Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/370309
MASTER'S TOUCH 116 • September 2014 • S I G N & D I G I T A L G R A P H I C S incidentally the only way to haul up my gear, and two tons of paper. Furthermore, I was informed that I was required to be off the premises by 4 p.m. each day. Now bear in mind that this could turn out to be a problem because I often take advantage of the time between 4 p.m. and sundown (midnight?) to accomplish magical feats that deftly recalibrate my virtual issues with my inevitable physical realities, and now it dawns on me that this time I will not have this option. Previously, I convinced myself that this job would be "sort of easy." You know, basic outlines with some black serif text and a simple logo. Of course, I knew I would have to contend with the elements for the inevitable wind, and I hauled up 2 x 4s to weight down the pat- terns. I did underestimate the glare up there, which made it impossible to see my cell phone screen, or really anything at all. And once my eyes adjusted I could see that the roof surface had a thin film of slick black dirt on it, but it seemed so white at first, and then everyone thought that I should clean it. No big deal. There was a long hose on the roof. However the second day, when I arrived at a record-setting early time for me, I struggled to comprehend the con- cept of "dew point," which leaves the roof very wet and takes a surprisingly long time to burn off. So I'm up there at the break of dawn on this wet roof, and I kick back to take a nap on a huge pile of pounce paper, unseen by the panoply of world's most brilliant geeks who eddy about down below on their 1,300 multi- colored Google bikes-in-common left everywhere on the Campus. And then I get it, the client wants people to see this sign from space! You know, at least from Google Earth or whatever, and from air- planes, and, "Ladies and gentleman if you look out the left side of the aircraft, you can see the Google Campus." And per- haps, oh dear, there is the last analogue lettering engineer asleep on the job." This project was physically demand- ing to the extreme with the heat evapo- rating the paint in steamy plumes, and the constant bending over and actual The large service pipe didn't look like much from the space view and nobody seemed worried about it. I normally paint right over obstacles that are seen from a long view, but I was con- cerned my usual adaptations would look bad from a moving airplane, and I adjusted all the art to avoid it. I opted to "stain" the roof deeply with a 1 Shot oil-based outline. (Below) I filled in the outline with Benjamin Moore house paint, which I assume would be flexible and durable over a long period.