For the Stage - Broadway Sign

CARDBOARD CREATIONS: THE BROADWAY SIGN

Finished size: 3'3" x 10'3"

The Broadway sign ended up being in the way of the lights when hung at the location shown in the photo below. It was relocated; hung in line with the scrim suspended above the skyline and opposite the moon. Looked great! (Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture after the sign had been moved.)

WHAT I DID:
This 3'3" x 10'3" piece of cardboard was made by taping three fairly good sized pieces of cardboard together with clear heavy duty packing tape. Duct tape sticks better, however, I didn't want the bulk of duct tape for this piece because I anticipated it being close to the audience and was concerned the tape might be seen in the reflection of the light. NOTE: When I painted the clear packing tape the moisture from the paint caused the tape to peel back a little. After the paint dried, I just carefully pressed it back down again and it seemed to work fine.

Front of Broadway sign painted.
Back not entirely painted
(Notice: left side curling,
right side straight - see tip below)

Back side of cardboard
now fully painted
(Notice: You don't have to
go to the very edge.)

TIPS:
-When painting on cardboard, you will need to paint BOTH sides to keep it from curling. (see "The Science Behind Curling Cardboard - The reason to paint both sides" at the end of this section of the post.)
-I most often use a brush when painting cardboard as a roller tends to get too wet and can deform the cardboard. 

Broadway sign with "lights"

The white circles were cut with a 2" circle punch out of regular printer/copier paper and attached using an adhesive strip roller.

Letters were penciled in using a straight edge where possible then painted freehand with small paintbrush. No need to erase errant pencil lines as they cannot be seen from a distance.

PROVIDING LIGHT WEIGHT STABILITY:
To provide stability to the lengthy cardboard sign while not adding a bunch of weight, I attached a PVC pipe (about 8 feet long) along the back from left to right strapping it down with duct tape. I did NOT use this for hanging, just for stability.

HANGING THE SIGN:

I used duct tape, staples and a key ring to create 3 fasteners to put on the back side of the sign. First, I tore a piece of duct tape about 4 inches long and folded it in 3rds lengthwise to create the strip you see the folded around the ring. (Duct tape is pretty tough stuff, especially when used in multiple layers.) Next, I folded the strip in half with the ring in it, held it in place on the back side of the sign and stapled it in place, stapling from both the front and the back to make it secure. The staples cannot be seen from a distance. Once stapled, I taped it on the back with a piece of duct tape as shown. I secured a fastener in each upper corner and one in the center for a total of three. I then used fishing line through the key rings in order to hang the sign. DONE!

CREATIVITY ABANDONED:  I thought it would be cool to create "light bulbs" and actually light up the sign. My thoughts went kind of like this: Use small baby food jars for the "light bulbs" by punching a hole to match the diameter of the jar opening through the cardboard in place of each white circle. The jar would then be inserted through the hole from front to back and the lid, with a hole punched through the center and a small white Christmas light inserted through the top, would then be screwed onto the jar from the backside of the cardboard, hopefully holding the jar in place. (not sure it would actually work since I didn't get to try it)  As I thought about all those jars it occurred to me that it might be necessary to reinforce the edges of the cardboard to handle the weight of the jars. My mind then went to building a 1" x 6" wood frame, drilling holes the size you would for a door knob or close to it to fit the jars, painting the frame black... This was where I had to put a halt to my thinking.  It was getting way to extensive for my short time frame and tiny budget, not to mention all the other problems the weight of the new design would create. So, I had to abandon my lighted sign idea and stick to white paper "light bulbs".

The Science Behind Curling Cardboard - The reason to paint both sides

...in case you wanted to know.

Two things:

Paper is made from wood and expands and contracts when exposed to moisture just like wood.

AND

Paint generally shrinks when it dries (at least the kind I use does).

The Explanation

When you paint a large portion of cardboard, that portion (the front) of cardboard shrinks when the paint dries. It also prevents the painted portion from being exposed to moisture in the air, allowing less expansion to take place. The unpainted portion of the cardboard (the back) remains the original size (not shrunken with paint), as well as remaining exposed to the moisture in the air allowing the cardboard to expand. This is why you may notice that a piece of cardboard painted only on one side might have more of a curl on a higher humidity day than on a drier day.

So, to keep the cardboard flat, you need to paint both sides, thus keeping both sides of the cardboard equal in size and equally exposed to humidity.  It's that simple.

-Jill