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 signage industry.

This week, we’re heading to Ontario to meet Jeff Rushton, co-partner, president, and CEO of Media Resources. Media Resources has been a hub for signage creativity, engineering, and problem-solving for years under Keith Edwards’, Steve Gallow’s, and Will Thomson’s direction. Since joining the company in 2012, working with his partners and the leadership team at Media Resources, Rushton has helped grow and develop the digital display business globally while working closely with customers across the signage industry. The company thrives on delivering integrated digital signage and installation solutions that are as unique as each project, blending design, longevity, and durability.

Rushton is best described as a collaborator and problem solver. He loves that, in this industry, “no two projects are ever the same” and enjoys working with talented people who bring creativity and engineering together to make it happen for their local and international customers. For him, signage isn’t just about the final product—it’s about the teamwork and ingenuity that go into every project.

Outside of work, Rushton is deeply committed to giving back, having raised funds for childhood cancer initiatives over the years. He’s also a proud husband of 39 years (40 years on May 3!) to his high school sweetheart, and a proud father and grandfather. When he’s not traveling or visiting project sites, you’ll often find him cycling or spending quality time with his family.

Here are his responses to our five offbeat questions:

What’s your sign superpower?

My superpower is not really one specific thing, but if I do have one, it’s the ability to recognize talent and bring together the right people to build a strong, capable team. At the end of the day, it’s the team combined with the underlying process that makes everything possible.

Alongside my business partners, my role is really about setting the strategy and providing direction. We focus on how we position ourselves in the market, how we stay competitive, and how we continue to evolve as an organization. I’ve always believed that when you surround yourself with the right people and give them the tools and trust to succeed, great things happen. That’s what drives our success more than anything else.

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

One project that really stands out is Harmon Corner in Las Vegas, Nev., which is now the second-largest digital display on the Las Vegas strip. Before we got involved, this large 1,765.1 m² (19,000-sf) display had struggled with performance issues tied to extreme heat, constant sun exposure, orientation, and the overall environment.

When we were brought in, we knew right away that if we got it wrong, it would be a multi-million dollar problem. Before even submitting a bid, we invested heavily in a full engineering analysis to understand exactly why it was failing and what needed to change. That meant diving into structural design, mechanical systems, thermal dynamics, material science, airflow, and ultimately, how to engineer the right product for that environment. On top of that, we were working against a very tight timeline tied to the Formula 1 race in Las Vegas. It required close collaboration across our Canadian, U.S., and overseas teams, with the property owner, with our customer Branded Cities, and with our installation partner YESCO. We developed custom cabinets, implemented rigorous weekly quality checks, and maintained constant coordination across all groups involved. In the end, we delivered the project ahead of schedule, and the results exceeded expectations.

To date, because of our collective teamwork and upfront engineering, the system has performed with extremely low failure rates and still looks terrific. 

What’s a favourite sign or sign system you’ve created?

It’s hard to point to just one sign or system, because what I’m most proud of is what the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Installation teams have built as a whole “system” over time.  At Media Resources, we’re an integrated LED display manufacturer with supporting engineering and installation services. Over the years, we’ve really focused on developing strong, scalable technology platforms across indoor, outdoor, and semi-outdoor applications. That’s led to product families like VISIONiQ®, TruVIEW™ for fine pixel pitch, and eQVISION™ for outdoor.

What stands out to me is how these platforms have evolved directly from listening to our customers and understanding the challenges they face in the field. That feedback has shaped how we engineer our technology, with a strong focus on innovation, reliability, longevity, and low power. A good example of that is the development of our eQVISION™ platform, which reflects a more sustainable approach to outdoor digital. It’s designed to deliver significant power savings while maintaining performance and durability, something that’s becoming increasingly important across the industry. We believe it is the most energy-efficient outdoor LED display system in the world.

At the end of the day, what I’m most proud of is the team behind it all. Over the last decade, we’ve built a group that is constantly learning, adapting, and improving. Today, we’re deploying these platforms across North America and are currently expanding into international markets, including the Middle East, Europe, the United Kingdom, and soon Australia. For me, that’s what defines a great sign system. It’s not just the end result, it’s the process, the people, and the continuous evolution behind it.

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

If signage could talk, I imagine a lot of the big digital spectaculars would probably say something like, “Relax, Jeff, we’ve got this.” When you’re dealing with massive LED displays that are thousands (or tens of thousands) of square feet packed with millions of pixels, there’s always a moment before launch where everyone holds their breath a little bit. Years of engineering, manufacturing, and installation all come down to that first moment when the display powers on. After decades in the business, we’ve learned that if you’ve done the work properly, the technology will perform exactly the way it’s supposed to. But we still get that same feeling every time a new display lights up for the first time. So, if those signs could talk, they’d probably just be reminding me to trust the team and the technology.

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

One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that while our industry often leans toward bespoke, one-off solutions, the fundamentals of engineering never change. If you take the time up front to properly engineer scalable, repeatable systems, you set yourself up for much better long-term performance. It leads to more reliable outcomes, more efficient operations, and ultimately a more sustainable and profitable business.

At Media Resources, we’ve always focused on that end-to-end approach with customer feedback being included throughout. From engineering and manufacturing through to installation and ongoing service, it’s all connected. When those pieces are aligned from the beginning, the results tend to speak for themselves. Over the past couple of years, that approach has been recognized through several industry awards, including Best Fine Pixel Pitch Indoor Platform at InfoComm, Best Roadside Platform at ISE 2026, and Best Fine Pixel Pitch Outdoor Platform at both InfoComm 2025 and ISE 2026. For us, those moments are really a reflection of the team and the discipline behind engineering.

At the end of the day, it comes back to doing the fundamentals well. If engineering is right from the start, everything else becomes a lot easier.

Follow Jeff Rushton on social media:

Jeff Rushton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrushton/

Follow Media Resources:

Website: https://www.mediaresources.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/media-resources-inc-/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mediaresources_/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mediaresourcesinc/

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/mediaresourcesinc

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Here’s to celebrating the industry’s creative minds! See you next time.