30/09/2026
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"When I was 7 or 8 years old, I started to obsess and pay attention to how my toys would work, so I would take them apart and put them back together. When I was 10 or 11, I built my own mini garage for my cars out of cereal boxes, it even had a lift made with a motor from another toy, along with a battery and some string. I have this vivid memory from then where I knew I wanted to create and build with my hands. All through school I took "technical" classes like Graphic Communications, Craft & Design and Engineering Science. I was always in that part of school, it was never classwork for me because I loved it and would finish quickly and then help my classmates get finished.
I went on to Uni, I did a Product Design course in Dundee for 4 years. It was there that I built a mental health robot, I took inspiration from the movie Big Hero 6 and I wanted to replicate something that could support a person, the concept was cool but without the time and funding, I had to leave it as you leave university with money to repay so I went looking for a job and found one, it was a graphic design job which wasn't my thing but I had my interview and was given the job the following day, this was in June 2021.
After jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, I was able to make a bit of money which essentially funded this journey, I bought a router and a Mac and not long after, I had my accident. So I was at a family birthday party and after a few drinks, I had convinced myself that I could
do a backflip with the help of my brother, turns out I couldn't and I ended up breaking my neck. I then had to live off my crypto earnings because I was just about to start my business but that money was beginning to run out, with no other choice I started working with my neck brace on.
Breaking my neck wasn't fun, I'd always been good on trampolines and was pretty sure I could do it. I just remember waking up with people around me. Dad said "you've had a fall, don't move". A nurse at the party held my head till the paramedics arrived and when they did, they touched my neck and it felt like every nerve ending in my body was on fire! I got an MRI and a scan at hospital, turns out I also had a brain bleed, fractured my C7 and spent a few days in hospital. It was easily the worst time of my life.
When The Sign Forge started, it was initially a bit slow, I was lucky because nobody else was doing this nearby. Someone asked me if I could make a signbox one day, I had the tools and went to work and it turned out great. The potential was there, so I bought more tools and it's continued to grow in that time. The community is great here, I've lived in Dunfermline all my life and I've worked with a lot of businesses here making signs and that for them, so I've been lucky. People want to support one another and that's what I love about it. I love helping local companies starting out, it costs nothing to be kind.
It's been a journey getting here, one that started with a homemade toy car garage with a working lift! I get a lot of satisfaction doing this, to take someones vision from their mind, to design it on a computer to then creating that vision to finally, seeing it outside their shop or a wall, it's the best feeling. Hundreds and thousands of people might see that and for me, it gives me an overwhelming sense of joy and fulfilment"
Liam
The Sign Forge
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