9 minute read
Sign of the Times
SIGN TIMES OF THE
In an age of computer graphics and technology, one company is standing out in Emporia by offering businesses signage options from a by-gone era.
At A&A Signs, Alex and Andrea Polzin bring a handson artistic approach to hand-painted signs, murals, window paintings, advertisements, graphic design, banners, and more. If this husband and wife creative team can paint it, any business can have a one-of-a-kind, artistic, and durable message to customers. The Polzins believe that traditional, hand-painted signs and designs stand the test of time and lend an artistic fusion to signage that lasts longer than vinyl or plastic signs.
BY JILL DUTTON
Andrea is a natural artist and graphic designer who was inspired by working alongside her father, also a sign painter, during her teen years. In addition to painting, Alex brings attention to management and design to the business model.
After a friend asked them to design a sign, that job snowballed into a series
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of custom jobs. The majority of their jobs now consist of commercial business signage that is painted onto a wall of a building or onto glass. Andrea’s artistic talents lend well to murals as well so they’ve started booking more murals.
“Andrea is an incredible artist and incredible designer and we really wanted to transition into murals; we have a couple in the works right now,” Alex says.
A great illustration of the creativity and artistry of their work can be seen in the signage at Old Rum’s Liquor. Alex says it’s, “like a little mural,” with a painting of a pirate above the door to the liquor store. The couple created their sign as well.
One unique aspect of handpainted designs is that the artist can include fun touches to the images. In the Old Rum’s pirate drawing, Alex says Andrea created the pirate with Alex as
a model since he had a beard at the time. Fun and personalized touches are what set their signs apart from some digitally created signage.
Bourbon Cowboy is another satisfied client. In addition to original artwork both within and on the exterior of the building including clever restroom signage and a public notice bulletin board, the Polzin’s created and painted a mural spanning the full plate glass front of the structure.
“They have these huge, beautiful windows. but it being a bar, they wanted to kind of block it out. So we helped them design something that fits their style, and their vibe, and energy there,” Alex says.
Susan Brinkman, the owner of Bourbon Cowboy, says she chose A&A Signs because of their local status and quality work, but also because they offer a “unique take on commercial signage.”
“I love each of the works that Alex and Andrea have created. They are unique pieces of art and advertising. The ‘old town’ mural across our front windows is an old west main street with building references to Emporia's history,” Brinkman says.
“I chose hand-painted signage and storefront artwork because it was unique and environmentally friendly. Someday, this building may not be the Bourbon Cowboy and this is one less piece of plastic signage in the landfill.”
At L&L Pets, Alex says the store had a “really cool, old hand-painted sign that was there for probably 25-to-30 years.”
He says part of the joy that comes with creating these signs is how personalized it becomes. “It's cool because I grew up in Emporia, and I love this place. I've looked at that sign, not really knowing what it was as a kid, and then we were the ones that scraped it off and put a new one on for the new owners. It felt like a little piece of me was put into it…and we get to help beautify the city while we work.
“We’re passionate about hand-painted signs,” Alex says. “It’s like giving a customer’s message life and soul versus a computer-generated sign.”
Although Andrea is primarily the designer who fleshes out the ideas for the artwork, working with the customer until the idea is perfected, the duo tag teams on the painting process. Still, everything the team puts out has gone through both of them, Alex focuses on technical details such as letter spacing, making it a “good working partnership.”
An important part of the partnership is, Andrea says, “We challenge each other to do our best and we enjoy ourselves.”
Hand-painted Signs
While Alex says sign materials are improving all the time, he does mention there are signs in nearly every town that he calls “ghost signs.” They’ve been up for 40 or more years and are starting to fade, but they’re still up and readable. “So they do have some longevity,” Alex says.
How long a sign lasts can depend on placement. In the sun, for example, vinyl will crack and a sign will fade.
Hand-painted signs have their challenges as well. While the couple says a hand-painted sign will last from 10 to 15 years, they’ve learned along the way certain factors that help with longevity.
“For some reason, the color red will fade much faster than other colors,” Alex says.
Andrea adds, “Where colors like green and blue will last much longer.”
They’ve learned tricks to give customers the best product possible.
“We’ve learned to adapt,” Andrea says. “For example, if we have to use red, we can add black to it, so that when it fades out you still see
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some color. They're not completely burnt out like when you see a handpainted sign from 20 years ago that they used red and it turns dusty and burnt off and is nearly non-existent.”
Even so, Alex adds that, “We like to say that old signs age gracefully. Hand-painted signs kind of weather and fade, and you start to see the brushstrokes come through. That’s a beautiful thing to us.”
Personalized Designs
The Bourbon Cowboy signs and murals included a lot of research beforehand.
“The owner wanted a town scene that was would have been historical to Emporia. We have a couple of guys that we can talk to that know a lot about history, and we had somebody help us design it. We looked at the history of different businesses that were here during that timeframe like the Midway Hotel, and you'll see the hotel is actually in the Bourbon Cowboy mural that we did,” Alex says.
For Maud’s Tattoo Company, Alex and Andrea utilized gold leaf to bring in “shine and more class than you might see in a traditional sign.”
It's kind of cool because you know tattoo people are very creative and they let us have a little bit of free rein and room to spread our wings to create a cool sign.”
John and April Armstrong own Maud’s Tattoo Company. Of the work completed by A&A Signs, they said
they’ve watched as the couple has grown as people as well as a business. “They are always looking to do and be better. And that's exactly what you get when you hire them for a job. Not only do they provide quality work, but they have their client's best interests in mind. Mr. Rogers always said, ‘look for the helpers.’ And we certainly found some in the Polzins!”
About the creative freedom they gave the Polzins in creating their signs, April says, “John and I gave them artistic freedom. We wanted them to show Emporia really what they could do, what they enjoy doing. As you know when someone hires you to do a job, most people usually have an idea of what they want or they want a certain design. We gave them total control of what they were doing. And they probably made us look cooler than we are. We couldn't have asked for a better job. They used our logo and business hours "ish" for the front door and then added "tattoo flash" to the south window. And they framed each window with variegated gold leaf and wrote TATTOO big down the North window. Everything just turned out exceptional!”
April added that hand-painted signs are a lost art that she appreciates for its longevity as well as creativity.
“I hope people pick handpainted signs because they’re going to last a long time,” Andrea says. “But also because they’re going to have something that really gives personality to the outside of the business and puts their best foot forward for a first impression.” —EL
Home Improvement • Building Materials
