{"id":21189,"date":"2025-07-03T21:16:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T21:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/?p=21189"},"modified":"2026-02-10T19:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:42:03","slug":"presidents-post-july-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/presidents-post-july-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"President’s Post – July 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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President's Post - July 2025<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I\u2019m still coming down off the high that was the 2025 National Signmakers Conference and the NZ Sign & Display Awards of Excellence. What an incredible few days we had together – full of great conversations, inspiring moments, and a real sense of connection that you just can\u2019t find anywhere else. Every time I go to one of these events, I\u2019m reminded of how deep the roots run in our industry. Those who take the time to step away from the day-to-day grind and show up always seem to discover value they didn\u2019t know was waiting for them.<\/p>

For those who might not know me yet, I\u2019m Logan Sutton. I\u2019m the owner and creative director of Future Grafix The Signmakers in New Plymouth, and now with a fair bit of excitement and a healthy dose of humility, I\u2019m serving as the President of the New Zealand Sign & Display Association for the next two years. This is something I never imagined I\u2019d be doing but am so incredibly privileged and grateful for the opportunity.<\/p>

A little about me: I\u2019ve been running Future Grafix alongside my amazing wife, Krystal, for over 20 years now. We\u2019re a full-service sign shop, but our sweet spot is in architectural signage and museum exhibitions. Like so many others, I sort of stumbled into signage by accident, coming from a print and publishing background. What started as clients needing the odd sign grew until signage became my sole focus about a decade ago. And honestly, I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. This industry is creative, hands-on, and always evolving. I love collaborating with clients, designers and other signees on a day-to-day basis. This industry has given me so much over the years, and it\u2019s a real privilege to be able to give back.<\/p>

Outside of work, I keep pretty busy. I serve as President in a local sports club and as a deacon on our church board. When I\u2019m not in the workshop (which, let\u2019s be honest, isn\u2019t often), you\u2019ll find me cheering on one of our three boys at the basketball court or football field, out on the boat with my boys, or catching up with friends and family.<\/p>

Now, back to that incredible conference. From the welcome event at the Classic Car Museum to Nigel Davies\u2019 keynote on AI, to the lively industry panel, the whiskey tasting, the birthday bash, the workshops, and of course, the awards – this year delivered in spades.<\/p>

My top three moments?<\/p>

  1. Nigel Davies\u2019 keynote on AI.<\/strong> His talk really opened my eyes. He shared how AI has levelled the playing field, making it easier than ever for small shops to compete with the big guys. From summarising articles to simplifying tender docs, comparing quotes, drafting emails – you name it. He introduced this idea of an \u201cAI First\u201d mindset: before tackling any task, ask, \u201cHow could I do this with AI?\u201d That one question could transform the way we work.<\/li>
  2. Our 60th birthday celebration and whiskey tasting.<\/strong> What a night! The whiskey was top-notch, the food was unreal, the impromptu paper dart flying was a bit of a laugh and seeing all the past presidents up the front being recognised was a real highlight. And Noel Morrison blowing out the candles and cutting the cake was just so good.<\/li>
  3. The Sign Awards.<\/strong> Michel A\u2019Court nailed it as our MC (and no, she didn\u2019t make me dance \u2013 I\u2019ve had anxiety about this leading up the event following Shae\u2019s performance last year!). The standard of work on display just keeps going up each year, and it\u2019s so inspiring to see. But what really stood out was celebrating the first recipients of the refreshed Master Sign Maker Accreditation. Those that don\u2019t just make great signs, but who run great sign businesses, and give so much back to our industry- that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about!<\/li><\/ol>

    At the AGM, I shared a bit about where we\u2019re heading as a board. Our focus this year is on growing our membership and making sure that every event, every interaction, and every resource delivers genuine value. We don\u2019t just want people to feel like they\u2019re part of an association, we want them to feel like they\u2019re part of a thriving, supportive, future-focused community.<\/p>

    A big part of that future is the Master Sign Maker Accreditation. It\u2019s about setting a standard for excellence and professionalism and about showing the world what it really means to be a great sign maker in New Zealand today. The beauty of the refreshed program is that every NZSDA member can achieve it. It isn\u2019t handed out lightly, it takes commitment and passion. But it\u2019s absolutely achievable if you\u2019re dedicated to your craft and active in the industry.<\/p>

    We\u2019ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure this accreditation is something that can scale and grow. Our vision is to build and promote a network of Master Sign Makers right across the country \u2013 something that gives clients real confidence in who they\u2019re choosing to work with, and that raises the bar for all of us.<\/p>

    I\u2019d love to hear from anyone who has questions about the accreditation or wants to chat about how they might start that journey. My door (or inbox) is always open.<\/p>

    I\u2019ll finish with this: the real magic of our industry isn\u2019t just in the signs we make – it\u2019s in the connections we build. The friendships, the shared stories, the collective learning. That\u2019s what makes our association so special, and it\u2019s why I\u2019m so excited for the year ahead.<\/p>

    Thanks for having me along for the ride.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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    \u00a0<\/p>

    Logan Sutton<\/strong>
    President, NZSDA
    Creative Director,\u00a0Future Grafix<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m still coming down off the high that was the 2025 National Signmakers Conference and the NZ Sign & Display Awards of Excellence. What an incredible few days we had together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nzsda-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21189"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21195,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21189\/revisions\/21195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}