As one of our first commission jobs, we were super excited to be able to create a new sign for Isi and Jennifer at Castle Rocks and Jewelry in Castle Rock Colorado. Their original sign was hand painted and while beautiful, they were craving something a little warmer and inviting.
Original store signage
Our team already knew we could do a parametric wave style in solid hardwoods. The challenge with this sign was the goal of incorporating their logo into the wave pattern. For this problem, we leaned into Rhinoceros 3D to model the artwork.
Scaled rendering of the early artwork. The goal was to simulate the ring (logo) being dropped into water with the ripples moving outward
Once the customer approved the initial artwork, size, and scale, we started to work out the specifics of how we might actually pull this off. We knew the customer wanted a sign that had some pop but not so much that it went full-Liberace!
At this point, we had settled on American Cherry as the hardwood and we knew that we wanted to emphasize the diamond in the logo. In support of this goal, we decided to use 3/8" thick clear acrylic with crushed glass and epoxy resin.
Our next challenge was the text. The customer had indicated a desire for something metallic looking, preferably copper. To meet this requirement, we laser cut the lettering, then applied a copper flake effect. This turned out great and gave the exact effect the customer was looking for.
With the design and engineering challenges resolved, we moved on to finish. We tried several different finishes and ultimately decided to use our own in-house oil blend we call Creme Soda. It's a special blend of tongue oil, bees wax, and orange citrus oil. It's durable, beautiful, and has the added benefit of smelling like orange peels!
To facilitate the installation, we laser cut a full-scale template that could be taped into place and would serve to align the lettering and create the correct space for the final sign to be installed above the lettering.
Installation template in place and ready to go! Let's do this!!!
Here are a few more pictures of the process and final product. Thanks for reading!
Final 3D rendering with text
Josh shows he is willing to do the poo-work -- mixing the crushed glass and epoxy resin and applying to the acrylic gemstone pieces
Josh is polishing some of the acrylic pieces
Melanie works on applying the copper flake - It turned out so amazing!
Progress check
Cale and Josh - Caught working!
PHEW! That was a lot of work!
Final fit check before installation
Warm - CHECK, Pop - CHECK, Beautiful - CHECK, Full Liberace - NEGATIVE!
Isi and Jennifer admire their new sign up close
All installed and ready to admire
Yep, we are super proud of this piece!