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A good exterior sign for a retail store is an expensive and time consuming process. We started our search for a sign company right after the lease was signed, and it turned out to be much more difficult that we thought.

This process has highlighted even more strongly to me the necessity of knowing exactly what your brand is and how to describe it to someone. Especially in describing it to someone with no background in your genre (fantasy, science-fiction, general gaming, or in my case spooky.) When working on any project that requires artistic skill, it’s vital to be able to give constructive feedback to the designer. As a former designer myself, I can assure you that limitations and instructions from the client are welcome and important. The last thing any designer wants to hear is, “Do anything you want”.

For example, here’s a few of the guidelines I’ve been using:

• Don’t try to make it look like Halloween decorations. Rubber spiders and plastic zombies aren’t us.
• Do try to make it look elegant and overly ornate. Imagine a once elegant Victorian hotel that has gotten old and creepy.
• Don’t be “on the nose” about anything. No skulls or scary stuff.
• Do try to work spooky stuff into the details. Ghosts or scary faces can and should be hidden in the details.

As a client, it’s vitally important to find a designer who is willing to listen to your guidelines. We went through several designs from several sign companies, none of which set the right tone. The problem with strong themes seems to be that people have preconceived ideas about what they should look like. No matter how often I tell a designer that I want elegant and ornate, the first design I get back is often a grinning pumpkin!  If this happens to you, do yourself a favor, cut your losses and move on. Don’t be like me and waste weeks trying to get your message through to someone who just isn’t going to get it.

The good news is that, just as I was considering hiring and expensive, out-of-town company, I found a small one-man shop here in Fort Collins. Dan Seese is an old-fashioned sign painter and an expert in ornate, Victorian signs and window painting. Check out his work at Dan Seese Studios.

In less than a week, Dan turned out over a dozen different designs, each time asking for feedback and adding to my comments with his own artistic skill. The finished design is only a start. There’s still a lot of work to do on the carving of the sign and the color and texture of the finish. But, I think it’s a fantastic start.

After months of searching, looking at dozens of spots and long negotiatins, we finally have a location! The space is located in a shopping plaza with Young’s Cafe, a local Fort Collins landmark.

It’s a big space, which will allow us to offer more seating, a larger coffee bar and many, many more games. There’s space outside for tables and chairs.

There’s no doubt that having the coffee bar has been a huge asset in the search for a location. Both landlords and neighboring stores all seem to want a coffee shop in their plaza. I’ve gotten a much warmer reception (and probably easier negotiations) than if I had been just a game store.

So, on to the build-out phase!