It's ELLE Fashion time here in Perth ... a great charity event to raise money for Telethon Speech and Hearing.

Our team provided the banner entrance to the catwalk, and in the process got a mouthful - literally! The mouth - including some lovely white teeth and hot red lips, provided the focus point for the catwalk models to parade in and out of during the show. “The Elle Parade is such a statement event and of course the proceeds going to charity makes it a very significant evening for Perth,” the former foreign minister, Julie Bishop said as reported in the Sunday Times.

​The Westin’s Grand Ballroom heaved with a 600-strong crowd for the highly anticipated Elle Fashion Show, for which all proceeds are donated to Telethon Speech and Hearing. Great to be a very small part of this great event.

September is DFO month at Signs & Lines.

After visiting the Georgiou site last week it's clear to see the malls and shops taking shape now, with a last push to get all the finishing touches in place before it becomes another Vicinity operated shopping outlet.

Some of the signage on this project is pretty unique, using bespoke shapes, forms, materials and applications. The amenities signage is curved and S-shaped. Rather than standard vinyl or digital print, the sign is finished with a felt layer with the sign information stitched and embossed. Creating these shapes is demands precision.  An extensive prototype and sampling phase preceded manufacture to ensure that the architectural vision could be replicated into a functional yet eye-catching sign.

The images below show the phases of manufacture in our workshop. These signs will be balanced on the poles in the ceiling of the shopping centre. The ceiling features are in themselves an architectural statement so we are confident that this signage is going to 

Last Friday afternoon our weary, battle-worn, but noble team headed down to the local watering hole, the Rose & Crown in Guildford, for a chance to relax and celebrate following the success of the Westfield Carousel shopping centre launch on Thursday 30th August.

Needless to say, the mood was sweet! With 32 people at the gathering we had our own little party, with some rather dubious beat/sounds supplied by Roy's beat-box and an atmosphere of commradery and achievement. We have been focused on our 'super-powers' over the last few months - recognising that we all have a superpower to bring to the team, and collectively this creates a supercharged result. To all you superstars out there - you know who you are - thank you and a MASSIVE well done.

Sadly we also used this occasion to farewell Phil. Phil joined as an apprentice in 2014 and became a fully fledged 'tradie' last year. Phil's is following his passion for ink/tattoos and we wish him well as he realises his dreams.

The launch of Westfield Carousel's $350 million facelift last week gave us all time to catch a breath after months of hard yakka at our workshops and on site. The results speak for themselves and our contribution to the 'biggest place for destination shoppers' was significant. Thousands of new signs now adorn the fascias, the malls, the corridors and entertainment precincts - guiding and directing shoppers and traffic to their destination.

Our team's dedication and determination to meet the deadlines was outstanding. Needless to say, we needed to take a moment to breathe, congratulate and celebrate last Friday - and we did pretty well at that too!! The results speak for themselves and with 70 new stores and 20 restaurants, the shopping centre looks set to be a great destination for shoppers, cinema go-ers and those looking for a great night out.

Congrats to our superstar fabricator 'Rhino' who won yesterday's Great Curry Cook-Off with his super-tasty Beef Rendang. We're all coming to your place for dinner next week Rhino!!

We decided to celebrate our end of financial year with a bit of a cook up as we know many of our team just lurrrvvv to cook. It even bought out a few novices who claimed to have never cooked a curry before - and Rodman proved that you dont need to be an expert with a very worthy 3rd place with his Vindaloo. Robyn's Massaman proved hard to beat and we know that she is always the 'one to beat' with many talents across every cooking style it would seem. Terry's Thai Green Curry received plenty of complements with 2 points, as did JP's Kiwi Dips scoring 4 points. There was a bit of cheating with the scoring when it came to the ample portion of rice supplied by one of our sales guns, but the adjudicator disallowed voting for yourself so the Rice was a 'nil point', as was the Bombay Chicken by yours truly!!  Adrian really went above and beyond to supply a very tasty Chicken and Rice Balti but sadly wasn't able to attend the celebration. Dedication to the end!!

