TRADITIONAL SIGNWRITING The return of traditional signage
Although signage is moving into an increasingly digital age, there has been a strong resurgence in the demand for traditional hand-painted signs. Jemima Codrington spoke with leading signwriters to learn more.
Nick Garrett of Nick Garrett Signs (NGS) painted his first sign profession- ally in 1981, at a time before the handset and digital technology were common- place.
For Nick, the arrival of digital technology massively impacted the traditional market, and the change was noticeable immedi- ately.
“When the vector arrived it impacted us enormously by destroying 30 per cent of the industry overnight,” he says. “It was devas- tating. Fortunately, I was also working in specialist paint finishes at that time and it bolstered my practice, but my first love was for creating painted letters.” Today, Nick has noticed a resurgence in the demand for ornate and gilded lettering, alongside that for pure English Sans Serif and Vene- tian/Roman Serif. “A lot of pop-up signage revolves around 1950s kitsch styles, and the more chic sector is attached to human- ist Johnston, Baskerville, Trajan and Bembo.” To meet the demands of clients, Nick designs custom fonts and typefaces using Photoshop, Fontlab and pencil to
Nick has 35 years of experience hand painting signage.
paper formats. While the demand may be for traditional-looking signage, the methods that are used to achieve this style mean that the phrase “traditional” is something of a misnomer.
“Painted letters have life… they speak, shout, sing,
whisper, reach, communicate with an infinite range of voices.”
- Nick Garrett
“The name ‘Traditional Signwriter’ doesn't fit anymore really,” says Nick. “We all use smart technology or a roll of masking tape, so it's actually now at the leading edge. Signwriting started in 78AD in Pompeii and we’ve never looked back from a design and innovation point of view. To be a great sign- writer you must have superb typographic skills, and signwriters are the best makers of letters – the really good ones, that is. It’s about more brushstrokes, less keystrokes.”
Custom materials for
bespoke signage Drawing upon years of experience, Nick now uses his own brushes, which he has custom-made for him.
Nick paints with his own bespoke brush, the NGS Surefire. 66 Sign Update ISSUE 167 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
The NGS Surefire and Slikshot are based on the Italian writing brush, and can handle pinstriping and block lettering at a stroke. “Italian art and lettering culture has a lot of great things to offer,” he says. “I use a host of different paints including Craftmaster and Oneshot, but also Posca pens and Zinsser coatings.”
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