Making A Sign

One of the first steps is cutting a fish out from a piece of wood. For this sign, we were using 3/4” solid Pine. Wood widths can vary depending on the project. If you have a specific piece of wood in mind for a sign we can usually use it.

Here are some hooks I had to customize for a particularly odd fitting.

Here’s one of the earlier whimsical fish signs in progress. This is a mockup to see what the signs would look like with the house number hanging from the bottom instead of being right on the fish.

Here’s a mockup for measurements, placements and sign sizes.

Designing & Finishing A Sign

Drawing transferred to wood board ready for cutting.

Living in Fishtown, looking around one cant help but see all the colors around. I want to have signs that stand out and say Hi!

This is the sketch for a custom Koi Sign. It will hang as to resemble a traditional Japanese Koinobori windsock. Landscapes across Japan are decorated with koinobori from April to early May, in honor of children for a good future and in the hope that they will grow up healthy and strong.

When trying to decide on which type of fish to hang outside this classic rowhome, I didn’t need to look further than their front sidewalk.

Here is a freshly cut wooden fish getting ready for a coat of paint. Look at the holes and you’ll notice the syleized bumpouts.

Now it’s beginning to look like something.

The finished product after three or four coats of polyurethane.

Here are two stylized signs. They’re both approximately 24” long and 10” high.