Signs of the Times: SignAge & ArtWorks Opens on Swift Street

By Julie Horner

SignAge & ArtWorks occupies a prime spot in the fashionable Westside Santa Cruz shopping, warehouse, and art gallery district where families and couples cruise on bicycles and roller skates and enjoy a wide variety of craft coffee, beer, and wine destinations. Real Color 3D originally occupied the space on Swift Street, specializing in printing large format graphics, signs, and banners. Mardeen Gordon worked with the previous owner for three years, and when he retired, new business partners Stacey and Jewel Gentry brought new energy, a change of name, and a new emphasis on the business of art. With new shops sprouting up all over the county, SignAge & ArtWorks is positioned to help businesses large and small put their best face forward.

Stacey Gentry is a South County painter, photographer, and graphics software artist with museum and gallery management experience. She and her husband Jewel saw an opportunity in the bright airy space to add curated local art to the existing signage portfolio. The Gentrys already knew that Gordon, a longtime Ben Lomond resident, embroidery artist, and wooden folk instrument maker who has been creating commercial signs and architectural graphics for nearly four decades, would be the perfect fit for the new endeavor.

The partnership evolved during the turmoil of the pandemic, bringing their similar but separate paths together with one serendipitous thing after another. Gordon said, “If you’re willing to be open, to see the opportunity, and not be afraid, that’s when wonderful things can happen.” The team’s walk-in Swift Street Gallery concept is in the works; a soft opening is planned for early July. In the meantime, SignAge & ArtWorks is actively fulfilling orders for commercial signage and local design projects of all kinds.

Their biggest client is UCSC. The team most recently created interior ADA-compliant Braille signs across five buildings in a dorm remodel project. Gordon uses a software program called Color Byte to translate information into Braille. The signs are then made and installed in the buildings according to Federal code. And that’s just one part of what they do at UC, Gordon said, noting that students often have presentations that require large posters, which SignAge & ArtWorks handles in person on a one-on-one customer basis. “We’re artists, we care about what something looks like when it’s done.” 

Other projects include the window lettering and banners for KBCZ 89.3 FM in Boulder Creek and placards placed at Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel to remember those who have passed.

Some of the materials the team works with include aluminum with a PVC core, which is lightweight and durable for outdoors; plywood and steel; and hand-cut and shaped acrylic, which is suitable for backlit signage. Gordon handles the design, permits, and project management, and oversees installation and inspections. There are any number of interior display applications including giclée printing, a fine art reproduction method that employs textured watercolor paper and smooth photo paper to canvas to create a copy that looks exactly like the original painted work. Gordon said the high-resolution 12-color printer is the workhorse, able to process pieces up to 42 inches wide. 

With software tools like Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, and the knowledge and experience to create solid quality graphics, signs, and art, the team at SignAge & ArtWorks is ready for whatever the future brings. 

SignAge & ArtWorks
403 Swift St. Ste. C, Santa Cruz
Quotes: info@sa-aw.com 
(831) 457-0115

Featured photo by Stacey Gentry

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