Sooooooo happy with how this sign turned out!
Annndddd, annnndddddd! Super excited to be able to share how it was made with everyone! If you're local to Alger (I-5 exit 240, South Bellingham WA) go check it at and have a drink at the Alger Bar and Grille!
Quick overview of the image above - what you're seeing from left to right is the initial 3D design, the 3D rendering and the actual sign that's mounted on the side of the Alger Bar and Grille! Pretty neat right!
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Alright, elephant in the room first or should? No, lets talk to the elephant-
I know I only share a fraction of what I do. Why is that you ask?
- Well, some of it is definitely me being "focused" (focused, not "lazy" 🤣) and not documenting things very well while I'm working. It's hard to remember to stop and take pictures when you're in the moment, or when the epoxy is about to escape and you have 2.8 parsecs to fix it before it cures into an exotherming ball of "learning experience."
- And then there's projects I'm not able to share because they're not public knowledge yet and still top secret until the the press release drops!
I also like to wait until the thing is actually in the public eye even if our NDA is expired out of respect for the creator. This is because I understand how much, just everything, it takes to make something new and awesome. Point one still applies to some of these though... you're right I need to get the gallery current!
- Some of it is I might not feel comfortable sharing it due to the personal nature of the item...
A good example of this is an Urn I made in 2022. It's a really unique urn and the person who commissioned the piece shows it off and loves the opportunity to talk about all the great memories it reminds them of. They've given me permission to share it as well, but... it just doesn't feel right to share something that is so personal to someone else. Don't get me wrong, it was incredibly fulfilling to have the opportunity to make something that has so much significance for another person! So for stuff like this, if you were to ask me in person, sure I'd be happy to show the urn and some other projects, but it's not something that feels right to share with all of the internets.
There's other reason, but that covers most of it I think. So, back on point - Look at this freaking sign!!!
So how'd this design come to be?
It all started with this flyer:
This is the original artwork for the Alger Bar and Grille that I was given. From here my job was to digitize it and turn it into something that can be used to put the Alger Bar brand onto anything we want!
(Side quest - The shirts and hoodies at the bar are made by us from this graphic, go
get yourself one!)
After digitizing the flat version of this flyer that you'll find on their shirts and hoodies, I took it into 3D and split it into it's parts - landscape, eagle, and words. That's the first image you see on the left. This was challenging, it took a lot of interpolating and tweaking (not that kind of tweaking...) to get the details to come over from 2D to 3D.
With everything split out into parts I was able to make the eagle bigger at the request of the bar. Next up was the digital rendering to give everyone a good idea of what the finished product would look like. This is the image in the middle and it was a really powerful tool that helped both the customer and me refine the design!
To get to the image on the right where we see the final sign, let me tell you a bit about how it was built!
The sign was cut primarily with Richard the CNC using the 3D files that were created to make the renderings
The base of the sign is made of oak and measures 4' in diameter. The mountain is also made from oak and hand painted. The letters A L G E R are 1.5" thick and the rest are .75" thick and they're secured into nesting spots carved into the base. The pièce de résistance, AKA the eagle is CNC cut from brushed aluminum! It was hard to keep fingerprints off of it...
Once all the pieces were permanently attached together (that was a nerve wracking, don't screw it up, kinda moment!) the whole thing was sealed with a couple coats of epoxy.
Patting myself on the back a little more here, don't mind me... 😂... the mounting system I came up with worked better than expected and allowed some minor adjustments to be made after the sign was hung while also giving a way to permanently and securely affix the sign to the building without having to do anything from inside the building. Really happy overall how easy it was to hang, especially since I ended up helping hang it during a break in the snow this February (2023)!
Alright, I feel like I'm rambling so wrap it up there Nate!
Overall I'm super happy with how everything on this one turned out and it was fun to be able to share it as well!
If you need a custom sign or have questions about this one feel free to shoot me a message, just hit the contact button on the top of the page!