matt mckee live

Some signs just don't translate. Take this one for example.




I don't know about you but this sign makes me feel like I am in Junior High all over again.

(hat tip to Sam Luce for the sign)

I love a good sale. There is just something about getting stuff for less than retail. I love finding a shirt that someone paid $78 for and buying it for $20 instead. I love finding shoes that I pay $40 for that originally cost $160. I will go out of my way and spend more of my time to get things that are discounted. If I don't have the time then I don't shop. So in my head my time is worth money and the better the deal that I find the more my time is worth. For some reason though, I am not moved by this sale or this sign?



Seriously do you really think that 7% off would be worth my time? You can do better than that.

Every Tuesday night is family dinner night. When I say family I mean the whole family. My parents, Jessica's parents, my brother and his family, and of course Jessica and the boys. Grand total of 12 when we walk through the door and ask for a table. Last night was no different. We rotate each week on who gets to choose where we eat. The strangest pick was my brother picking my parents house and for my mom to cook but that is not the point. Last night was Jessica's parents turn and they picked Rooster's Restaurant. A new place where I had never eaten before. It sounded like fried chicken but ended up being a wings and sports type of place. It also happened to be heaven for a sign geek like myself. Signs were everywhere. I took three pictures to give you an idea of what I am talking about:







There were at least 50 more of these around. Not to mention a wide range of neon and other plastic signs. Notice though that the signs that I took a picture of are not fancy by any means but are consistent. They know their purpose, which is to give you something to do while you wait for your food, and they don't get to crazy.

By the way if you do happen to end up at a Rooster's then go ahead and order the Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It was very, very good.

For some reason these signs make me think of the of the current Democratic National Convention. Seriously, I'm not joking. Have a look at the signs and then I will explain.



Did you study them? What do they say to you?

First let me say that I don't care of you are a Democrat or a Republican. The point of this post is not suppose to tell you who to vote for or how to vote this November.

What do I mean when I say these signs remind me of the DNC08? The one major idea that I have gotten from the DNC08 is the importance to of inclusion. Yes, unity is important to the party and trying to prove that Obama could be the commander and chief is a highly ranked issue as well. The one thing though, that I believe they want you to hear is that you are included in changing our country. They are trying to make this election about you and not about who you are electing because you are included in the future and the hope of this country. This is pure genius. Who doesn't want things to be about them?

These signs are trying to achieve the same things. They are trying to make sure you feel included. So included that you walk into their store and of course buy something. Why else would you carry over 9,000 items and make a neon sign of all things to say it? Why else would you hand write another sign that could be misunderstood of saying, "Get your Ladies Silk Lingeries for Back to School Supplies"?

These signs of course don't achieve the part of me feeling included. They don't reach excellence in part of the imigination. These signs are not doing what the owner of the store intended. You know, I think the current DNC could be like these signs in this area as well. I know that they want me to think I am included but the more they talk the less I feel that way. Maybe it's because they have included so many people that they have excluded along the way. Even though the speeches are excellently written and delivered there is still something that comes off very empty. I look forward to seeing what Obama says for his acceptance speech. I look forward to the inclusion part.

What do you think? Do you think these signs remind you of the current DNC?

Sometimes I am just amazed by what makes it on a sign. Below is a basic triangle table top sign. You see them all over the place. There is one thing though about this sign that I hadn't noticed before. Here is the way the sign was sitting when we sat down.





I took a closer picture of the sign to make sure that you see what I am talking about. Look at the randomness that makes the sign.





Do you think it is necessary for the arrows pointing up and down? Is it fragile cargo that doesn't need to be placed upside down?





Of course the sign geek in me had to turn it to its proper position.


Somethings to think about when making your next sign: Does the information that I am about to put on this sign really need to be there? Am I putting info on my sign that is for the printer or the consumer? If I am going to put strange information on my sign should it match the rest of my sign?

I think you know what I think of the questions above but what do you think?

I love the simplicity of this sign. It is a great use of a mirror but not the best use of the sign above. The question though is thought provoking and I am sure it gets a lot of traffic.

(Hat Tip to Jeremy Jackson of Fellowship Technologies for sending this to me.)

Enjoy.




By the way, the fake trees next to the sign are horrible. There is a whole other lesson in the additions to a sign but I won't go there for this post.

I went to the Bengals Training camp tonight with my family including the in-laws. I came back with this football thanks to my wife who stood at the fence at got most of these autographs:







In the past I have said that you should never have a hand written sign. Well there is an exception to every rule and I think I finally found the exception to the hand written sign rule. By the way, Chad Johnson, Marvin Lewis, Ben Utecht, Jordan Palmer, and many others as you can see signed the ball. Of course I would have loved Carson Palmer to sign it but he ran off the field very quickly and I don't blame him one bit.

