Masterwork Plaques designed and fabricated a commemorative "home plate" plaque to honor Jackie Robinson’s major league baseball debut. This cast bronze plaque is installed at the former site of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY.
From 1913 - 1957, Ebbets Field was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. Ebbets Field was the site of many of the Dodgers early successes before their eventual move to Los Angeles in 1958. Among these historic successes was the desegregation of the team, with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1947. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the major leagues, bringing the end to sixty years of segregation in professional baseball.
The plaque is installed at the precise location of Ebbets Field’s former home plate, where Jackie Robinson first stood at bat on April 15, 1947. The project was developed as a part of Ken Burns newest documentary series, in conjunction with the release of Google’s visual reality headset. By overlaying a photograph onto a more recent photo of the current landscape, Google was able to determine the exact location of the home plate (Yahoo Sports: 10 Degrees: The secret virtual-reality project to honor Jackie Robinson) This commemorative plaque resides in the courtyards of the Ebbets Field high-rise apartment complex, and the home plate shaped plaque faces where the old center field would have been if it still existed today.
Our studio can create custom shaped commemorative plaques in just about any shape and size. For this particular project, we felt it was appropriate to use the dimensions of a home plate, to reference the historic baseball field.
Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn about six blocks from our design studio is the highly anticipated Barano Restaurant which opens this month. Chef Albert Di Meglio, former chef at Rubirosa, created a menu inspired by his childhood as an Italian-American in Staten Island. The restaurant’s name, Barano, is named after his family’s hometown on the island of Ischia, just off the coast of Naples, Italy. New York Magazine writes, “…the kitchen revolves around a wood-fired oven, rotisserie, and grill, which Di Meglio employs for pizzas like the L’uovo (Swiss chard, capocollo, Fontina, and duck egg) and spit-roasted meats.” Sounds delicious to us!
Photo: Jody Wissner/New York Magazine
The interior design aesthetic of the restaurant was conceptualized by Brooklyn Home Studios, with the restaurant’s exterior signage manufactured by Masterwork Plaques. The building’s exterior features two etched brass plaques, one featuring the name of the restaurant, the other the street address.
Restaurant and exterior signage is most successful when the design is simple, crisp and clean. Our studio always recommends investing in high quality materials. Although we do create plaques in aluminum, zinc and other more affordable metals, brass, bronze and stainless steel will stand the test of time.
We were thrilled to see our plaque featured on the restaurant’s main page!
Photo from B arano Restaurant .
For more information regarding our etched brass and custom plaques, give us a call at (718) 283-4109, and we will be happy to discuss a variety of options for signage that bests suit your business.
Advice from the Plaque-Makers: Make a Sign that Lasts
Exterior building signage is necessary for just about every type of business. When it comes to designing company plaques, it can be tempting to jam-pack each sign with addresses, tag lines and contact info to give the casual passerby more than one way to reach out to your business. While employee email addresses, phone numbers and physical addresses can all be helpful, an outdoor plaque may not need all of these elements.
Your plaque is a reflection of your company. High-quality corporate signage sends a strong message to your customers.
To prevent overcomplicating your corporate signage, focus on the company name, logo, and your overall brand identity. The outdoor plaque should clearly promote your business’s presence in the building, and it should also catch the eye of passersby, enticing prospective clients to visit or contact your organization.
We recommend sitting with your branding and marketing team—think about a company color and metal type that may best complement your logo. At the same time, decide on one method of contact that is most appropriate for prospective clients who see your company’s plaque on the street—a contact method may not be necessary if the sign is right outside your door. Once the content is decided upon, request a quote from our studio, and our customer service team can help you finalize your plaque design from there. Included below are five helpful tips during your company’s initial planning process.
#1 Avoid QR Codes
Every few months, a client will ask us to add a QR code to their initial plaque designs, but rarely do these customers end up wanting it on the final product. We have a bit of an aversion to QR codes at our studio, and there are two reasons why.
QR codes are meant for use on printed media.
Barcodes are two-dimensional and almost always black and white. Etched and cast plaques are not completely flat. Cast plaques have a relief depth of 3/32”, so shadowing can distort the QR code and prevent its readability. This presents obvious issues. There is always the risk that the QR code won’t scan properly after the plaque has been created, and what’s the use of an expensive plaque with a QR code that doesn’t work?
Barcode Scanner Apps must be downloaded.
Secondly, if the QR code does scan successfully, smartphones do not automatically come with barcode scanners. The most effective QR codes offer customers a reward if they do scan and view the embedded link. That means unless you offer a discount or another type of incentive, will people use it? A simple website url may be more effective, and also relieves the fear that QR codes will become outdated.
#2 Use Reliable Contact Info
Similar to our first tip, it is important to choose a reliable contact method that will not change over time. If an architectural signage project has a phone number that is no longer in service, the price to update the phone number on the plaque is just about as expensive as recreating the plaque entirely. For this reason, make sure there are no typos or outdated forms of contact on your company signage.
#3 Make Sure Your Logo is Up-to-Date
Vector files are our favorite type of file at Masterwork Plaques. Vectors are most often created in Adobe Illustrator, so the file would end in “.ai” or “.eps”. If your company only has a jpeg file handy, send us the highest resolution file available. If needed, we can often redraw the logo in house.
Marketing departments will typically have your company’s vector file. Make sure to send us the most up-to-date logo you have. A bronze plaque can last for decades, but if the content is outdated, you may have to remake the plaque regardless of the condition of the metal.
#4 Invest in High-Quality Materials
Etched plaque for Barano Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY.
Our studio has many plaque options, but we typically recommend cast bronze and etched stainless steel over most other metal types. Bronze and stainless steel are high-quality, durable metals that hold up well as interior and exterior signage. High-quality items usually come with a higher price tag, but if you want plaques that will last for decades, these plaques quickly pay you back over time.
