Meet the Maker: ‘Be passionate, work hard, and share your knowledge’

by marika_gabriel | 10 March 2025 1:06 pm

Hello readers!

Welcome back to Meet the Makers, a series that takes a playful, engaging approach to showcasing the personalities and expertise of sign pros while staying rooted in the industry.

Each feature will highlight a different sign professional, sharing their favourite projects, industry insights, and fun stories. This week, we spotlight one of Canada’s favourite mentors—Keith Edwards. Partner and senior vice-president at Media Resources Inc., Edwards is now focusing on perfecting retirement after an illustrious career in the sign industry. His journey began in the late 1960s, working summers in the field before joining Media Resources full-time in 1971.

Over 35 years, Edwards played a pivotal role in many of the industry’s most respected organizations, including serving as a board member and two-time president of the Sign Association of Ontario. Throughout his career, he’s earned numerous accolades, including multiple Best in Show awards and Sign Company of the Year at the Best of Canada’s Sign Industry Awards (BOCSIes), along with personal honours such as Sign Professional of the Year in 2019 and Mentor of the Year in 2021.

Among his proudest achievements are helping grow Media Resources from humble beginnings into an international company with a staff of more than 300 and building lasting relationships with sign professionals of all ages. Beyond his accomplishments, Edwards is a family man who cherishes his time with his wife, Susan, and what he calls their “Brady Bunch” family.

Here are his responses to our five offbeat questions.

What’s your sign superpower?

Superpower is a strong word! I’m not sure I’d claim to have one. Still, I do consider myself experienced in many areas of our industry, including communication, troubleshooting, concept design, and sales, to name a few. However, if I had to choose one passion that truly stands out, one “superpower,” if you will, it would be mentorship. Many years ago, when I first met some of the younger professionals entering the Canadian sign industry, I was nervous and not confident that the industry I had spent my whole life in would survive.

After getting to know many of the younger generation through the Young Professionals Network (YPN), talking to them, and understanding their thoughts, direction, and overall commitment to the Canadian sign industry, my thoughts did a 180. That day, I vowed to take time out of my schedule and meet with as many YPN members as possible, sharing my experiences and philosophy with them. What I came to realize is that the next generation isn’t reinventing the wheel—they’re simply evolving the way we’ve always done things. Their fresh approaches and innovative thinking are shaping the industry in ways I never expected.

Today, I can confidently say the future of the Canadian sign industry is in great hands. And while my role in guiding and supporting these young professionals may have been small, I take immense pride in knowing that I contributed in some way.

What’s the most challenging project you’ve worked on?

For more than 50 years, I have been involved in many projects. Looking back at them, I realize they were not that challenging, but they were very early in my career. So, I would say that lack of experience played a large part.

In 1974, a few years after I started working as an installer, we took on work installing all the wayfinding and advertising signage at the CN Tower. During that period, we were approached by the general contractor to see if we could help install two CN logo signs, which were temporary signs that would stand during construction and be removed after completion. These two signs, from memory, were approximately 4.5 x 9.144 m (15 x 30 ft).

Our scope included shipping signs to the site, assembling them on the ground, and securing them in place with connection fasteners once they were lifted into position by the overhead tower crane. The process seems straightforward, but at the time, challenging was the word that came to mind… along with a few other adjectives!

What’s your favourite piece of signage that you’ve created?

Like everything in our industry, success is a team effort; no one person does it all. I’ve been blessed to work with incredible partners and an amazing team over the years. Together, we bring our customers’ ideas to life, turning opportunities into outstanding signage for more than 50 years.

One of my most recent and undoubtedly top 10 favourite projects was completed in early to mid-2024: ONroute. This corporation, which owns and operates 23 service plazas along Ontario’s 400-series highways, partnered with Media Resources to deliver a fully turnkey solution. This project encompassed design, engineering, foundations, structural components, electrical supply from the building, the supply of VISIONiQ LED digital screens, on-premise signage, decorative stone foundation covers, and installation.

The results speak for themselves, but what truly makes this one of my favourite projects is the journey—from concept to completion. We began planning, designing, and budgeting in late 2019, with the displays strategically positioned approximately half a kilometre before the entrance to each service plaza. This approach required taller structures and, in some cases, extending electrical connections from off-site locations over a kilometre.

Unfortunately, the project was put on hold in early 2020 due to COVID-19. In late 2023, we were asked to proceed with the project. However, we were required to maintain the original budget. As we all know, things changed dramatically during and after COVID-19, and prices were all over the place. So, to be successful, we needed to be very creative and come up with alternatives within the original budget.

This is where our amazing team sprang into action. After revisiting most sites, we proposed placing the new displays in the same locations as the existing on-premise ONroute pylons, ensuring a seamless and efficient integration. This included supplying all-new on-premise pylons integrated into our updated design. By making this change, we eliminated at least 50 per cent of the electrical costs. We were able to use shorter structures, as the new locations provided clear visibility without the challenges of the original sites, which were mostly surrounded by forests. From start to finish, after permits were supplied to us, we completed all sites in approximately five months.

Great customer, great project, great conclusion!

If signage could talk, what’s the funniest thing a sign has ever ‘said’ to you?

This would be a much easier question if it were, “What was the funniest thing I ever said to a sign?” (Excluding the additives, of course). One of my funniest memories is from years ago when I first met my wonderful wife, Susan, and we were starting to date. A proud thing, but a bad habit of all sign people, is to point out every job you have ever been involved in to anyone new, especially if you are trying to impress them. 

Almost everywhere Susan and I would travel, locally or outside Canada, I would do my best to point out projects we had completed and explain what we had to do to get them done. She listened and smiled for the first few months, and I believed she was very interested.

Then the time came when I had shown her too many, and she started not to be as interested—or so I thought.  It got to the point that she would tell me she was interested in me, not the projects I had worked on! So, over the next few years, I made a point of not bringing up work that we happened to be passing by to the best of my ability.

Years later, while traveling with friends, Susan unexpectedly started pointing out projects I had worked on in the past. I couldn’t help but laugh—after all those years of pretending not to be interested, it seemed like the signage had finally spoken to her! It was the closest (and funniest) thing to signs actually talking back!

What’s the one piece of signage advice you wish everyone knew?

I’m unsure if this is signage advice or just life advice. If you are going to do anything, have passion for what you do, be honest, work hard, and be willing to share your knowledge with others. The most important advice I can give—something most of us forget in our day-to-day, chaotic life, including me, earlier on in my career—don’t forget about family. Without your family, you will lose direction.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/meet-the-maker-be-passionate-work-hard-and-share-your-knowledge/

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