Concepts thatsell more signs.Submittals thatclear review.Technical drawings thatleave no doubt.
We’re Tradecraft Creative, a signage and wayfinding design studio run by a couple of sign nerds and a giant dog.
We design so none of this happens.
Every problem here traces back to the same thing: signs drawn by people who’ve never built one. We’ve built them for thirty years, on the floor, in the permit line, up on the install. So we design knowing what’s coming, and head it off before it costs you.
Design that doesn’t account for reality.
A sign is engineering, code, structural load, and installation at once, and when a design ignores that, someone downstream pays for it.
Permitting that nobody planned for.
Every municipality writes its own code, and one missed requirement on lighting or setbacks stalls the project for months.
Budgets that blow up after approval.
The concept gets approved, then priced, and the materials and engineering it actually needs have already blown past the budget.
A finished sign that doesn’t actually work.
It looks just like the rendering and still can’t be read from the street, which makes it an expensive decoration.
How we help.
Sign shops, architects, and developers bring us the work that needs design, documentation, or a buildability check. Three decades of fabrication and installation behind every drawing means nothing we hand off leaves anyone guessing.
Production
Documentation
- Shop drawings & technical documentation
- Permit submittal packages
- Signage standards manuals
Wayfinding &
ADA Programs
- Wayfinding programs
- Sign location plans
- ADA & code compliance
Signage
Design
- Presale & conceptual presentations
- Monument, channel letter, pylon design
- Environmental graphics
What you can expect.
You work straight with the people who actually design your project, the same hands that know what it costs to build and what a city will permit. No layers in between, and nothing about your job that you have to chase down.
Straight talk.
No jargon, no runaround. If something won’t work, we’ll tell you why and what will work instead.
Budget respect.
We design for your budget, not against it. Fabrication-aware design means fewer surprises and better value.
One point of contact.
You work directly with us, the actual people designing your project. No account managers, no handoffs.
If it can’t be built, it isn’t a design.
A beautiful file with the wrong assumptions is a hostage situation in waiting. We design inside the constraints, not around them.
Read what we believe
From Mike's journal.
Site surveys that won't make you pull your hair out
Every sign shop has a version of this story. Installer shows up. Channel letters on the truck. Crane booked. And then: "There's a 4-inch gas line running right behind the fascia where we need to drill."
When to start signage (earlier than you think)
"We'll deal with the sign later." We hear this constantly. Usually about three weeks before a planned grand opening, deep in the chaos of a buildout, burning cash on rent for a space that isn't making money yet.
Permit nightmares and how design prevents them
You walk into the permit office with confidence. Your design looks great, the customer loves it, fabrication is ready to go. The project timeline is tight but manageable, and everyone's excited about the grand opening in six weeks. Thirty minutes later, you walk out with a rejection notice and a sick feeling in your stomach.
Two humans. One dog.
A half-century of signage.
We’ve designed signs, built signs, installed signs, and fixed signs that someone else (cough cough we) got wrong. That full-cycle experience is what makes Tradecraft different. We design for the real world, not just the rendering.
Good signage starts with a conversation.
Every project is different. Let’s talk about yours.