You see some signs just have more value than others and this one might not be worth a lot but the value is very high.

I walked into the atrium of our church 2 weeks ago and saw this sign:



I truly couldn't believe what I was seeing. If fact there were 2 guys who read my blog who came up to me as I was walking through the atrium to point this sign out to me. They were excited to show me how bad this sign is and that is never a good thing at your own church.

Let's go over why this sign is so bad.

1. Having to put a sign on a sign is rarely a good idea. It is always a bad idea when you have to cover up something printed on the sign. Just print a new sign. The cost of the new sign outweighs the message that you are communicating about your brand.

2. Seriously, do I have to go over the whole hand written sign thing again. Hand written signs are bad. Period. I don't care how nice your handwriting is or that you are being artistic with the letters. Hand written signs are bad.

3. As you can tell the sign is old, look at the curve in the right and left sides. Once again, I am for reusing good signs if they look good. Your brand means more than the $17 that it would have cost to reprint this sign.


There you have it. I even have a hard time at my church keeping the signs looking good. Don't worry though, I will keep trying to make our world a better looking place.

Did you ever think about your tombstone as a sign? In many ways it is the ultimate sign. The last sign that you will probably ever get to post will be one that you decide for your remains. I am not trying to be morbid here but I do think that it is important for you to think about.

I like cemeteries for some reason. I think they are really intriguing and interesting. I participated in a funeral today at Spring Grove Cemetery here in Cincinnati. Believe it or not it is a beautiful place. Incredible trees and landscaping but more importantly incredible tombstones or should I say signs. I was blown away by the number of tombstones that were just huge. There were more ornate and intricate than any I have every seen in one cemetery. I can't believe I am going to write this but if you get a chance to go to Spring Grove to drive around I think you should. It really is a site to see.

Here are some of the pictures that I took while I was there.



There were many of these there and this one was not the biggest by any means and it stood about 30 feet tall.



I found this very interesting. It is quite tombish. Again not the biggest one but is a good representation.



Look at the huge piece of petrified wood on top of the tombstone. I couldn't figure out why but thought it was really cool.



This picture doesn't give it justice but believe me when I say that this was awe inspiring.

When I die I don't think I want an actual sign as my tombstone but I would like to have a really cool unique one that stands out. No neon or anything but I do think that my last sign should be at least interesting. I might be putting more pressure on myself than I need.

If you don't know by now that I am a Christ-follower then you haven't read my blog very closely at all. After reading this sign above though it looks like I am still going to Hell. It looks like we are all going to Hell. I wonder if the person who put this sign up thinks that they are going to heaven? I hope not. I hope that they are a sports fan, gambler, lier, and hypocrite just like me. That way they to can come to realize that Jesus is about grace and that is the only reason they can repent and turn to Him.

I don't know what makes this sign worse, the overall judgment that is on the sign or the graphical design. Either way it maybe one of the worst signs I have every seen.

If this sign is right then I will see you in Hell. If the Bible is right then I will see you in Heaven.

(hat tip to Kenny for sending me the sign)

Update: I took out fornicator to my list above. I really thought fornicator meant something else. Sorry for the confusion.

Some signs are so good that no words are needed. The following is a mural in a smoking lounge.



I think this is about as bold as you get. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.

This past Saturday I went to the grocery store. I just needed to pick up some stuff for a sermon illustration that I was doing on Sunday. When I came out of the store I saw this sign:



The sign says "Free Money". The bag he is holding has money inside. This kid was not joking. He was giving away Free Money. So what did I do? I gave him more money to give away. I couldn't help myself. I believe that it is better to give than to receive. This guy who wouldn't tell me his name because he was doing this as a class project was trying to figure this concept out. Is it better to give?

Now I stayed and watched for about 5 minutes. The reaction of people passing by was priceless. Most people stopped and ask is it true that he was giving away free money. Some asked how much they could take. Others didn't want to believe him and just walked right by giving him incredibly bad looks for a guy giving away free money. What I was surprised about the most is that no one took all the money at once. I think this was a very interesting experiment. I may even have to try it some day. I think you should try it too and let me know how it went.

I give the guy an "F" for his sign but an "A+" for the idea and boldness to do it. Sometimes it isn't always about the sign. Yes I just wrote that.

This past Saturday I was in Louisville, KY running in a mini-marathon. The night before the race my brother, my dad, and I went downtown to Fourth Street Live. Fourth Street Live is basically a huge outdoor/indoor hangout that consist of bars, restaurants, and overall fun. The way they created this space was by permanently closing down a street between 4 buildings and building a glass structure to enclose it. The nicest thing about it was all of the signs that were there. It was like walking back in time with all the neon. Here enjoy some of my favorite pictures I took with my iPhone:












By the way, if you haven't been in a Lucky Strike bowling alley then you should at least go inside. Don't look at the waitresses but check out the overall scene. It is one of the nicest, hippest bowling alleys out there. I was very impressed.

