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Beach Signs
Est. 1981
"I am committed to producing the very best sign I can within the constraints of my customer’s budget. Let me put my years of
experience to work for you. Come by and visit my showroom and see for yourself the difference a quality sign can make."
Rodney Vicik, Owner
Hello. For those of you who don’t already know me let me introduce myself. My name is Rodney Vicik and I have been making signs
since 1980 when a workmate asked me to letter his van. After that job others seemed to come my way, a small colonial sign for my
brother’s photography studio, a pair of magnetic door signs for a cousin, then lettering the facade of an old gas station. I suddenly
knew what I wanted to do, but felt that the small town where I lived could not support me.
Taking vacation time from our respective jobs, my wife Kim and I headed to Hampton, Virginia where she grew up; to see if any sign
shops would be willing to hire me. Fred Dowis, owner of Sign Engineering, took one look at my sparse portfolio of amateurish work
and hired me on the spot. Immediately, Fred began teaching me the correct way to hand letter, screen print, and spray paint. He
taught me all the tricks of the trade he had already mastered. He encouraged me to apply for a business license and establish my
own clientele while I worked for him. He even allowed me to use his shop and equipment, free of charge, after hours, to complete jobs
for my customers. I am indebted to Fred till this day and we still remain best of friends and colleagues.
Early on I made it my goal to focus on commercial sign work as opposed to electric signs. As a result I taught myself to airbrush, then
I learned how to gold leaf, hand carve and pinstripe. When sandblasted signs came on the scene I learned all about spline-jointing
redwood boards for glue up and the different characteristics of wood grain and how they affect the blast. I was fortunate in that I learned
the trade right before computers hit the scene. But, as the years passed and more and more area shops became computerized, I too
took the plunge and leased my first vinyl cutter.
Today, every sign shop has a computer for design, vinyl cutting and some even for digital printing. The benefits in time savings and
design possibilities are immeasurable. Unfortunately, a by product of the computer age is that traditional sign making skills are being
lost. Most newcomers to the trade are not artisans. They have never learned to hand letter a beautiful script, paint a pictorial, or carve
a boat’s name onto mahogany quarterboards. A surprising number of the area sign shops are owned and operated by persons who
have never apprenticed in any sign shop. They simply bought a vinyl cutting plotter and went into business making signs.
I am committed to producing the very best sign I can within the constraints of my customer’s budget. I have been invited out of the
country twice, where I did gold leaf, reverse gilded on glass. I have lettered boats and yachts from all over the world ranging in size
from 20’ to 225’. My clients include U.S. politicians, foreign dignitaries, local municipalities and just plain ol’ folk like me. Let me
put my years of experience to work for you. Come by and visit my showroom and see for yourself the difference a quality sign can
make.
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