The Analog Years
1988 to 2000
My schooling years finished in 1988 and I began a career with Nettlefold Signs two days after. Starting as Junior Artist for the sign industry provided the good fortune of combining a passion for drawing with my mechanical & engineering mind. There I was introduced to my first computer and the command line interface in the early language of DOS.
My work regularly consisted of hand drawing illustrations and airbrushing shop front signage. Computers had only begun to become design capable so I would also program in DOS, commonly digitising illustrations with a tablet & pointer. Typeset with letraset on large bromide machines in a dark room was a particular technical nuance of the job. It was definitely a different time for computers in the workplace and the early sign industry allowed the exploration of my creative side through design and conceptualization and technicalt advancement
Over the decade in this industry I eventually worked on everything from designing neon Point of Sale signs to directing the entire shop front, and pylon sign installations. One of the largest single projects I worked on was the complete Australia wide refabrication of the entire signage system for all BP service stations. This was a multi-year project whereby I would design specific signface components and then program a flatbed router to complete the parts ready for installation. This became a slight deviation from my goal of working in the advertising industry and one that causeed me to re-evaluate my goals and reset my entire career.
