At G4 Fabrication Design & Consulting we specialize in the Fabrication Design of custom signs and graphics. Being we are skilled in metal fabrication and fine wood working skills it allows us to fabricate signs from numerous forms of materials varying from aluminum, wood, PVC sheeting, acrylic and steel to just mention a few. Our Drawing Services that we offer can be used for producing fabrication drawings for many applications be it for a sign or architectural elements. Quite often other companies use our drawings for bid packages or site surveys. Our drawings are always accurate and to scale and we often use them to produce electronic cut files for producing various parts, lettering or cut vinyl graphics. We take pride our 55 years of experience to help our clients with products and materials research, value engineering and building prototypes in order to help finalize a design and the materials used. We also offer project management skills within our own projects as well as to other companies to enable projects to meet their deadline by managing vendors and the coordination of subcontractors.

G4 Is Proud To Offer The Following Services:

Design

We will help bring your ideas into reality by designing various options for our clients to choose from. We rely heavily on environmental or architectural graphics in which case we design our signs to tie into the architectural features of the building or the environment that it will be in.

Fabrication Design

Fabrication Design in general brings the creative design from Environmental Graphics into reality. It incorporates the design concept of signs and graphics from a basic sketch or computer generated drawing to a level that is needed for fabrication. At G4 we have many avenues we can use in helping a client achieve what is needed for their projects.

Fabrication Drawings

Detailed drawings that are not only accurate in scale but has accurate dimensioning. The level of detail has material, hardware and electrical call outs if necessary. In many cases there may be several views to convey how a product is fabricated. We also provide footing drawings and installation drawing to a level that is needed for stamped engineer approval that is often needed to obtain permits.

Product and Materials Research

Researching of products and materials is an important part of meeting or exceeding the expectations of the client. Quite often researching lighting is the most important thing for a design to work, but often enough it can be as simple as verifying that a product can be used for an indoor or outdoor application as specified or verifying the available material sizes and working those sizes into the size of a product in order to be more economical.

Bid Package

Quite often an Architect or Designer has a project that goes out to bid to many different Fabrication Companies. In the case of any government, state or county bid package a minimum of three companies must be used to grant a bid. A Comprehensive Bid Package is a very basic fabrication drawing that is accurate in scale and dimensioning with basic material call outs. It is fairly common that most packages that go out to bid are very general and that many assumptions are made in bidding a job. At G4 we can work with Architects or Designers to establish a Comprehensive Bid Package to help convey accurate design intent to everyone bidding on the job by assuring that everyone is on the same page.

Production of Electronic Cut File

Electronic cut files are used for computerized cutting of many substrates from metal, wood, acrylic, glass and even vinyl. Many companies that utilize a water jet cutter, plasma cutter, laser cutter or even vinyl cutters need an accurate file that is clean, accurate and ready for production.

Coordinating With Structural Engineering

In the most cities anything that is over 6’ in height or mounted overhead is required to have structural engineering. At G4 we provide various drawings for our clients with mounting specifications and/or footing drawings that are used in structural engineering calculations. We will consult with structural engineers and use their findings to make all necessary changes to have the drawings stamped and approved so that our client can easily receive permits for their projects.

Value Engineering

Together with Estimating and Fabrication Design it is possible to work with the client to ensure that they do not go over budget in their design. Quite often a design cannot be reached in the constraints of a budget and it is necessary to change the materials, design etc and still be able to achieve the same desired effect as the original design and within the given budget.

Consulting

All too often Designers are at a loss when it comes to the nuts and bolts of taking a conceptual drawing into the process of fabrication and producing the final product. Consulting in this process is an essential part of the over all graphic design of the final product. It ensures that our client receives the product they have in mind but one that was produced in the constraints of a budget.

Estimating

Assessing a job either by a clients design drawings or G4’s Fabrication Drawings allow us to pull together resources, vendors, and subcontractors in order to calculate an accurate price to be able to build a project.

Establishing Budget

In many cases a budget needs to be established for larger projects before the design is completed. With our experience in Value Engineering and Estimating we are able to help the client meet the demands of budget constraints by finding the best values to complete a project without compromising the design intent.

Managing Vendors

In the process of completing a job it is essential to have a good relationship with vendors to not only maintain and meet the demands of a schedule but to bring in various materials at an economic price.

Coordination of Subcontractors

In the world of design it is not always possible to be able to fabricate a project out of one shop. Many designs are intricate and are on the cutting edge. It is necessary to have a good knowledge and a healthy working relationship with many specialty subcontractors to not only find someone capable of fabricating certain parts but to meet the demand of a schedule.

Project Management

Not only does G4 manage its’ vendors, subcontractors and in house fabrication to organize a project and keep it on schedule, but we keep in touch with on site conditions and schedule with the site foreman to ensure everything runs smoothly. We also offer project management for other sign companies to have us either supervise or conduct an installation of a project.

Prototypes

Prototypes are often a key part in helping the designer finalize the design. At G4 we have built not only scaled down versions of a design but full scale prototypes that can be used to judge sizes and readability on the actual job site.

Site Surveys

Quite often out of town sign companies need to have measurements and site conditions confirmed prior to fabrication. With our experience we are able to assess potential problems for installation and offer to consult on how to fix the problem.

Production of Cut Vinyl Graphics

G4 produces cut vinyl graphics with the Graphtec CE3000M plotter. It has a maximum cutting width of 23.6”. The Graphtec is a very versatile piece of equipment which – depending on the type of vinyl and letter style – can cut vinyl graphics to a minimum size of 3/16”. This cutter is also able to cut stencil that is commonly used for sand blasting.