Why I Like Making Signs for Eastern Mennonite University
LONG PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
It’s been going on for decades! Why I like making signs for Eastern Mennonite University, that is.
You see, back in the mid-90’s when I owned and operated Tree Street Signs, I did a few sign jobs for their Facilities Management Department. You know I can’t even remember the jobs from way back then, but at that point I was used as a pinch-hitter when they were having some issues with their usual sign supplier.
CENTRAL LOCATION FOR MANY SIGN SHOPS
Harrisonburg is in a great spot for any organization needing quality signs and service. For large projects and custom electric signs, Eddie Edwards Signs is right there in town. For quality trophies, plaques, banners, and just about any type of custom commercial signage, there’s Signs USA, where I worked on jobs for Eastern Mennonite once again in the mid to late 2000’s (…that’s always a weird decade to denote, the decade from 2000-2009, I hope I got that right!) At any rate, back then I did several custom wall lettering jobs. I remember designing and 
installing dimensional letters that commemorated a major donor, naming a new wing in his honor. Also, I remember lettering room names with dimensional wall letters after new construction.
COLLABORATING WITH MARKETING AND FACILITIES MANAGERS
Then, from 2011-2015 when I was an account executive with Holiday Signs of Chester, Virginia, I worked with the university again to design, manufacture and install an entire exterior wayfinding system after discussing their signage needs with their Director of Marketing. It was
at this point that I began to serve them with pole banners,large banners for their athletic fields and events, and yet more exterior directional type signs.
A CONTINUING BOND
After a year of being back in full-time business for myself with Augusta Signs I continued serving up custom signage for the school. Banners, site signs, wall signs, displays, office signs, window signs, light pole banners, dimensional letters, vehicle lettering. These are some of the types of sign projects I’ve been involved with.
My expertise in making signs for campus-type customers goes all the way back to my beginnings in the sign industry,when I worked as an intern at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center’s 44-acre campus in Maryland. After that I was a signpainter at Joint Base Andrews where I 
developed my skills in signs and customer service at a facilities management level. Eventually I made it back to the Bethesda Naval Hospital where I morphed into an engineering technician for many years. It was in this role that I developed my skills in signage design on a facilities management level.
I moved to Waynesboro, Virginia in 1988 and worked for two years as an intern architect in Charlottesville, further developing my skills in design. It was in April 1990 when I plunged full-time in the sign biz. At Tree Street Signs I was active in the design, manufacture, installation, and maintenance of many sign products for colleges as well as lower education facilities. I produced signs for BRCC, WWRC, EMU, and more public high schools, middle schools and elementary schools than I could even think of listing!
But to answer the question of why I like making signs for Eastern Mennonite University: because I enjoy making 
signs that fulfill the combined needs of facilities and marketing managers. Marketing people want their school brand to be recognized across the campus while facilities managers want people to be able to find their way around campus and also want them to be safe out there. I believe my signs help. And that’s why I enjoy making signs for Eastern Mennonite University. Many thanks to my college sign customers there and across Virginia!
Mark Hackley is owner of Augusta Sign Company located in Staunton, VA
Applying vinyl lettering and logos on interior walls is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to draw attention to your brand as customers enter your organization. A few weeks ago I was hired to do exactly that for a local Waynesboro, Virginia business expanding into Winchester.
This particular customer has had me incorporate their brand into their fleet of vehicles, their front door and also on their interior entry walls. The benefits of using the same sign company for all your sign branding include: a) colors and typestyles and proportions are consistent across the various places you post your branding signage; b) you have a good idea on upcoming costs when budgeting your sign marketing for new offices, or new vehicles; c) if a sign or letter gets damaged in the future for some reason, you have a source of the original design artwork used to cut your designs, saving a lot of time and potential cost in repairs and maintenance.
Budding Artist
(now Middle School) where I was the artist for the school newspaper and yearbook. So it only made sense that by the time I reached High School it was appropriate that I be hired to paint the bass drum, which was a pretty challenging task for a guy used to pencil or pen and ink as a medium. I remember researching the proper paint to use for plastic surfaces. I wish I had a picture of the drum, but I don’t; But I do remember it was a success. The first of many successful sign projects!
scholarship to attend Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, but declined to take a position as a sign apprentice instead with the US Navy in Bethesda, Maryland.
billboards, airport taxiways, insignias, vehicles, you name it!
needing to get noticed and be profitable by increasing revenues; It has helped me realize and share this great gift, a gift that leaves a lasting impression everywhere I go. I’m forever passing signs all over the place that I put into service decades ago! It’s humbling to see all the work I was blessed with the ability to complete.
GOLD OR NO GOLD
carving class in Stowe, Vermont, taught by expert carver, Jay Cooke. I remember thinking that I could share some of the craft I learned with businesses in Virginia, perhaps improving the aesthetics of our area with nice signage. From 1990-2000 when I owned and operated Tree Street Signs in Crimora, I believe I was able to do just that!
the colors of the old sign were just too drab. They wanted a white background with a black and gold color scheme. (Later on I found out they were originally from Pittsburgh, so the Pittsburgh Steelers’ black and gold color scheme was in the back of their mind in this decision.) They weren’t worried about losing the gold leaf as long as the renovated sign popped so people could read it well.
I and my helper, Marshall, installed the sign back onto its 6X6 wood posts after sanding and painting them in the field with Sherwin Williams white latex enamel house and trim paint. Since they were previously painted, the latex house paint will work well on the posts giving them a flexible finish to last a good long while.
Looking for a simplified way to use old electric sign cabinets? I bet I have had a dozen calls about sign face replacement since I restarted my commercial sign company here in Waynesboro, Virginia two years ago. Many people who go into business for themselves will rent or purchase a former commercial building. When they get the building, most times they also get the old signage. Jurisdictions usually make businesses remove or reverse or otherwise block out the old sign faces in electric sign cabinets until new owners or tenants come along.
