Nearly 300 sign industry professionals gathered at the Athena Centre in Leicester on Thursday (Nov. 8th) for the annual British Sign Awards and were able to toast some of the best work completed by British sign businesses over the past year.
A total of 15 awards were presented, covering every aspect of sign making, from traditional crafts through vehicle wraps and interior décor to large scale, highly engineered signs. The final award, the Sign of the Year, went to Blaze Signs for their work at the Grafton Centre in Cambridge. The project consisted of 30 giant ‘lifestyle’ lightboxes, each featuring an individually designed, laser-cut, fret-work panel with a specialist Analok anodised finish.
What impressed the judges about the project was that it required “a huge volume of highly skilled work and combined real craftsmanship with modern technology.”
Guest speaker at this year’s event was ‘The Legend’ Steve Davis, six times World Snooker Champion, who was a huge success with the audience and, with the assistance of BSGA Director David Catanach, kept the presentations of the awards flowing smoothly.
The event also provided an opportunity to introduce the new affiliation between the BSGA and ISA – the International Sign Association – to form ISA-UK. Three members of the ISA Management team – Lori Anderson, President and CEO, Brandon Hemsley, Chief Operating Officer and Kelly Miller, Director of Meeting and Events together with Bob Mattatall from the Sign Association of Canada – travelled from Washington DC specifically to support the event. Lori was also able to explain some of the advantages the new affiliation, which officially launches on January 1st next year, will provide to members.
The ISA contingent also had a surprise for everyone, including the BSGA, at the end of the show. During the unveiling of the Sign of the Year award winner, Lori Anderson interrupted proceedings to announce that ISA would fund a trip for the winner to visit the ISA International Sign Expo in Las Vegas next April.
“It came right out of the blue,” said David Catanach, Director of the BSGA, “and provided a great finale to what had been a fantastic day.”
He also singled out Mission Motorsport for a special mention. “Mission Motorsport is a charity that supports ex-servicemen suffering from physical and mental injuries as a result of their service, and we were delighted that, just three days before the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, they brought the fantastic Poppy Car, an award winner in its own right, to the event.”
He also paid tribute to all the sponsors. “The awards are a special event that, in addition to recognising the outstanding work of British sign makers, brings the whole industry together in a unique and convivial atmosphere. Without the sponsors none of it would not be possible and we would like to thank them all for their support.”
The winning entries, together with images from the Awards event, can be viewed on the awards website at www.britishsignawards.org
The winners of the 2018 awards included:
Sign of the Year
Blaze Signs for the Grafton Centre, Cambridge.
Young Signmaker of the Year
Marc Kisko, Reade Signs
Highly Commended
Yasmine Beverley (Blaze Signs), Bruno Castro (Steel City Signs), Ian Dixon (Astley Signs)
The Construction Award
Interplan Sign Systems, for The Gate, Newcastle
Highly Commended
Astley Signs, John Anthony Signs
The Craftsman Award
Sign of the Times (Piccadilly Lamps, Manchester)
Highly Commended
3D Signs, DMA Signs
The Décor Award
Castleton Signs (BOKAN, London)
Highly Commended
Sign of the Times, Apogee Creative
Illuminated Sign of the Year
Astley Signs (Great North Run Sign, Tyne Bridge)
Highly Commended
Interplan Sign Systems, isGroup
The Innovation Award
Sign of the Times (Piccadilly Lamps, Manchester)
Highly Commended
Castleton Signs, Hollywood Monster
Leisure Sector Sign of the Year
Sovereign Signs (Leicester FC Foxes Fanstore)
Highly Commended
Castleton Signs
Roll-out Programme of the Year
Astley Signs (BP sites)
Highly Commended
Signs Express (Falkirk), W&Co
Architectural Sign of the Year
Blaze Signs (Grafton Centre, Cambridge)
High Commended
DMA Signs, Signs Express (Exeter).
Small Sign Business of the Year
Apogee Creative
Highly Commended
SIGNCO, Eyecatching Signs
Retail Sign of the Year
Grafitti Design (Lush Cosmetics)
Highly Commended
Sovereign Signs, Blaze Signs
Vehicle Graphics Awards
Coastline Graphics – Wrap of the Year
RGVA – Commercial Vehicle Graphics Award
Mission Motorsport – Special Achievement Award
Matt Vinyl Graphics – Special Achievement Award
Wide Format Project of the Year
Signbox (Accenture)
Highly Commended
Hollywood Monster, Signs Express (Stoke)
Wayfinding Award
Placemarque (Ireland’s Ancient East)
Highly Commended
CCD Design, Maynard Design
Sign Product of the Year
DMA Signs (Chiron Wayfinding)
Highly Commended
Make It Happen Training, Avery Dennison
European Sign Federation