Too often, we see outdoor plastic and aluminum plaques that have been through too many hot summers or cold winters. Their painted backgrounds start to peel away, and those once pretty plastic plaques have dented and chipped. It is not uncommon for cheaply-made, exterior plaques to become unreadable after one or two years. Choosing high quality materials and the proper finish prevents dents and scratches that ruin the plaque’s appearance. Rather than recreating a plaque every two years, order a well-made plaque once, and you will save your company valuable time and money. Your plaque is a reflection of your company, and a high quality sign sends a strong message to your customers.
#5 Mount Your Plaque Securely
One last piece of advice: Use our hidden stud mount technique for any plaque that is installed outside. This blind-mount technique conceals all attachment hardware from the face of the plaque, which makes it more difficult to remove and protects it against theft. Bronze is an expensive material, and a plaque that is improperly mounted can be stolen and sold as scrap metal. Masterwork’s cast plaques come with specially developed attachment systems that can be inserted directly into the wall with an architectural grade epoxy.
Winter Storm Jonas has officially passed and has left an impressive cover of snow over New York, Brooklyn and much of the East Coast. Many of us spent the weekend indoors, looking out our frosty windows, but the warming temperatures have already started the gradual melting of the whopping 26 inches that have fallen over the city. Despite the slow commute to work and our slightly damp socks, most of us are happy to see that winter has officially arrived.
Now might not be the most opportune time for us to feature photos of Brooklyn on our blog, but the timely storm has coincided with the release of our last resolution for 2016.
GETTING INVOLVED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Masterwork Plaques is surrounded by many small businesses in Williamsburg, and we love being a part of this dynamic and artistic community. 2016 has a lot in store for us at our studio, and our goal is to get to know other artistic and entrepreneurial small businesses in the area, with the hope that our involvement will have a positive affect on our plaque designs, business practices and creative thinking strategies. For the more daring locals out there, anxious to bundle up in warm scarves and furry snow boots, we’ve put together an abbreviated list of our favorite artsy Williamsburg spots that have been a source of creative inspiration for our studio.
THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT
This alternative library holds over 33,000 artist sketchbooks that can be submitted by anyone across the world. This seemingly endless collection of creative journals and has been an overwhelming source of inspiration to our designers. Artists' individual styles and clever designs are jam packed into this storefront space. The Art Library serves as a “reading room” where anyone can scan through the many shelves filled with artwork, but many of their sketchbooks can be viewed online as well. We have found ourselves with a sketchbook in hand, jotting down inspirational notes for new plaque designs on many occasions.
THE JOURNAL GALLERY
Located down the street from Masterwork Plaques is an impressive converted garage space that hosts the works of many emerging artists (check out those stunning water jet cut letters!). The Journal began in 1999 as a ‘zine that has expanded into a quarterly periodical with an accompanying gallery. This spot has been a great destination spot for a 5-10 minute short break from our business day. As we mentioned in our healthy workspace post, a short break can actually get the creative juices flowing and keep us more focused during the day. The Journal’s last show was listed as one of the best gallery exhibitions of 2015 on pasunautre.com. Their first show of 2016 opens this Wednesday, January 27th.
Located on Grand Avenue, Choplet Ceramic Studio functions both as a gallery and workshop space for ceramic artists for all levels (novice and experienced). Founded by Nadeige Choplet, this ceramics studio offers all sorts of ways to try out throwing on the wheel and traditional hand building, while also providing ample space for the more advanced ceramics artist. Our CEO and project manager have both taken classes and visited the gallery space at this studio, and it is a great source of inspiration for our more three-dimensional bronze projects.
The human body isn’t meant to sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day. At our studio, we are fortunate in that depending on the project, our work can actually take us away from the computer, whether it is to begin carving a bas-relief portrait or assemble a pattern for a bronze plaque. These projects force us to move around the studio, and in the warmer months, sometimes even allow us to move our work outside on a nice day.
However, the majority of the week takes place at our desks, and sitting for extended periods of time is not beneficial to our overall health. Our third resolution for 2016 is to invest our time in better habits at work, which as a result, will make our day happier, healthier and more focused, so that we can work better with you. Our team sat down (and then stood up!) to discuss ways we can introduce healthier habits into our workplace culture.
TAKING FREQUENT BREAKS
Studies show that taking regular breaks actually increases productivity by 6-11% throughout the day. In fact, a 15 second break taken a few times an hour is said to reduce fatigue by 50%. We’ve downloaded the free Time Out app, which gently reminds us to take a break on a regular basis.
STAY ACTIVE
Here in New York City, many employees eat lunch at their desks or simply do not take a break to eat at all. This habit actually reduces productivity because it does not give our brains the time to rest between tasks. We’ve made a pact to step away for an extended break at least two times a day, in addition to taking lunch outside the office.
Taking a walk around the block is particularly enjoyable in our neighborhood. We can volunteer for the nearby dog shelter and walk a dog for twenty minutes to temporarily unwind during a stressful day. Others of us have installed an app on our phones called Sworkit which provides five-minute work out routines, perfect for a break between emails or after a big project is completed.
DRINK WATER
Most of us already know that the average person should be drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day, equaling about two liters. At work, we’ve found it is easy to stay put at your desk, answer emails and lose track of time. Especially if you aren’t in the habit of consistently drinking water, the day can go by and after the morning coffee, you haven’t drank anything at all. We’ve decided to keep a large water bottle at our desk, which can be carried easily with us to lunch or to plaque design meetings, so we all stay on track and stay hydrated. Here’s to a healthy and active 2016!
Photo: Jody Wissner/New York Magazine
Photo from B arano Restaurant .
Etched plaque for Barano Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY.
