2019
2nd Place — Best Original Design & Fabrication
Signs of the Times magazine, international sign design competition.
Basking Ridge, New Jersey · Since 1990
Signs that demand attention.
Custom carved, gilded and sculpted signs for businesses, schools, churches and civic organisations — drawn, made and installed by hand in one New Jersey workshop.
35+ Years of Carving
National Award Winner
Design → Permits → Install
The workshop
Every sign starts as a drawing and a block of raw material.
“My goal is to give you a sign that is not only beautiful, but communicates. It should complement its surroundings and impress all who pass by.” Gary Johnson · Founder & Master Carver
We are not a print shop with a vinyl cutter. Signs here are carved, sculpted, primed, painted and gilded by hand, then installed by the same people who made them. That is why a sign we hung twenty years ago is still doing its job.
Read our story
0Years Carving
0National Honours
0Materials Worked
1990Established
What we make
Six ways to make a building impossible to miss
Choose the material and we will tell you honestly how it will weather, what it will cost and how long it will take.
How it works
From first sketch to installed sign
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Design
We start with your building, your brand and the sightlines drivers actually have. You get drawings to react to before anything is cut.
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Permits
Most New Jersey townships regulate size, height, lighting and setback. We prepare and submit the drawings your zoning board needs.
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Payment
A deposit books your slot in the shop schedule. The balance is due on completion, before installation.
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Fabrication
Carving, sculpting, priming, painting and gilding. Two weeks is typical; hand-carved and sculpted work runs four to six.
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Delivery
Signs are crated and shipped, or delivered directly by us across northern and central New Jersey.
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Installation
We set posts, mount panels and hang brackets, then maintain and refinish the sign for as long as you own it.
Google Reviews
What our clients say
Recognition
Judged against the best in the country
2018
International Sign Convention Entry
A hand-built mechanical automata sign, entered at the International Sign Convention.
2013
1st Place — Commercial Freestanding Signs
Signs of the Times magazine, international sign design competition.
2012
Best of Show
United States Sign Council — the council's top overall honour.
Cover
Sign Builder Illustrated
The sculpted Tipsy Moose Tavern sign featured on the magazine cover.
Press
The New York Times
Work featured in coverage of the Hoboken Terminal restoration signage.
Inside the shop
Watch a sign come together
Start here
Tell us about your sign
The more you can tell us up front, the more useful our first answer will be. Prefer to talk? Call 908-630-9120.
The workshop
- Phone
- 908-630-9120
- greatamericansign@me.com
- Hours
- Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday, closed
30 Lewis Street
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
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Start your project
Ready to be noticed?
Tell us about the building, the brand and the budget. We will come back with drawings, a realistic timeline and a firm price.