimum (I'm just trying to make a small product/profit and live in Minneapolis).

Thank you very much for any comments!

[David Fairfield]

Two thoughts--

1) I'd definitely shave the per item time & cost down from two hours to a few minutes and material costs from $20 to around $2. Its basically disposable window dressing, the price must reflect that.

2) The round political button format looks a little old school IMHO. I'd take advantage of the laser and make the sign in the shape of the elephant with the text inside. Regardless of political orientation, I think everyone can agree that elephants are cute.

HTH
Dave

[Joe Pelonio]

I have done work for both parties, sometimes concurrently and had a close call when one just left seconds before the other arrived.

I think your work looks great, and expect them to be happy with the look of it, but I wonder if they will be willing to pay what it's worth. It may be too late now, but something like that could be ordered from an overseas manufacturer for a fraction of what you will have to charge to cover the $20 materials, 2 hours labor, overhead and profit, for which I would be charging just under $200 each, and maybe 10% discount for a dozen.

I hope I'm wrong and you can sell a lot of them for a big profit!

[Sandra Force]

I have to agree with David. You need to cut the run time down and use cheaper materials. Sorry, but it is boring and needs to be more eye catching for me to put the kind of money into it you would need with your current cost. I do like the elephant or any flash look. You might want to make it a few less layers. You might use poster board and cut it to layers, fast, cheap and easy if you use a spray adhesive.:cool:

[Dee Gallo]

Helen, if you are looking for an expensive look, I think you should take a look at some of the standing sign stuff Keith has done with Corian. It's a classy material, 1/4" is easy to work with and you can get pieces free or cheap. Color filling is easy too.

But these are for throwaway signs, so I would opt for less durable and cheaper materials. If you used something like matboard, it can look very nice, witness the recently posted wedding doily project when layered. That is a cheap material, very fast and easy to laser, and layering/cutouts look great.

Design-wise, I would go for a more modern look, more power and less small elements. Maybe use an overall shape similar to a red, white and blue wave (flag-like), which would allow you shaped letters that look more dynamic without looking cheesy. Use layers to enhance the sign, such as a cut-out elephant sitting in front or behind a square or rectangular main sign.

You don't have a lot of time to play with design and production, so you need something simple yet eye-catching, the best kind of sign anyway.

cheers, dee

[martin g. boekers]

I see on our initial thoughts of material costs and time we all tend to agree.

When you were asked to submit a design did they give a sense of what their budget was and their intended usage of the sign?

That could be a big factor in the product you produce.

The main thing that would concern me is the time factor. If you made 20 signs that would take up a whole week of work (for those of us that only work 40 hr wks:D)

You probably already have a fair amount of time involved in producing your prototype. Sometimes that is hard to recrupt.

All that being said, I'm sure we all at sometime have taken in jobs that were not just for monetary things. (exposure, exposure, exposure) that somewhere we hope that it will bring in more work don the road.

Good luck!

[Scott Shepherd]

Since you asked.....

I don't understand the "Welcome" graphic with the different color "o", and the kind of hard to read font. I'd personally make that very clear to read.

Can't say much about the rest, looks like a very creative idea and you really did a nice job using layers and all sorts of materials. I think your creative side on achieving an end result is excellent.

As far as Elephants and Donkeys, I have an opinion- they both pay cash :D

[Mike Null]

Get your money with the order.

[Anthony Scira]

I think I would go around 1000 bucks. Those guys are loaded !

[Frank Corker]

I honestly think you have overworked the design. It looks good from a distance but it needs to be simplified with a lot less material. I agree with the comment about the 'Welcome', choose a different font for it, or tidy up your infilling, it is noticeable on the edges.

I'm not sure how you are doing your sign but I would think the best way would be to mask, cut the circle, divide it in half. Spray the red, let it dry, mask it and then spray blue. Mask the lot area and engrave the white and fill. Reds and blues can bleed into the white so that's probably the order I would be doing it in.

The supporting base is probably why you have all the metalwork on the back, I don't think it actually looks too neat, if it were me I'd change that.

As for pricing I think there are a few things that would have to be taken into consideration, the number that they require - if there are quite a few it should be less than a 'one off'.

[Stephen Beckham]

Helen,

Don't want to be piling on here... But - I noticed a line all the way across towards the bottom of the 2008... Did you pause the laser or move it? Not that it's too terribly noticable - it just popped out at me when I was looking for something to add different than already stated :rolleyes:.

Generally - I'd worry about cutting price and time invested like other's had mentioned. Keep in mind that for window dressings, you could go to Office Max or Kinko's and have similar items printed on cardboard for less than the $20 you have invested on just the one... What can you offer that is market supported - but different than already offered?!?!? Answer that and you've got a winner....

[David Fairfield]

What can you offer that is market supported - but different than already offered?!?!? Answer that and you've got a winner....

Exactly, that's why I suggested taking advantage of laser capability and go with an elephant shape. Since you mentioned Office Max, I'd probably go to them to have cardboard printed up, then laser the elephant border. Might get fancy and laser some extra glue-on details, like stars, to keep the nice 3d effect of the original design.

If its meant to stand on its own, you can make a simple prop for the reverse, as you see on the back of portrait picture frames. If its a window hanger, a suction cup looks tidier than sticky tape but it won't add much to the cost. HD or Loews might sell them in quantity? Test one out first on clean flat glass. Some some stay on for years, some fall off in an hour. :rolleyes:

HTH
Dave

[Helen Cast]

WOW! The observations and suggestions made by all of you are remarkably informative and helpful. I enjoy the occasional slap to the head...wake up call! There will be some simple design and material changes integrated into my approach starting today.
Rethinking this as well as other laser, rotary and graphic apps is always good and a welcome challenge.

As they say, "Membership has its rewards" and at least for me being a contributor to the "CREEK" is a small fee for such a huge return.

BTW, I did not think anyone would view the model at 1600%...but YES, I did pause the job at 2008. You folks don't miss anything! Thank you all! Eyes Wide Open...

[Phyllis Meyer]

Helen,

I agree with everyone, you must get your cost/time down so you can make a profit! With all the great advice, I would like to congratulate you on even getting asked to submit something for this! Way to go girl!! We'll be anxious to see what you finally came up with.

Sincerely,
Phyllis:)