{"id":21810,"date":"2025-11-06T02:20:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T02:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/?p=21810"},"modified":"2026-02-10T19:41:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:41:52","slug":"catching-up-with-jay-isgrove-the-2025-sign-apprentice-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/2025\/11\/06\/catching-up-with-jay-isgrove-the-2025-sign-apprentice-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching up with Jay Isgrove – The 2025 Sign Apprentice of the Year\u200b"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Catching up with Jay Isgrove - The 2025 Sign Apprentice of the Year<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Jay Isgrove was awarded the 2025 Apprentice of the Year, after completing his apprenticeship at Big Brown Industries. A creative at heart, with sign writing as his outlet, Jay began his journey as a self-taught \u201cgraphic designer\u201d while living on the Gold Coast of Australia. Hoping to work in a design studio but lacking experience, he decided to approach a sign writing company instead, offering to help in exchange for learning new skills. Four years later, he\u2019s back in New Zealand and grateful for where that decision has taken him.<\/p>

At Big Brown Industries, Jay was involved in every part of the process \u2014 from design to printing, to vehicle wraps and signs \u2014 and says seeing his work go from an idea to a finished product gives him a great deal of satisfaction. His dedication and hard work have already been recognised, winning gold for his work at the 2024 sign awards, and now earning him the title of Apprentice of the Year. Jay credits his mentors and supporters, including Jeremy and Kim Hunt, Grant Alsop from Competenz, and Brendan Dawson from Faceit Graphix in Australia, for helping shape his journey in the industry.<\/p>

We caught up with Jay to chat about his motivations, challenges and goals for moving forward in his sign making career:<\/p>

What motivated you to apply for Apprentice of the Year, and what does that recognition represent to you personally?<\/strong><\/p>

I applied to challenge myself and see how my skills stack up against other apprentices across the country. It\u2019s also a great chance to put my work out there and see how well I can present it.<\/em><\/p>

What has been the most challenging skill to master so far, and how did you overcome it?<\/strong><\/p>

The toughest skill has been juggling all the different sides of signwriting! One day I\u2019m wrapping a car, the next I\u2019m wiring LEDs, printing, designing, or installing signs. It\u2019s been a huge learning curve, but I\u2019m continually overcoming it by staying curious, asking questions, and getting hands-on whenever I can.<\/em><\/p>

Are there any particular materials, techniques, or tools you\u2019ve grown especially passionate about using?<\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019ve enjoyed learning different vinyls and picking up techniques from my employer, contractors, and industry experts. But what I\u2019ve grown most passionate about are the design tools \u2014 programs like Illustrator, Affinity, and Photoshop. I love creating something digitally and then using printers and plotters to bring those designs to life.<\/em><\/p>

What do you think sets great sign writers apart from good ones?<\/strong><\/p>

I think great sign writers stand out because they never stop learning. The industry\u2019s always evolving with new films, techniques, and tech, so staying curious is key. But beyond that, it\u2019s the ones who truly care about their craft and create timeless, high-quality work that really rise above the rest.<\/em><\/p>

How do you think technology is changing the sign industry, and how do you feel about those changes?<\/strong><\/p>

I think technology\u2019s made signwriting more efficient, freeing up time for us to focus on what we\u2019re best at. Faster printers and design tools \u2014 even AI \u2014 help speed things up and support people in areas they\u2019re less confident in. But at the same time, some of that creativity and craftsmanship can get lost. That\u2019s why I really appreciate the \u201cold school\u201d brush-and-paint<\/em> techniques \u2014 they\u2019re making a bit of a comeback, and I love seeing that blend of tradition and technology. It\u2019s also why I asked to use part of my Computaleta award grant on an iPad and Apple Pencil \u2014 I want to create more unique designs that mix the best of both worlds!<\/em><\/p>

What\u2019s the best piece of advice or lesson you\u2019ve learned from your mentors or colleagues?<\/strong><\/p>

The best advice I\u2019ve learned is to never stop learning and developing. People in this industry are so open to sharing ideas and techniques \u2014 my employers and contractors have all been amazing at showing me different ways to do things. It\u2019s helped me grow faster and reminded me to always keep an open mind.<\/em><\/p>

What advice would you give someone considering a sign making apprenticeship?<\/strong><\/p>

Do it \u2014 you won\u2019t regret it! It\u2019s an awesome industry with so much variety and something for everyone. If you\u2019re creative, you\u2019ll love designing signs, wraps, and branding. If you\u2019re more hands-on, installations are super rewarding. And if you\u2019re into cars, colour change and race car graphics are where it\u2019s at. Find a shop that fits what you enjoy, get stuck in, and learn as much as you can!<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Jay wihth the tools he purchased using his Computaleta Grant prize<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Jay receiving the 2025 Apprentice of the Year Award<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\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":"

Jay Isgrove was awarded the 2025 Apprentice of the Year, after completing his apprenticeship at Big Brown Industries.<\/p>\n

We caught up with Jay to chat about his motivations, challenges and goals for moving forward in his sign making career:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-award-winner-spotlight","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21810","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=21810"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21824,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21810\/revisions\/21824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}