I hate signatures (the writing ones)

[Pengwuino]

I hate having to sign my name! Why? I don't have the ability to consistently sign something in a nearly identical way. Right now I'm signing the publication copy of my thesis and I've printed up 6 copies of the page that I need to sign my name on just because I know I'm not going to be satisfied with how I sign my name. Does anyone else have this annoying problem? Am I just slightly (read: very) OCD?

I mean, it's freaken important. Millions of people will see this thesis and the most important part will be the part where I signed my name authorizing the university to reproduce my thesis without first getting my permission. What if my signature looks all HERP DERP.

Does anyone else hate signing things because of this? Seriously, one time a year ago or so, and I don't remember what I was signing, but I literally got like 2 sheets of paper, wrote my signature like 20 times on a sheet of paper until I had one that was good enough to scan and attach to an MS Word document to send to wherever the hell it was meant to go. Then everyone I know around me writes their signature like freaken pros. Tomorrow I'm going to ask my adviser to sign off and I guarantee he'll make a perfect signature that will annoy me to no end.

Then there's my department chair whose signature looks like he just drew a random line on the paper. That's pimp.

 

[rhody]

I hate having to sign my name!

Am I just slightly (read: very) OCD?

What if my signature looks all HERP DERP.

Then there's my department chair whose signature looks like he just drew a random line on the paper. That's pimp.

Peng,

I don't think you are slightly OCD. Having said that, if you want the perfect signature every time. Create the signature using an expensive quill pen. Then, buy a http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/multistamps.aspx?mk=signature+stamps&ad=e&GP=11%2f17%2f2011+7%3a51%3a01+AM&GPS=2245511015&GNF=0&GPLSID=" that allows you to capture it. Once created, you will have an instantly recognizable signature that is consistent and high quality.

BTW. I had to look up HERP DERP to find its true meaning.

Rhody...

 

[Pengwuino]

Rhody, you're pimp.

 

[fluidistic]

If it's not too much asked Peng, may I have an autograph?

 

[Astronuc]

I never write my signature the same way, and it looks like scribble. That's one reason I made a gif file of my signature, as well as the fact that most writing is down in a word processor which is then converted to pdf.

 

[jtbell]

My signature on paper looks halfway decent and is fairly consistent. I still have to sign checks, credit-card slips, etc. a few times a month, so I get some practice.

What I really hate are those things where you sign for a credit-card purchase using a stylus on a touch screen. It never feels the same as pen on paper, so my signature looks very different that way. The worst ones are at Best Buy. I can't rest my hand properly on them, and the angle is wrong, so my signature comes out looking like a first-grader's scrawl.

 

[Monique]

I love signing my name, sometimes I even get compliments on my autograph. And no, I am not giving anyone a copy

 

[lisab]

Sometimes, there is one recognizable letter in my sig.

 

[Astronuc]

What I really hate are those things where you sign for a credit-card purchase using a stylus on a touch screen. It never feels the same as pen on paper, so my signature looks very different that way. The worst ones are at Best Buy. I can't rest my hand properly on them, and the angle is wrong, so my signature comes out looking like a first-grader's scrawl.

I have the same problem and same strong dislike of electronic signature devices.

 

[FlexGunship]

I mean, it's freaken important. Millions of people will see this thesis and the most important part will be the part where I signed my name authorizing the university to reproduce my thesis without first getting my permission.

I wouldn't overestimate your thesal-exposure here. I'm genuinely interested and I'm probably not going to read it.

As a side note, I INTENTIONALLY sign my name absurdly at times. John Hargrave pioneered the method, and I've completely adopted it. Enjoy each opportunity to totally f**k up your own signature.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit/
http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit_card/

 

[Dembadon]

I've never looked and someone's signature and inferred anything, either good or bad, about that person. I think you're making a much bigger deal out of this than is necessary.

That said, I don't try very hard to make my signature look identical every time I provide it and it has never been an issue, nor have I heard it being an issue for anyone I know.

 

[IMP]

It could be that those stubby penguin flippers are what is causing the inconsistency :-) You may need a custom pen.

