Two Printer/Cutters Provide Backbone for Growing Nationwide Franchise

Dan Phillips entered the sign industry in 1992 as an employee of Signs Now of Evansville, Indiana, part of the nationwide franchise. With a graphic design degree and the goal of owning his own business, he quickly acquired the industry knowledge and strong production skills he needed to succeed. In 1996, he purchased the business and has been expanding Signs Now ever since.

Key to the company’s success has been the addition of two Roland SOLJETs purchased in 2006 to keep pace with the company’s growing customer base. Today Signs Now relies on a 54” SOLJET printer/cutter and a 74” SOLJET printer to serve local businesses, universities, manufacturers and distributors.

According to Phillips, vehicle graphics account for about 60 percent of the shop’s business. On average, the company does at least one vehicle each day – with projects ranging from individual industrial and commercial trucks to semis, box trucks, vans and fleets.

“We love our Rolands,” Phillips said. “They are the backbone of our business. In particular, we appreciate the print/cut feature which is critical for much of our vehicle graphics work. We also get great results from VersaWorks on the variety of media we use – including Roland media products.”

According to Phillips, vehicle graphics account for about 60 percent of the shop’s business. On average, the company does at least one vehicle each day – with projects ranging from individual industrial and commercial trucks to semis, box trucks, vans and fleets.

While the vehicle graphics business is strong, Signs Now is also a full-service print provider. The company’s goal is to provide complete graphics solutions for its customers, offering everything from logo and corporate ID design to signage, vehicle graphics and wraps, event graphics, point-of-purchase displays and specialty items such as magnets. Designs, logos and other graphic elements are woven throughout a client’s graphics to create a more powerful, consistent corporate image.

One of the company’s largest clients is the University of Evansville which purchases a unique mix of graphics from Signs Now.

“We have produced murals and floor graphics for the university and have even created life-size contour cut stand-ups of senior athletes that were graduating,” he said. “Those turned out really well. We try to be flexible with our customers. Everyone wants something different and we do our best to make it all happen.”