Design Contest:  Win $250 plus your design manufactured by Alabama Metal Art.

We are excited to announce our new design contest!   Win $250 plus your design manufactured by Alabama Metal Art. Hand drawn or computer generated designs will be accepted. So practically anyone can enter!

Click here to find out how to enter our Spring 2012 Design Contest!

Alabama Metal Art has so many TALENTED and CREATIVE clients!  We regularly get asked, “Can you make this custom piece using my design?”  And within certain manufacturing requirements the answer is usually “Yes, yes we can!” So this Design Contest really came to life in large part due to the creativity of our existing customers. With this contest we can turn your design concept into a reality.  Because in addition to the $250 cash prize the winner will also receive their own design cut out of metal!

Custom address sign. Hand drawn design on left. Custom metal sign on right.

 The images included in this blog post are just a couple of recent examples of our customers’ creativity.  We welcome both hand drawn designs as well as computer generated files.  We have even had customers bring in designs for parts as large as 6ft wide cut out of thin plywood and sometimes cardboard!  However, for the best results we recommend that any hand drawn designs are sketched out with a black pencil, pen, or marker on white paper.  The custom address sign shown above is a great example of this! All hand drawn submissions for our design contest should follow this example (i.e. clean lines, not a “rough” sketch, black and white copy).

"RHEA" custom music sign. Computer generated design on top. Custom sign on bottom.

Computer generated designs are welcome as well! The “RHEA” music note sign above was presented to us in PDF format.  We also can accept the following formats: DWG, DXF, AI, JPG, PDF, GIF, TIF, and BMP.  When using any graphics software we recommend avoiding drop shadows and special shading.  Just as with hand drawn designs crisp clean lines always help us create the most accurate representation of your design.

Designs submitted by e-mail will be accepted for the contest up until 8am on Monday, March 19, 2012.    Click on the following link for all the details regarding our contest:  Spring 2012 Alabama Metal Art Design Contest.

As noted in the “Design Criteria” section in the link above: we will accept designs of any size up to 50″ x 24″.  Please note that the design you submit does NOT need to be a full size representation of your part.  Hand drawn designs can be created on standard 8.5 x 11 letter size sheet.  On your design just add a notation showing what the overall dimensions of the finished part needs to be (Example:  reference the 20″ vertical dimension on the “3345″ address sign shown in the first image above – this design was sent to us on 8.5×11 paper but the completed address sign was actually 20″ tall).   We will use the overall (vertical and horizontal) dimensions you provide to scale your design up to the appropriate size.   Note that 50″ x 24″ is the maximum size of the finished part.  You can design your piece to be any size and shape within that 50″x24″ window! Also note that the designs submitted do NOT have to be personalized with a name or initial – we definitely welcome any personalization you want to use in your design – but personalization is not a requirement for this contest.

We recommend that hand drawn designs be scanned on a computer and e-mailed to info@alabamametalart.com.  Anyone near Florence, Alabama is welcome to hand deliver their design.  If you do not have access to a scanner, please contact us by phone or e-mail to find out how to submit your design by mail.   (note: any designs hand delivered or submitted by mail must be delivered to Alabama Metal Art no later than Friday, March 16th).

Anyone with any questions regarding a custom metal sign or our design contest can contact us by e-mail at info@alabamametalart.com or by phone at 888-760-0006.

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Decorative metal panel creates unique look as a custom railing inside the home.

The options are limitless in the type design you can have in your panel(s). Our design team will work to accommodate your personal taste.  If you like scroll work, a repeatable design, a forest scene, an ocean scene, or any scene special to your family — whatever suits your personal preferences and offers the best accent to the style of your home we can make it happen.

This also goes for the exterior of your home. These panels are a great alternative to compliment your lawn and garden or anywhere around the exterior of your home. What a great way to make your home and garden stand out from the rest with your own uniquely designed fence or porch railing. The panels can also be modified to use as a garden gate, walk thru gate, or a driveway entry gate. Again, we can design and fabricate these pieces of scenic metal art to your specifications.

Typically these panels and gates are built using 1/8” steel sheet, however if you have another type metal in mind that is no problem. In addition to steel we also work with stainless steel, galvanized steel, copper, and brass. These material selections offer plenty of options to help create different looks and satisfy your unique tastes. Once the decorative panel is cut out we add strength and stability to the panel by welding on a frame using structural or decorative metal. After fabrication is complete the steel railings or gates are then powder coated to provide an attractive coating that is also very resilient to outdoor elements. Powder coated parts typically have a life span that is three times or more that of an exterior paint.

If you have any questions about our custom decorative panels or gates you can visit our web site at: www.alabamametalart.com , e-mail us at info@alabamametalart.com, or if you prefer to speak to someone over the phone you are welcome to call us at 888-760-0006. We will be happy to answer any questions you might have.