Meet the man behind the signs of the times

Sunday, July 20, 2003
BY DAN WEISSMAN
Star-Ledger Staff

Dan Antonelli considers himself a sign man at heart.

Logo design is "still a passion of mine," says Antonelli, founder of Graphic D-Signs, which he runs out of his home office in northwest Warren County. "I've done over 200 logos. I love working with type. That, to me, is one of the most gratifying elements of what I am doing. When you design a logo, you design an identity, a whole image."

Antonelli has built a clientele of approximately 200 New Jersey businesses during six years in business. He will handle a wide range of graphic duties, from Web sites to advertising, but the logos remain a focus.

In fact, he wrote a book on logo design, "Logo Design for Small Business." The book -- which has sold some 3,500 copies of the first printing of 5,000, is marketed through the design industry. And it has become a guide for the industry.

Antonelli is scheduled to lead a workshop on logo design when the United States Sign Council convenes at the Atlantic City Convention Center during September for the industry's annual gathering.

Andy Bertucci, executive director of the Bristol, Pa.-based trade association, said the sign and logo industry generates about $10 billion in annual sales. And its 28,000 to 30,000 companies are evenly divided between the big, with 10 or more employees, and the small ones, like Antonelli's.

"What Dan Antonelli does is a kind of specialized thing, which has become his niche," Bertucci says. "He actually brings a dimension to the industry that we very much like to have --his training as a designer and his utilization to benefit his business and his customers."

Antonelli says "giving small business an image helps them compete more effectively. What I try to do is function as a small advertising agency for small business. And the reason I am successful is that most ad agencies don't want to handle small business."

Competition is extensive. A Web search turns up hundreds of companies offering Web site designs, promotional materials, logos and printing services.

But Antonelli says when small companies go out to the marketplace for printing, promotional materials such as T-shirts and Web designs, they have to accept what they can get. "Basically, it could be three different designs, nothing cohesive. We give cohesion, make a company look more profitable, more reputable."

Mike Scalora, who owns Scalora Landscaping in Livingston, says he is a satisfied customer. Antonelli designed Scalora's Web site (www.scalora.com).

"I've gotten good exposure," Scalora says. "I would say it paid for itself."

Antonelli said he started hand- lettering cards when he was 14 or 15 years old. "I really loved lettering, but my parents thought I should legitimatize myself. I went to the University of Scranton, where I studied communication and advertising. I interned there in the public-affairs office. I was still painting signs and stuff like that, but I got a taste of working with the computer, doing brochures and newsletters."

After he graduated, Antonelli went to work for a New York City health-care company, where he was "doing brochures and newsletters."

He said he started his own business on the side. He found after six months, the part-time venture, "got out of control, and it became full time."

That was 1997.

"Essentially, why I started my own business was because no one was offering all the elements for small business. For example, if a company needs a logo, we will design it. We buy a lot of printing and sell it, but we offer the convenience of not handing off the disk and telling the company to go get it printed, like of lot of companies that give the disk to the customer and wash their hands of it. Make a phone call to us, and we'll take care of the layout, design, printing - the whole nine yards."

He points to Lawn Master in Wood-Ridge in Bergen County, one of his clients, to illustrate how the image of a small business can be improved with the use of logos and well-designed promotional material.

"Most of these small businesses are trying to compete with franchises. For Lawn Master, the biggest competitor is Chemlawn. We designed a logo, vehicle lettering, a brochure and marketing material to make it appear Lawn Master is a franchise."

Jason Pellegrino, owner of Lawn Master, said, "We asked (Antonelli) to make us look big, like one of those franchise lawn care services. Well, (he) certainly did it."