I was down by our new church property today and drove past this little ice cream store. All I have to say is OH MY! Seriously, check these photos I took with my iPhone. I couldn't make this up if I wanted too.












The above 4 windows are all different windows. I didn't just take a picture of the same window at 4 different angles. Now, don't get me wrong, I can appreciate their love for a sign. The only thing I thought though when I left was that I had died and gone to Sign Hell. So if you are looking for a bad sign or a way not to display a 1,000 signs then this is your place.

If you are looking for a great dipped cone then this is also your place.

Here is a great sign sent to me by Sam Luce. If you are a children's pastor and you are not reading his blog then shame on you. He has great insight and he uses a Mac. How can you not like the guy?



Now onto the sign.

First off, the store in which this comes from is not known for good signs. One of their competitors known as Target is known for great signs. So when I received this I was not surprised by the lack of effort and overall quality. I was also not surprised by the spelling of "guarrantee". By the way it should be guarantee, but I can't say to much because I am sure if you look on this page alone you will find many mistakes.

What does surprise me about this sign? Why not put it over the price? Why is it guaranteed? Aren't all prices at this stored guaranteed? I mean, don't get me wrong, I have never bought anything at this store where the price on the tag was one thing and I paid $3 more just for fun. If they are not guaranteeing the price then are the guaranteeing the game? Like it would be that hard to take something back to this store. They take back stuff that they don't sell anymore or have never sold. Believe me I have done that as well. Also who makes up the last number on the prices? Does it really matter that it is $26.93 instead of $26.99. Do they really think I am going to drive out of my way because I can save that extra $.06? I would rather they make my experience better and the experience of their workers better and charge me the extra.

The best part part about the sign is that they have under-promised and over-delivered. The under-promise of $29.92 and the over-deliver of now $26.93. I don't know about you but I need to more of the under-promise and over-deliver technique. To many times I do the opposite of over-promise and under-deliver.

I really like things that have something interesting to them. I know that statement may sound dumb to some but I think there are way to many people that settle for something that is not interesting. They settle for things that are normal or usual or even what everyone else likes. I normally express this liking of the interesting in my clothing choices. You know shirts with embroidery in weird places, ect.

What does these ramblings have to do with HDR? First you have to know what HDR is. . . (Wikipedia says) HDR is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to shadows. Or in my terms, HDR is making a picture interesting and giving it more depth and life.

Now why do this on Sign Wednesday? Because I think you will see that Signs can be given more depth and life through HDR rendering. I mean come on, if you are going to take a picture of a sign why not make it interesting.

Here are some great examples from Flickr.com

I found this little program for my unlocked iPhone. It is called LEDBanner. You can type in anything you want. I thought this was appropriate.

If Excellence walked into your ministry, your business, your office, your life. . . What would it recognize?

Last Thursday I went to the Creation Museum in the Cincinnati area. No matter how you feel about the content of the museum, you have to be impressed by the atmosphere of the place. Of course while I was there I took a bunch of pictures of signs. What can I say, I am a sign geek. I guess it was a little distracting because when we left my wife said, "Maybe next time we go we could just walk through it since you have a picture of all of the signs."

So here you go. Here are the best and worst of the signs of the Creation Museum. #1 is the best in my opinion and #7 is the worst. Enjoy.

1.
I love 3-D sculpted signs and this one rocks. Sorry for the shadow but you could read it very well.


2.
This one has 8 layers and the guy in closest to me is life size. Very well done and cut out of gator board. Impressive.


3.
A cut out stained window with a LCD screen behind it showing you what is going on in church. Very Slick.


4.
Every wall can be a sign. When the entire wall is a sign I like it.


5.
Great use of adding interest to what could have been a very boring sign. 2 signs are better than one in some cases.


6.
Standard kind of boring. Makes little impact and gives information but not a lot of wow.


7.
Good idea but horrible execution. This guy makes me laugh again and again. Seriously just look at him long enough and you to will think Microsoft is cooler than Apple.

I have been asked in the past to post some of my own signs to Sign Wednesday. Well, with my new iPhone, I was taking pictures and just happen to catch a couple of signs that I created. Both signs are printed on a HP5500 printer onto polyester fabric. Check them out and let me know what you think of them. Criticism is welcome and expected.




By the way the signs are promoting our VBS alternative called Smash Camp and Centri-Kid which is a kid's camp. You also see in the picture a nice shot of Fellowship One check-in that we use as well.