About Us
About Us
Konanz & Co. specializes in traditionally hand-painted signs, including gold gilding. Although this is our focus, we are passionate about all forms of traditional craft and are always looking to adapt our expertise to a range of projects whether it be a window sign, a wall mural, or a commissioned piece of art.
We do a lot of things here - more than you might think. Some of it is done here in-house, other things we can offer you through working with our vendor partners. So here's a breakdown showing what we can offer you:
Sign Painting
Reverse-Glass Gilding
Decorative Glass Mirrors
Surface Gilded Signs
Gilded Architectural Features
(indoor & outdoor)
Contour-Cut Signs
(board & aluminum)
Hanging Sign Construction
and Sign Cabinets
Mural Painting
(indoor and outdoor)
Faux-Aging Painting
Vehicle Lettering
Menu Boards
Chalkboards
A-Frames
Pen & Ink Lettering
Illustration in Physical Media
(Watercolour, Gouache, Acrylics)
Naturalistic Portrait Painting
Hand-Printing Services
(Etching, Silkscreen, Relief Block)
Wedding Invitations
Hand-Lettering Logo Design
and Branding Identities
Digital Illustration & Lettering
Basic Websites
Design for Print-Ready Material
(brochures, stationary, business cards)
Wood Carving (low relief)
Basic Vinyl Decals
(small jobs only - limited
availability)
Sign Installation & Permitting
(with purchase of one of our signs)
Neon Signs
Basic Sign Lighting (bulb)
Wood Cut Letters
Metal Cast Letters
General Small-Scale Casting
Basic Welding & Sign Hardware
Plaster & Concrete Casting
(low relief and fully 3-dimensional)
3-D Modelling
3-D Printing
Mechanical Drafting Services
We're a small company - in fact we are one person large! There were people who had warned me against using my own name to name my business, but I soon came to realize that in a business based on traditional craft where the skill and success of the business literally rests in your own hands and training, you really are at the centre of it. With being such a lean setup though, you can't do everything yourself and the people who are close to you become really important. At the core of this business, is myself but the people who I couldn't do this without are "& Co." They are family holding ladders for me, my partner who has painted alongside me, friends who visit me on-site, and other painters in the worldwide sign painting community that have taught me, help me trouble shoot, show me how they did that "cool thing", and most importantly, inspire and challenge me by making really great work.
The support from the community in Alberta has shown themselves to be equally inspiring - from the talented folks who design some of the stuff I am lucky enough to produce as well as the clients who ask for gilding on their windows instead of vinyl. Every one of these people are the "& Co." who make it all happen.
Making things runs deep in our family. Having a carpenter as a father, I have developed a deep respect for people who can make things skillfully with their hands. This started me on a life-long love of materials and set me on a never-ending journey learning to master them. I am always seeking out workshops, reading up on new techniques, and looking to broaden my skills.
My love for heritage architecture goes hand-in-hand with my love of signage and letters. I do what I do because I want to make our urban communities beautiful - to make them places we enjoy being in and enjoy looking at. I look to heritage architecture, design & typography for inspiration because it comes from a time when the things we put in our environments had more permanence. Things were made well because they were intended to last, so their aesthetics were given greater consideration. I believe there's lots to learn from this way of designing. There's a cohesiveness and attention to quality and detail that we don't see as much anymore.
About Our Process
It's not just the finished product that counts. Here's some images that show what we do in the preliminary stages - from sketches to scaffolding.
About Our Process
It's not just the finished product that counts. Here's some images that show what we do in the preliminary stages - from sketches to scaffolding.