No matter where people drive in the tri-city area, they will see businesses with signs on their windows ranging from the name of the business to proclamations of grand openings or going out of business sales to specials to goods or services provided.
In the past, most of these signs in Prescott were hand-painted, according to Ed Lipphardt, owner of Prescott Sign Works. Today, 90 percent of the lettering on windows in downtown Prescott is vinyl because it is faster and cheaper, Lipphardt said.
However, he said a lot of the hand-painted window signs with fluorescent paint are still evident in Prescott Valley.
He said the average person cannot tell the difference between a hand-painted sign on a window and one with vinyl lettering.
Lipphardt has been in the sign business for 40 years. About 30 years ago he moved back to Phoenix and opened Artists at Large Signs. He said he closed the business because it got so big he was only able to be a manager and could not enjoy his talent, so he moved to Prescott.
"Up here life was wonderful. I got to paint, airbrush and draw," Lipphardt said.
He said he fought against getting a vinyl cutter until coming to Prescott in 1989, when he bought one.
Both hand-painted and vinyl window signs start out with the business owner telling the sign painter what he wants.
Before computer technology existed on a commercial basis, Lipphardt said he would draw up a design and pounce the paper with a pounce wheel that puts little holes around the outline of the lettering. After getting his background paint on, he would tape that paper on the front of the window and pounce the lettering to get white dots outlining the letters and art.
Then he would paint the letters and art, using the white dots as his frame.
Today, Lipphardt said a sign still starts with the customer telling him what he wants. Then he goes on the computer and designs the sign.
"Sometimes customers think they want a hand-painted sign on the window of their business until they see the historic-looking type I have available on the computer and learn the difference in cost between a vinyl sign and a hand-painted sign," he said.
Lipphardt said he has a lot of typefaces that give the sign an 1800s look, which works well here in Prescott.
After the customer approves the design, Lipphardt makes up the pattern for the vinyl-cutting machine to cut out the lettering or art. Next, he tapes the finished sign on the window. Then he carefully takes the backing off and places the lettering and art on the glass.
Lipphardt, who today deals only with signs up to 4 feet by 8 feet, said it takes him about two hours to put the vinyl lettering and art on a window, as compared to about six hours for hand-painting ones.
With vinyl, he can do a two- to three-color sign in one setting. However, when hand-painting a two- or three-color window sign, it sometimes took two to three days, because each color must dry before he could paint the next color on top of the first.
Contact the reporter at jeherrmann@prescottaz.com
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Article comment by:
Holly Lexvold
Ed Lipphardt is the most talented in his field! He's fun to be around, honest, and takes great pride in his work! I highly recommend him for all your sign needs.
