AMA: AS PART OF OUR ABC7 ORIGINAL SERIES, WE ARE SHARING YOUR STORIES. TODAY WE'RE INTRODUCING YOU TO BE A MAN WHOSE WORK YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN IN THE BAY AREA. DAN: TONIGHT, BERKELEY SIGNS, AND THE HEAT PAINTED HIS WAY AROUND THE UNITED STATES. ♪ >> IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME TO TAKE HISTORIC REPRESENTATION SIGNS BEYOND JUST THE SUPERFICIAL. IT SHOWS IN THE MATERIALS THEMSELVES, WHETHER IT IS GOLD, WOULD, METAL. IT TELLS A STORY THAT GOES BEYOND FONTS AND LOGOS. PEOPLE BELIEVING IN ME TO DO SOMETHING IS VERY INSPIRING. I STEVE VIGEANT AMAND I AM A MULTIMEDIA SIGN ARTIST. I HAVE 40 YEARS OF MAKING SIGNS IN THE AREA. I AM A SITE MAKER THAT -- PAINT AND A WIDE VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO SIGN MAKERS. I HAVE HAD A COMPANY, BERKELEY SIGNS FOR ABOUT 30 YEARS. IN HIGH SCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY I WOULD DRAW CARTOONS OFF THE NEWSPAPER, LIKE A XEROX MACHINE, I WOULD JUST COPY THEM. I GOT SO GOOD AT THAT THAT MY DAD, WHO HAD A REAL ESTATE COMPANY AND NEEDED CHEAP REAL ESTATE SIGNS, THEY COULD REPRODUCE IT DESIGN HE HAD IN MIND. IT WAS AN AVID THING IN THE 1980'S TO BE ABLE TO REPAINT SIGNS. IT HAD BEEN DONE IN THE 1940'S, 50'S AND 60'S, THEY HAD ALL FADED AND I STARTED REPAINTING. A SATYR TRAVELING AROUND THE COUNTRY DOING IT. I CAME OUT TO CALIFORNIA. MADE A FEW SIGNS ALONG THE WAY. REPAINTING OLD SIGNS IN INDUSTRIAL AREAS. ♪ >> 67 PLYMOUTH FERRY STATION WAGON. I HAD ALL OF MY PAINT SUPPLIES IN THE BACK AND I WOULD HIT A TOWN AND LOOK FOR THESE SIGNS. IT WASN'T UNTIL I FOUND OTHER SIGN PAINTERS WHO CARED ABOUT REAL SIGN WORK, REAL SIGN PAINTING, THAT I BRANCHED OUT AND BECAME A SITE MAKER, WHICH TOOK ABOUT 10 YEARS. THERE WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD IN RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA THAT HAD BEEN RAVAGED BY HISTORY AND GAS,, IN 1981 -- RAVAGED BY HISTORY IN 1981. . THERE WERE NEW BUSINESSES THAT WANTED SIGNAGE. I WOUND UP PAINTING ALL THE NEW BUSINESSES AROUND THEIR. THAT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW THAT WAS HELPFUL TO THE COMMUNITY. THAT IS A GOOD FEELING. ♪ >> FOR A LONG TIME, I HAD SOME SIGNS ALONG ROUTE 80 AND 880 THAT WERE WELL-KNOWN. I HAD DONE THE FLOOR STORE, GIGANTIC BILLBOARD AT MACARTHUR AND SAN PABLO AVENUE. I DID THE TRADITIONAL GOLDLEAF LETTERING FOR SAN FRANCISCO CITY HALL, RIGHT WHERE YOU WORK OUT AFTER YOU ARE MARRIED. IT WAS GOING TO BE A STICKER, THAT THROUGH MY CONTRACTS I WAS ABLE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO TRADITIONAL GOLDLEAF. GOLDLEAF BELONGS ON THAT WINDOW. ♪ >> BIG PICTURE IS THAT BRANDING HAS TAKEN OVER EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIFE, AND SIGNS HAVE BEEN PART OF THAT EVOLUTION FROM THE BEGINNING. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT OLD, TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES THAT WORK , THAT ARE THE BEST WAY TO DO SOMETHING THAT CREATES THAT HUMAN EFFECT THAT WE FIND APPEALING. GRAPHIC DESIGN IS BEYOND JUST PICTURES, IT'S A WHOLE AMBIENCE OF HOW WE PRESENT OURSELVES AND HOW WE WANT TO BE SEEN. ♪
