EDITOR’S COLUMN

BY JEFF WOOTEN

Teamwork Triumphs

Building and managing a multi-company project.

Project management can be a key challenge for shops—especially when working with or bringing onboard other fabricators/installers. On page 24 (“A Learning Experience for the Community”), we detail a big signage project for the recently relocated Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend, Indiana that featured the involvement of multiple companies.

Cardosi Kiper Design Group out of Chicago, Illinois was not only in charge of designing all the various signage outside and inside this facility (including the recreation of a long-recognizable, yet weather-worn community-based art mural), but they also selected various sign specialists to make their vision a reality— APCO Signs (interior signage/wayfinding), Boardwalk Design (interior branding); iZone (mural panels); Provis Graphic, LLC (building letters and logo); and Valley City Sign (exterior signage/bracketry).

Ted Kiper, co-founder of Cardosi Kiper, says that choosing multiple companies with different fabrication techniques for projects comes down to pinpointing what the firms specialize in and what is appropriate for the client’s budget.

“Very rarely do we sit down and just say, ‘Everything is going to be built by ‘X!’” he says. “We treat it like how a building is built. There are a lot of trades that go into its construction, and that’s very similar to the sign fabrication process.”

In the early stages, Cardosi Kiper breaks projects like this down into phases.

The first phase is programming, which involves fact-finding and laying out the ground rules. Then they go through two design phases—schematic design and design development. “In schematic, we’re coming up with initial design options,” says Kiper. “In development, we’re refining the selected option and playing that out in the full complete system.”

They draw up construction documents detailing and dimensioning every single nut and bolt on the sign and send that out to bid. Once awarded, they meet with the fabricator(s), review shop drawings and material samples, and oversee installation.

Cardosi Kiper worked early on with the South Bend municipality to obtain approvals where the signs were sited, as well as for a community development along a side street that had its own sign policies. Kiper finds it beneficial to get this taken care of early on in the design process. “If you sit down with municipalities and review with them what we’re thinking about before sending over the drawings, often times, we find they’re going to be more receptive to providing a variance or permit,” says Kiper.

Read our article on page 24 to learn how the assembled team brought this multi-component project to fruition.

Photo: Boardwalk Design, an Icon Sign Company.

AGENDA

Note: Due to COVID-19 concerns, all events listed below are subject to change. Please check each show’s Web site for any cancellations or reschedulings that may have taken place after press time.

APRIL 2021

APRIL 7-9:

The International Sign Association wil be going online this year with ISA Sign Expo 2021 — Virtual, an event that will allow a broader segment of the industry to participate in the show. (signexpo.org/Virtual2021)

JULY 2021

JULY 21-24:

The Mid-South Sign Association’s SignConnexion event will be occurring at the Ross Bridge Golf Resort in Birmingham, Alabama. (midsouthsign.org)

OCTOBER 2021

OCTOBER 6-8:

PRINTING United Alliance, which brings together the largest and most diverse audience in the printing industry, will be taking place in Orlando, Florida. (printingunited.com)

OCTOBER 25-29:

The 2021 LightFair architectural and commercial lighting conference and tradeshow, which will be incorporating new safety protocols and specific mitigration measures, will be happening at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, New York. (lightfair.com)