We had a few star guests - Toffee & Fudge attended (but didn't eat) as it was 'International Take your Dogs to Work Day'... and Roy's little ones came as chip tasters...

So in the final wrap we all had a great feast, went home with full bellies and a huge thank you to all the team for making it through another financial year.

​We've featured our work in the Pilbara for Red Dog before - but let's just say, this time we're going to approach from a slightly different angle. The install story and heat!

There are many adjectives that Warren, our super-installer, used to describe his install trip up to Dampier. One stands out – HOT! Heat management was a critical factor during the installation. Despite being programmed originally to fall in the cooler months, the project was delayed for reasons beyond our control (plus a rather major cylone warning).  As a result of this install our Safety Reps meeting last month covered heat management strategies which was then taken to May's Toolbox meeting for discussion. Needless to say there will be a few new initiatives being introduced eg. urine charts, thermometer and frozen electrolyte drinks next summer. Hydration is the key.

The Installation - Warren's Story
To follow is Warren's version of events which you may want to take the time to enjoy over a cup of tea (or frozen electrolyte drink!) - a steamy recount no less!:-

"As an installer you have to expect some pretty tough days; we go into some testing areas and its heavy going sometimes, being able to overcome and adapt is a trait of quality tradies and its part of why I love doing it so much...(Im pretty good at it too!). This install however tested every trick, tool and thought I had, and at times I doubted whether I could complete it. But from the comfort of my own house back in Perth, in a shady, cool spot, I am proud to say I did.

Not one, not two, but three CMS Engineering displaying their new liveries. Flish flash!

We've had a few larger signs make their way out of the workshops recently. This monster digital sign for Daktronics was on its way to site but first we had to manoeuvre it out of the yard using a franna crane, and onto the hiab for its onward journey.

Our team use a pre-start meeting to discuss all elements of the move in advance of works. The whole process was well orchestrated by Andrew and the franna operator. They say that you learn something new every day, and this day was no different. On a break I asked the franna operator why the crane was so named - well FRANNA stands for: “Francis and Anna” the names of the company founder and his daughter. Franna is a manufacturer of Pick & Carry cranes with a lifting capacity from 10 to 25 tonnes.

 All in all another great manoeuvre by our team of sign superstars.

This Friday 27th April our Toolbox meeting will be focusing on the 'World Day for Safety and Health at Work and Workers’ Memorial Day.

The actual World Day is on the Saturday, but we are bringing things forward 24 hours to use our Toolbox talk to focus on promoting safety and health in our workplace - something that we practice daily, hourly and by the minute but as they say, enough is never enough! 

Our safety slogan is 'Think SMART, before you START’. We use a combination of Take 5's, SOP (Safe Operating Procedures) and SWMS/JSA's combine to ensure that our works are well thought through and risks are considered every step of the way.

​The Toolbox meeting will particularly feature 'Young workers' as they have been found to have an increased risk of workplace injury due to their lack of experience, maturity and awareness of OHS responsibilities. Jack, our youngest worker, attended this week's Safety Reps meeting as an integral part of our efforts to involve both the senior/experienced team members, and those who are just starting out in their post-apprentice sign journey.

At the Toolbox we will also honour those who have died from work-related injury or illness.

More photos of our Toolbox event to follow next week.

More great quality signage was evident in the workshop last week in preparation for the latest unveiling in parks and reserves around the City of Stirling.

Over the last few years we have made a large number of these signs and fine tuned the production methodology down to a fine art!

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​This signage incorporates many skills and techniques for our tradesmen - metal fabrication, painting, routing, graphics and formwork/concreting. To save time on site these signs are pre-cast in the factory - this ensures a quick and safe installation in areas of high general public use. 

Our project managers determine the most time efficient production methodologies, so that once the signage has been designed and approved, our manufacturing team can do a sterling job.

If you would like to talk to us about your specific signage requirements, or have a concept that you'd like our advice on, contact us on + 61 8 9274 5151 or email admin@signsandlines.com.