It’s beginning to look a lot like, well, elections! I mean look at all the yard signs out there. And along the freeway. And just about everywhere.
Besides the candidates themselves, no one is busier these days than Art Boruck. The Seattle sign maker has been making a living designing and printing signs for 41 years.
“I was just barely 20,” says Boruck, owner of Boruck Printing and Silk Screen in North Seattle.
“These signs are only for one thing. They’re for name familiarity,” says Boruck, who prides himself in knowing what look can give a candidate an edge.
“Large names, lots of contrast, bright, even gaudy, so people see the sign when they’re driving forty miles an hour. They gotta see it,” says Boruck, whose claim to fame was his NO IRAQ WAR sign he created shortly before the U.S. went to war in the spring of 2003.
Boruck could barely keep up with demand printing more than 100,000 of those signs.
“They went to ALL 50 states, and even 10 countries. They were very popular," he said.
And so is Boruck and his signs.
“I figure 75 , no maybe 50 percent of the signs out there are mine,” he said.
If there’s one thing he’s learned in all these years, it’s that politics is a tough game and when you’re in it, you take sides. But not Boruck.
“I have to stay neutral," he said. Because if he doesn’t, he risks losing half of his business.
“I’ll work for anybody” he said.
At 61, he’s still loves what he does. There’s one sign he’s very tempted to create, but it’ll have to wait ‘till he retires.
“‘Art Boruck for Governor' signs," he jokes. "Print like 10,000 and see how many votes I get!”
He laughs when he says it, but you get the feeling he just might do it.
To add a comment, please register or login.