The Sign Awards: The Other Side of the Fence

Introduce yourself and your role within the sign industry

Kia Ora (as they say in New Zealand). My name is Michelle and I work for an extremely cool and creative company called Wise Studios which (wisestudios.co.nz) has three sites (Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington.) I am in charge of marketing, business development, and taking the company through a BIG rebrand. But I still get my hands dirty occasionally.

Tell me about your career within the sign industry to date

I am a fourth-generation signwriter, so grew up on the tools. My earliest memories include cutting up bits of vinyl and sticking them onto my grandparent’s kitchen window. Later, I was encouraged to make my friends bedroom doors signs and then finally I became cheap labour for school holidays and weekends.

As my grandparents owned their own business, I covered all areas of the business from vinyl graphics, engraving, and screen-printing, to sign painting and fabrication.

In 2010 I started my own business (www.hnssigns.co.uk) and won many awards for innovation and craftmanship and had some amazing experiences thanks to organisations like FESPA. After falling in love with New Zealand during a holiday, I made the decision to sell up and make the move down under.

How did you come to be a judge for The Sign Awards?

I received a message from Dan Tyler asking if we could have a call. Dan is an absolute star, so I was more than happy to speak with him. I was incredibly surprised though when he told me that he was going to organise The Sign Awards and wondered if I would like to be a judge. It was a definitely a career highlight moment. I had never been so flattered.

What were some of the standout entries for you?

There were many. A top tip that I will give for next year though is to include a presentation as part of the evidence. A few entries did this and it really wowed us. It gave us more of a background and more details that you can provide within the entry form itself.

What impressed you the most about the entries?

The diversity and attention to detail. No two entries were the same. They all had different complexities and offered different solutions which made our job as judges very difficult.

Did anything surprise you about the entries?

Sorry – no. Not really

Do you think it’s important to have industry awards such as these and what are their benefit?

Absolutely. I think that competition drives us forward and encourages us to push boundaries and evolve our industry to new levels. Plus, nothing motivates a team like being shortlisted for an award!

Having owned your own sign business, what was it like being on the other side of the fence having entered awards yourself in the past?

It was kind of surreal. In my head, judging would be looking at a few pretty pictures and reading a summary, but it was way more involved. All of the entries were superb and it was really hard to choose between them. We spent hours and hours discussing and deliberating over them.

Having entered awards myself previously, this felt personal. I know just how hard they have worked and how proud they are. And they should be proud. I felt immense pressure to get this right. Afterall, winning an award can be a game changer for a small business. It can open doors for them.

Tell me about the move to New Zealand and how does the sign industry differ (if so) to the UK?

I have been in New Zealand for nine months now. I was due to move here back in 2020, but we all know about plans and 2020.

The sign industry here is the same, but different. They make the same signs as the UK but give them their own unique names. For example, a stencil cut or fret cut illuminated tray is called an illuminated push through letter sign and a projecting sign is called a tavern sign.

So, getting the hang of the lingo is the biggest challenge. As the UV here is extremely high, vehicle wraps that would normally have a seven-year life in the UK only have a three-year life here.

The biggest difference to the UK though is the work life balance. People really do work to live here. Yes, there is overtime, but that’s more for out of hours work. Customers in general are prepared to wait longer for their orders. People are just more chilled.

Anything else to add?

I would just like to thank Dan Tyler for such an amazing opportunity. Really, I think that he should have been nominated for an award. He dedicates so much of his time serving the sign and print industry and without him, these awards would not be happening. He is a true industry champion.