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Blog Posts Written By

Barry K. Brown

Barry Brown has been in the Sign, Banner, Decal and Display Business for over 30 years. It isn't what he thought he'd do with his life, but he says he knows too much now to do anything else!

Sticker Chrome Decals – Really Shiny Decals

truck chrome decals

I have to admit, sticker chrome decals may have garnered a reputation for being , well, kind of a redneck graphic. Much of that, I fear, is probably well-deserved from viewing those obnoxious Barbie silhouette on the back window of 4WD pickup trucks parked at the Ya’ll Come Back Saloon over at the state line, and that those Valvoline® guys always seem to have some redneck-ish stickers on the rear window of whatever piece of c*** they drive.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I get along with rednecks just fine…they’re often great guys that’d give you the shirt off their back (just don’t try to peel those nude-Barbie graphics off the back window of their truck!).

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“Design and Print Bumper Stickers Online Free” – Truth Revealed!

bumper decals

It has become big business to design bumper stickers and print bumper stickers.

As of 2008, the US Government estimated that there were over 255 million registered vehicles in the USA. And by my “research” driving around town for the past 20 years, I estimate that about 80-90% of those cars have graphics on the bumper or rear window. To design and press them has become a big business.

How “Design Bumper Stickers Online FREE” or “We Print Bumper Stickers FREE” Really Works

If you go online and type in “

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Part 5 – History of Custom Signs and Printing in the 21st Century

Digital press

Well, I thought I would be done with this series last time on custom signs and printing, and I did actually get into the late 20th century, but I didn’t really get to where the two crossed paths. So this time, I am going to attempt to explain how they got mixed up together into one big happy family!

In recapping the previous four articles about this topic, I’ve written voluminous verbiage about where customized signage came from, East and West, and how wood items have been replaced by electrical and neon  in the past 100 year.

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Part 4 of The History of Signs and Graphic Printing

Flexographic Printer

In this installment of the history of signs and graphics printing, I’ll talk about the vast improvements in from the mid-1800’s until late in the 20th century. And where the two trades intersected to create a significant change for many sign makers.

To recap the previous three articles on this history series, we’ve talked about how signage came to be used in the West and the wood type gave way (mostly) to electrical and neon in the past 100 years or so. The end products have never been so fascinating – much of this information is new to me,

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Part 3 History of Signs and Printing from Papyrus to Gutenberg

Ancient Signage

The world is full of signs and printing in the 21st century. Even in “3rd World” countries, there are lots of this telling you where to go shopping, what to buy, and telling you when you get there. And while most of us may give passing thought about them, that’s probably the extent of your thought on the subject.

Recapping the previous two articles on this history series, we’ve now covered what signage and print pressing were used for and the standard media that displays were made of – wood – up through electrical and neon in the past 100 years or so,

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Part 2 of the History of Sign Makers and Sign Making

Gas Pricing Neon Sign

In this second article on this history series, we’ll cover everything from the 17th and 18th centuries until the present, and my hope is that you’ll have a great handle, whether you wanted a handle on it or not, all about the signage making and the producers.

Hi again…as I said last time, if you look around, or drive around, when you live in any industrialized country on earth, your locale is full of signposts. Most of us simply accept that a sign maker made all of them, but that’s pretty much the extent of anyone’s thought on the subject.

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Digital Sign Printing Compared To Screen Printing Signs

On-Screen Printing Process

Several hundred years ago when I made the fateful decision to get into the signage business, my first position was screen printing signs. Back when I started, you could be make graphic displays with lacquer inks and get high at the same time…those were the days!

Many companies who used to be screen pressing have switched over to digital printing, but there are still numerous companies who do screen-print press, and as far as I can tell, it isn’t going away anytime soon, as was prognosticated by myself and other sign experts 5 years ago.

Digital and Screen Printing: Speed vs.

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Part One of the History of Sign Makers

prehistoric signs

I’m going to give you a brief history  so you’ll know, whether you wanted to know or not, all about signs, printing and the makers.

When you look around, or drive around, if you live in most industrialized countries on the planet, your world is full of signs. If you’re like most people, you simply accept that they are made by sign makers, but you don’t give it much thought; you pretty much just take them for granted, at least until you get lost!

Possible Story of the First Prehistoric Sign Making

In the Stone Age,

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Why Sign Makers and Their Clients Love Digital Printing

Digital Sign Printing

In some past articles I reviewed the techniques involved in how sign makers screen print signs, and I also explored various plastic materials and how they were used. Today I’m going to talk about the revolution digital printing has brought to the print industry in the past 10 to 15 years.

In the beginning, Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable type, revolutionizing the world into the modern era. One thing led to another (I will save the history of printing for 20 more articles later), and now we all have digital signage press!

In the Good Old Days,

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Decent Plastic Sign Materials To Get at a Reasonable Price

Printing on Plastics

In my last post, I gave you a thumbnail sketch of what it takes for companies that make sign prints using the screen printing process. This time I will deal more specifically with the various types.

There is a specific ink set for screen printing plastic displays, as there is for vinyl, glass, or wood items. If you’re going to make screen-printed pvc or plastic yard graphic signage, you’d need to contact your ink supplier to ask what type of ink is best for the various materials you’ll be using in the production process. Two major ink brands we’ve used in the past are Naz-Dar™ and Sericol™,

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