Dan Sawatzky, owner of Imagination Corp. (Chilliwack, BC, Canada), has announced the Sign Invitational 2026, a friendly competition co-founded by Jim Dawson, owner of Synergy Sign & Graphics (Strasburg, OH), according to an email.

The first competition was held in 2016 with one of the entries created and written up by Roger Cox, then owner of House of Signs, current owner of Vim Creative (Helena, MT). Covid restrictions canceled the 2020 ISA International Sign Expo, host site of the judging, with the most recent competition, the 2021 Sign Invitational held virtually.

Following are Dan Sawatzky’s directions to parties interested in entering:

For the Sign Invitational 2026, all entrants are asked to create a double-sided, dimensional pub sign to hang from a supplied post and bracket. The name on the sign will be “__________ TOAD”. You can fill in the adjective to suit your theme. Examples of this would be “Ugly Toad” and “Loyal Toad” etc. We encourage sign artists to be creative with the name and the theme. The suggested size for each sign is 16 in. wide x 24 in. tall, which should be small and light enough to be able to be easily put inside checked your baggage or ship at a reasonable cost.

Those entering must attend the ISA 2026 International Sign Expo, April 8-10, 2026 in Orlando, FL. The experience of hanging with other like-minded professionals is awesome, not to mention the chance to interact with thousands of other sign makers who you can inspire.

We hereby CHALLENGE YOU to enter the Sign Invitational 2026!