Hello readers!

Welcome back to Meet the Makers, a series that takes a playful, engaging approach to showcasing the personalities and expertise of sign pros while staying rooted in the signage industry.

Each feature highlights a different sign professional, sharing their favourite projects, industry insights, and fun stories.

This week, we feature William Large, co-owner of LEDSOLUTIONS Manufacturing Inc. For 25 years, LEDSOLUTIONS has been designing, building, and installing signs nationwide. Large has worked on some remarkable projects with his team, many of whom have been with the company since its inception. You can find their signs in various locations, from strip malls to major national brands, as well as numerous high-rises and tower crane signs that adorn the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) skyline.

Here, he shares his insights by answering our five offbeat questions!

What is your sign superpower?

I wish I had a superpower! If I could pick only one, it would be the ability to go back in time. However, a skill or trait that I work hard at and that has helped me in my sign career is active listening. I find if you listen more than you talk, you learn more. It helps me understand my clients and build long-lasting relationships. It helps me discern when I’m being given good advice. It helps me hear when I need to pivot and change the direction of something quickly. It also helps me hear when I’ve done some good, and I can enjoy those moments with the people I do business with and take that feeling home and share it with my family and friends.

The installation of Cineplex Empress Walk Yonge and Sheppard in Toronto.

What’s the most challenging project you’ve worked on?

This is easy. Cineplex Empress Walk Yonge and Sheppard in Toronto. Let me break this down. November 2014: A 15.9 m (52.3 ft) long, 1.06 m (3.5 ft) wide sign, with a 2.28 m (7.5 ft) projection blade sign with colour-changing channel letters that were 1.06 m (3.5 ft) tall, spelling “CINEPLEX” on both sides. The installation took place on Yonge Street and included all the necessary components. This involved a small installation window between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., consideration of the cold winter weather, obtaining a street occupancy permit, creating a traffic plan, and having three duty officers. Two lanes on Yonge Street were blocked, and onsite welding, engineering, and electrical services were involved.

Manufacturing this mammoth sign was hard enough, but we did do one thing right. I remember sitting in the boardroom with Media Resources, with whom we partnered on the installation. I was running through the project details when Keith Edward asked, “What was your total budget for this project?” sensing that we may be a little underwater. Pulling me aside, he assured me that this was not “out of our league” and that we would pull it off together. And it still stands there today as a pillar of signage on Yonge Street at Sheppard.

What’s your favorite piece of signage you’ve created?

Mayor Hazell McCallion with the Holcim sign.

It is tough to pick just one, so may I pick one older one and a recent one? Seeing Robert Ascenzi’s “Meet the Makers” column inspired my thoughts on our project for the City of Mississauga, followed by a photo opportunity with Mayor Hazell McCallion. The city was installing this new porous concrete to help with water build on roads and parking lots. We teamed up with the concrete makers Holcim, a global brand, to make a mechanical pillar sign display that, when you press the button, water would pour on top of the concrete slab, and you could watch the water drain through. This had to be a self-contained unit. It was super challenging, but the picture says it all (taken on November 9, 2016). You can even read about it on our blog.

A recent project was for Mastermind Toys Mount Pleasant in downtown Toronto in June 2024. This was the first sign of their rebranding. We had worked very hard with them for months on the concept, and seeing it turn out the way it did was gratifying. I always think to myself that when taking pictures of the final installation and it looks just like the drawings, that means I’ve done a really good job. But there was something about this sign that made it look special. It was featured in the September 2024 edition of Sign Media Canada’s A Toy Story. We will be entering this sign in the 2025 Best of Canada’s Sign Industry Awards (BOCSIes), so fingers crossed!

If signage could talk, what’s the funniest thing a sign has ever “said” to you?

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has dreams about signs. Some dreams are sunny and warm, the signs are beautiful and tall, and some are in thunderstorms, and it’s going downhill. These signs are telling me, “Hey, you signed up for this, buddy!”

A sign talking to me in my dreams, well, I guess that’s my subconscious punching in for the night shift.

What’s the piece of signage advice you wish everyone knew?

The best advice I was given initially, and I recommend to anyone who asks is: Get to know all aspects of signage—become one with the sign. If you want your best foot forward to sell a sign, manage a sign project, run a team, and give your customer the best advice and value, try and dip your toes into all moving parts to the completion of a sign. Fabricate a sign and understand the material, material sizes, and what they cost. Go on site checks and participate in some installs. Get your Working at Heights and Boom Operators licenses. Shadow client meetings and make calls to potential new clients from simple repairs you see while driving around at night.

Talk to your suppliers and industry colleagues and learn from those who have been doing this for a long time. And have some fun along the way.