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Everybody has something to say, and that’s a good thing for sign builders. From Steve Smith’s perspective at FastSigns in Clive, businesses have decided that it’s time to deliver their message with more frequency. In other words, the sign business is picking up.

A slowing economy saw FastSigns’ revenues drop in the last quarter of 2007, the first decline following four years of double-digit growth from one quarter to the next, he said.

“I think that businesses that have held off of purchases have decided to move forward with some of their projects,” Smith said. “We have been very busy, and I’m hearing the same thing from other sign shops.”

And demand could pick up even more with the passage by the Urbandale City Council of an ordinance change that allows retail areas to use directory signs that list a variety of businesses.

The city acted at the request of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce, which found that the top concern of its members was their inability to communicate through signs, said Tiffany Menke, the chamber’s executive director.

“We didn’t want the city to be littered with signs,” Menke said. However, there was a concern that businesses in multiple-tenant buildings were suffering from lack of direction to their location.

The chamber’s member businesses met with Urbandale Community Development Director Paul Dekker, who served as a research arm, determining among other things the size of letters that could be seen and understood by drivers traveling at various speeds.

“One of the things I think that made this process unique was that we brought everybody to the table and had a really good dialogue around it,” Menke said.

The dialogue is continuing. Urbandale continues to examine the portion of the ordinance dealing with temporary signs.

But even a partial ordinance revision has triggered inquiries at sign shops about directory signs, said Frank Kaufman, co-owner of Sign-A-Rama, 3368 100TH St., Urbandale.

Businesses might be asking, but so far none have applied for a sign permit under the new ordinance.

Kaufman knows it will just be a matter of time.

“It’s a visual world,” he said. “You look around and everybody needs a sign at one time or another, whether it’s a yard sign or a monument sign or a bumper sticker.”

With so many people having something they want to say on a sign, there is plenty of business to spread around the community.

“It takes a lot of people to meet that demand,” Kaufman said.

During his eight years in the business, Kaufman has seen big changes in sign making.

When he started, single-color, hand-cut vinyl letters were the norm. Signs were created in layers.

“Now we’re seeing more of a move to digital printers,” he said.

In addition, Kaufman and his crew can create signs from routed material and light-filled channels.

Those large-format printers have become popular with businesses that want to avoid the cost of going to a sign shop, Smith said.

Smith’s company is finding that full-body vehicle wraps are popular with some businesses.

“That way your image is portrayed all the time when you are driving out and about,” he said.

That is a process allowed by the large printers, and it would not have been available just a few years ago.

In fact, Smith’s original printer, which churned out vinyl letters, has been relegated to button and bumper sticker duty. Its size fits its job.

Now his shop is occupied by printers that can print sheets or rolls 60 and 72 inches wide. And they can produce four-color designs that draw attention.

If there is one caution in the sign-making world, it is that customers might want to check their names at the door, said Brant Kaufman, co-owner of Sign-A-Rama and Frank Kaufman’s son.

“A lot of people like to put their name in lights, but we’re most interested in seeing their service displayed,” Kaufman said.