 

[Evo]

I have a very long name. My ex gave me a hint to stylize it so it kind of looks like there are letters but there really aren't it's just a swervy line. It took some practice to get it down, but it looks good and is a breeze now. Unfortunately, Evo Child quickly learned it and you can't tell them apart. Her signature has also been changed to a stylized version.

We both created very simple stylized signatures, but a stylized signature becomes a tiny work of art.

Dang, there are papers on signatures. There is a sample of a very extravagent stylized signature.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01584.x/pdf

Here's another fancy one.

 

[Dembadon]

...

Dang, there are papers on signatures. There is a sample of a very extravagent stylized signature.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01584.x/pdf

Mine looks "mixed."

 

[turbo]

My signature looks like a scrawl, with the first letter of my first, middle, and last name about the only semi recognizable characters. It started back in the mid-70's when I worked my way up through several positions on a multi-year apartment complex. I had to sign off on a lot of reports, requests for payment, and other paperwork, and I was really busy doing lots of other stuff, like making inspections, verifying levels of completeness of the apartment buildings, etc. I had the president's executive assistant on the phone one day, and she commented "Wow, you have a *real* signature." It's pretty distinctive, so I guess that was one more security feature on my reports, in her eyes.

And yes, my distinctive scrawl is very hard to reproduce on those CC swipe pads with the slippery plastic stylus "pens". I hate those things. Luckily, about the only place I go with a CC is a garden shop, lumber yard or other outdoor location. Even worse is the little electronic pads that delivery drivers carry around. It doesn't matter if they hold it for me or I hold it myself to sign on - the result is always a mess.

 

[FlexGunship]

Dang, there are papers on signatures. There is a sample of a very extravagent stylized signature.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01584.x/pdf

Flex's signature doesn't fit into any of those categories as near as I can tell.

 

[Acetone]

Flex's signature doesn't fit into any of those categories as near as I can tell.

Hmm mines definitely the bottom one.

It's slightly changed since I signed this (cropped it out of a digital art I did back in high school)
[PLAIN]http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9310/signaturerh.png

Lol, and why the 5pi/3 hmm

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Flex's signature doesn't fit into any of those categories as near as I can tell.

Your last name is 5pi/3? Nice!

 

[FlexGunship]

Your last name is 5pi/3? Nice!

It was an Ellis Island thing... my great-grandfather's real last name was "300^o."

 

[Proton Soup]

i've lost the ability to care. my sig gets worse every time. i blame these damn machines that capture it digitally, they just don't have the same feel of paper. that, and just the general impatience of this society, with everyone in a hurry to get back home to watch some godawful "reality" show.

 

[Hepth]

You can't go wrong with:
BIG INITIAL scribble MID INITIAL. BIG INITIAL scribble

its easy to be consistent with this. (and always keep a Pilot G-2 handy).

 

[AlephZero]

Peng, If you really have hangups about this, try this:

Get a big sheet of paper. Blindfold yourself. Then sign your name about 50 or 100 times in succession, without any pauses between the attempts (and no peeking to see how you are doing, either). Don't get hung up about what it might look like, just think about what it feels like as you write it.

The point of the exercise is to take the conscious thought out of the process. You (probably) don't need to think about how to walk without falling over, or how to drink something without spilling it, etc. You don't need to think about signing your name consistently, either.

 

[lisab]

It was an Ellis Island thing... my great-grandfather's real last name was "300^o."

 

[jtbell]

It was an Ellis Island thing...

Sort of like how my Swiss great-great-grandfather's (and -mother's) name went from either Kneuchel or Kneuchel to Kernuckle and finally to Yoho (after the guy he ended up working for).

 

[FlexGunship]

Glad someone got it.

 

[Moonbear]

LOL! When I go to vote and sign my name, I've had the volunteers there literally turn the signature book upside-down thinking they might be able to read it better if turned upside-down. It's generally an illegible scribble (I figure if I'm ever coerced into signing something I want to deny is my signature, I can sign it neatly and legibly). And, no, no two versions look exactly alike. I've had to sign things in triplicate or quadruplicate, and probably only a handwriting expert with the FBI could tell you they were all signed by the same person.