"What started as a small community sign in Indian Hills has now become a phenomenon," a representative of the Vince the Sign Guy project told Bored Panda via email that most of their followers can now be found on the Vince the Sign Guy social media pages. Though the project has moved from the Indian Hills Community Center to Vallecito, the project still posts a lot on the Indian Hills Community Sign page.
"I think the project succeeds because, amid so many other things going on, everyone just needs a good laugh every day," they said. "We're not a professional media agency, we're just fun people who live in small communities, making jokes as we go, which makes the sign itself a tourist stop, the memes a great way to pass a few minutes each day, and something that people like to share with their friends."
We were curious how the witty messages affected the local community. "While the community of Indian Hills has moved on to other things, we are now having an effect on many communities all over the world. From Australia to Canada, to Brazil, to small towns all over the US, we just spread the fun," the team member shared with us.
"Communities that embrace the daily humor can really lighten the day of their residents. If you know of any small towns that would like one of our signs in their neighborhood, we're open to talking!" they urged folks to get in touch with them.
"We also support local retailers and restaurants in the small towns that we support. Mac Nation in Indian Hills has always been a great supporter so we send all of our visiting fans there as they pass through town. If you know of other local retailers in any small towns that want to be on our 'must-visit travel recommendation list' then let us know! Small town businesses are what make communities thrive."
Meanwhile, Bored Panda wanted to get to grips with the process behind the puns and jokes. "I think there's a rich tradition of corny puns throughout the world. very dad who's said, 'pull my finger' knows that there's no end to the fun. We acknowledge that through our website and our mobile app where our fans can donate puns to the database," the Vince the Sign Guy rep said.
"Often, the fan comments on our posts are funnier than the sign. We make up our own or choose puns from fan-submitted contests while we hand out prizes and recognition for helping us keep up the good work. If you know our fans at all, then you know we'll never run out of funny quotes. Life is just too interesting and provides a target-rich environment for good humor." The Vince the Sign Guy project also recently launched a promotion for new merchandise on Kickstarter which you can take a peek at right here.
Vince has been punning things up at the Indian Hills Community Center and elsewhere ever since April Fools Day, 2013. That’s over a decade of making the locals’ day that much brighter with witty messages and awesome quips.
“April Fools was the day the sign fun was born, with 'Indian Hills Annexed by Morrison, slow down!' put on it. This sign insinuated that the Morrison Police Department was going to run speed traps in Indian Hills... and it created the desired chaos!” Vince told Bored Panda previously.
According to the man, that day a decade ago was the very first time he “had put anything of note on the big teal board I installed at the entrance of the Indian Hills Community Center.” That was the start of something truly special. Vince continued putting up various messages and anything “unique and different” in order to spark discussions.
“Now those first 2 years, I was not posting signs online, but I was getting a ton of great feedback from the community, and frankly, I was having a blast trying to put up a new crazy sign every 3 days,” Vince the Sign Guy told us during a previous interview.
The project has seen incredible success on social media. The Indian Hills Community Sign currently has 162K followers on Facebook and Vince the Sign Guy's Facebook page has 117k followers. Meanwhile, Vince has become a local celebrity. He’s set up a website, given media interviews, and you can even invite him to social events! He’s very big on community involvement.
If you feel inspired by Vince the Sign Guy, then that’s awesome. However, putting together a witty message week in, and week out, is far harder than it looks. Not only do you have to have the patience to edit and refine your jokes instead of posting random comments, but you also have to have the creativity to do this for a long period of time. Oh, most of us have a few good quips ready to go, but how would we fare if we wanted to keep the project going for years and years?
When it comes to quality comedy on the internet, as well as in real life, it’s vital to emphasize clarity and brevity. When you’re passing a sign (or looking at a photo of one in your social media feed), you have barely a moment to register the message. So the text has to be extremely to the point and it has to be legible.
That means that you have to use a font that’s easily understood at a moment’s glance, even from a distance. Meanwhile, give a thought to the colors you’re using, too. The last thing you want is for your audience to strain their eyes trying to make out a bunch of white letters on a pale yellow font. Use some contrasting colors to draw the viewer’s gaze to where you want it to go. And sometimes, simplicity is best.
