Sign makers design and develop signs for a variety of uses such as flyers, traffic signs, billboards and business signs. They use different materials and techniques and if necessary they install the sign on site. Furthermore they also perform maintenance and repairs.

Tasks

Tasks include -
(a) Painting decorative freehand designs on objects, such as pottery, glass, cigarette cases, lampshades;
(b) Transferring from paper transfers decorative or ornamental designs on articles;
(c) Integrating and developing visual elements, such as line, space, mass, colour, and perspective, in order to produce desired effects such as the illustration of ideas, emotions or moods;
(d) Laying out and painting in one or more languages letters, figures, monograms and designs to make signs;
(e) Sketching or tracing design or lettering onto work piece or pattern material to prepare pattern or stencil;
(f) Designing pattern or lettering to paint work pieces such as signs, glassware, pottery or zinc plates;
(g) Using software and routing equipment to produce three-dimensional carved images for application onto larger signage as well as engraved and inlaid signs;
(h) Designing and producing normal flat cut lettering, or lettering that is shadowed with applied vinyl or lettering that is ready cut for application;
(i) Writing, painting or printing signs or show cards used for display or other purposes;
(j) Cutting out letters and signs for display purposes from wallboard or cardboard, by hand or machines such as electrically powered jigsaw or bandsaw;
(k) Examining sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut or engraved onto work pieces;
(l) Measuring and computing dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved;
(m) Engraving and printing patterns, ornamental designs, etchings, trademarks, figures or lettering onto flat or curved surfaces of a wide variety of metal, glass, plastic, or ceramic items;
(n) Etching decorative designs, calibration markings and other figures on glass articles.