Since 1936
Amcoe Sign Company Since 1936 – Signs & Designs is a small sign design and fabrication house in Fremont, CA. In its early years in Palo Alto, Amcoe Sign worked closely with the well-known artisan community to provide exceptional design and quality fabrication.
When the original owner Robert “Bob” Neifing’s health started to decline and he wished to sell the business, Stephen George Coulthard and Noel Marquis who were working at Blaze Signs in Fremont, CA, purchased the business in 1963.
Stephen Coulthard Sr. was the original sign designer for the “Doggie Diner Head” sign, a notable landmark figurehead in Northern California, while working at Blaze Signs. Stephen’s mother Violet, had a Dachshund named Peggy and Stephen used the likeness of “Peggy the Dachshund” to create the 3D hand drawing and final full acrylic mold for the Doggie Diner head.
Stephen and Noel built Amcoe Signs from a small sign design and fabrication firm in 1963 to to one of the leading sign companies in Northern California and designed and built signage through the 1970′s thru the 2000′s for such notable companies as; Varian, Payless Drugs, Stanford Shopping Center, Hewlett Packard, Round Table Pizza, Earthlink, Suite America, Facebook, Apple, NetGear, and thousands of other Northern California companies.
In 2003, Mr. Noel Marquis passed away from a long illness and Mr. Steven Keith Coulthard (2nd Generation) purchased the remaining shares of Amcoe Sign and combined it with his company the Coulthard Identity Group. Since then the companies have merged to provide a whole host of identity items including signage, business collateral, brochures, sales presentations, websites, fleet graphics, etc.
The Coulthard Identity Group was started in 1989 by Steven Keith Coulthard in Fremont CA. Mr. Steven Keith Coulthard had been the lead designer for the “Barron Communications Group” in Alameda, CA who were at the forefront of graphical internet websites. Before then, the internet was mostly text based. Steven left Barron Communications to start the Coulthard Identity Group as a boutique design group to service just a handful of clients who required specialized and attentive service.
In the late 1970′s Stephen Coulthard worked with a young Steve Wozniack & Steve Jobs to design a redwood sign for Apple Computer, at the newly opened location on DeAnza Blvd in Cupertino, CA. Unknown at that time that Apple would become a worldwide giant, the sign was a modest sandblasted sign with a simple painted apple striped logo with simple lettering. After the sign was fabricated and stained, the sign was hand painted by one of Palo Alto’s artisan sign painters, Gordon “Gordy” Siebert (deceased), who used to work for Amcoe Sign back in the 70′s and 80′s. You can now see the original sign at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View CA.
In 2008 the Coulthard Identity Group/Amcoe Sign Company moved its offices back to Fremont, CA, amazingly about 1 block away from the original Blaze Signs location. Now centrally located between the Silicon Valley and the emerging Tri-City Valley, we can cover the entire Bay Area easily and effectively. The Coulthard Family wants to thank all its past clients for using our services, and if your company has not used our services/products in the past we encourage you to give us a try and see how 80 years of knowledge will help your company.
Management Team
Stephen Coulthard Senior
Steven Keith Coulthard
Johna Coulthard
Stephen Andrew Coulthard
Jason Moore – Senior Designer
Jennifer Julianus – Senior Designer
Ken Lemmons – Sign Production Specialist/Installation
Partnerships:
Archespace GWSC – Architectural Design
Technical Partnerships:
Moore + One – Web Code Builders
L5 – IT Network Consulting