Design Context

- Make sure you make a point of sign writing still having a place in the last chapter

- Talk about the hipster aspect

- At end of 1st chapter, suggest today's use of application to lead onto further chapters

- Practical could be to paint a sign for a commercial company who doesn't usually need that kind of thing.

Structure Your Essay:
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 - Broad History

CHAPTER 2 - Contemporary sign writing
detailed analysis of the sectors that employ sign writing (descriptive)

CHAPTER 3 - The current commercial potential and need for sign writing skills (critical)

CONCLUSION

"Invisible art... invisible industry... people just take it for granted"

"I could do whatever the fuck I wanted to do and make a living"

"You realise that you're just painting signs for other sign painters?"

- Started about 150 years ago
- Sign painters creating advertisements for companies.
   - advertising medium
   - "local sign man"

- Marjory Garrison

- Tod Swormstedt
" Signs are everywhere but I never thought that somebody had to make those"

- Beverly Sign Company - 50 sign painters

- Justin Green

- Ernie Gosnell

- Roderick Treece
   - Sign painter since 12 years old
   - Specialises in gold leaf

- Gary Martin
   - Hoovering walls before painting on them

- Bob Dewhurst
"Letters are a really cosmic thing"

Quills, sword stripers, dagger brushes, liner brush, chop brushes, badger hair, squirrel hair

- Sean Barton

- Nick Barber
"Bought a bunch of these font catalogues and spent my time drawing them"
   - Teaches students

Type Designers and Letterers
John Downer
Ken Barber

"Lettering is a drawing of a letter or group of letters... (rest of quote at 00:25)

Ed Otten and John Downer work together in a studio

- Norma Maloney

- Jeff Canham
   - 35 years old
   - Started painting 5 years ago
   - BA in Graphic Design

- Damon Styer
   - New Bohemian Sign company founded in 1993
   - 1999 became an apprentice there

- Mike Meyer
"You're going to make more money out of this sign then I ever will"

- Phil Vandervaat
"I kind of push everything to the comical"
   - Started at 26 years old, been painting for about 32 years.

00:43 - good quote about signs

"Sign painters don't hate signs"

"No topping sign painters as a visual artists" from a book that one of the talkers read - said it was heartbreaking to read about the confidence in the industry.

- Mark Oatis
   - One of the Letterheads
   - Jerry Allbrights Sign School
   - 2001 type design seminar
   - Letterheads movement - meetings with letterers and painters
   - Letterheads motto: IOAFS: It's only a fucking sign

- Pulse patterns
   - Pokes holes in paper to rub chalk over to create templates on walls for painting

'The Art of Hand Lettering' by Mike Stevens

'Sign Craft' Magazine

"The problem with technology is it doesn't stand still..." 00:54

"It's no longer about the quality, it's about how fast it is and how cheap the job is"

"Every human being has the capability of altering their environment with their bare hands"

- Colossal Media
   - Hand painted advertising company
   - 5-7 years of training
   - http://colossalmedia.com

- Syracuse - Stephen Powers
   - 'A Love Letter For You' project
"A vehicle for projecting larger ideas"

- John Starr: Starr Studios

"Victory over vinyl"

"Old signs become art, they become wall art. Vinyls shrink and you throw them away. I want to make signs that become art."

"You get that brush and you master that brush. You can get that brush to do anything you want it to. And that's power"

I decided to take a trip down to Granary Wharf and Clarence Dock to have a look at canal boats and any old warehouses that still had ghost signs painted on them...

I also thought I'd upload 2 pictures I took when I went to the Neubau Talk in Huddersfield, as they related to what I was looking into for COP..

From the canal walk...
We walked down through Hyde Park and Leeds uni, so I had a quick look at some inscriptions..







Bit of a weird Railway tower we found on our travels..





Some old ghost type on the side of an abandoned building... Barely visible!



Stray canal boat..


The Onion Bargee!!!


I found the canal notice interesting as it dates back to 1890s..


Bit of old type on the side of a rusty boat..


Another ghost sign, this time on the side of a Salem Church..



Some more type on the other side of the church too..


And some inscriptions on the front!



We came across the Tetley's warehouse, so had to take a pic!


Also, saw a really strange looking building..


Down by the canal and river now, saw some hand painted type across the river.. Unfortunately there weren't ANY canal boats docked at Granary Wharf, so it was a long walk onwards to Clarence Dock..


Clarence Dock! And LOADS of boats!









Luckily, the owner of Rebecca was outside his boat and he was happy enough to stop for a chat, he even invited us inside to have a look and talk about the boat!!


The man was really nice and answered loads of questions, he even found this booklet which had various sign painters who specialise in canal boat painting inside, so I took a pic of the info - thought that I could probably get in touch with some of these people..


He also told us about a free boat taxi that we could take back upstream, which saved us over an hour of walking!!


Tried to get a picture of this nice type on one of the canal boats whilst on the taxi boat, but it was hard to zoom in well..

Anyway, I found the experience really useful. It was good to be able to talk to an actual sign writer's client (the man who owned Rebecca, who unfortunately we didn't quite catch the name of). He told us a lot about canal boats and joiners etc, and explained how he thinks it's really important for sign writers to keep up their businesses, as there is still a market for them, be it niche.

He also told us about when they bought the boat and how every single person who worked on it had been documented, but only the sign writer wasn't noted in the documents, which is a real shame! They don't really get much credit for what they do!!

He also explained how he's currently in the process of speaking to a local sign writer, as they need some touch ups on the paint on one side of the boat, as over the years the boat always docks on a particular side (due to the doors being on the left), so the sun always bleaches that side of the boat's paint work!


Also went past a bit of ghost signage on the side of a building near Kirkstall Lane a few days ago.. Thought it was quite interesting as you could tell that they had used the signage for advertising, particularly newspapers..

Research
- Sign writing // is sign writing dying due to technology?
- "Technology" or digital image-making or contemporary graphic design?
- Any specific area / industry / application?
- In defence of sign writing
- Focus more on "sign writing" rather than digital technology.
- Look at traveler culture, how sign writing was influenced by this. Wagons, etc.
- Primary research - sign writing used in various contexts:
   - Traveler culture
   - Coffee shops
   - Granary Wharf
   - Clarence Dock

Practical
- Connecting with history - pastiche
- What is the commercial potential of sign writing?
- Can you find a client and produce some work for them? Reflecting on the defense of sign writing and showing that there is still a need?

What questions do I want to investigate?
- What is the history of sign writing?
- Why was sign writing important?
- Is sign writing still important?
- How has technology affected sign writing? Positives and negatives..
- Do people still appreciate sign writing? Why?
- How did structure within design affect sign writing traditions?
- Do people paint within trends? Or stick to traditional styles?
- How has the digital age affected the use of typography and the need for legibility vs creativity?
- Has hand rendered typography become more apparent now that everyone is bored of the 'norm'?
- Can sign writing be used commercially?
- Where has it been used effectively within the industry?
- What are the visual qualities of sign writing?
- Is sign writing coming back into trend?
- What does the future hold for sign writers and letterers?

After considering my list of questions, I decided on 2...

Primary Question:
How has the digital age affected the use of typography and the need for legibility vs creativity?

Secondary Question:
What does the future hold for sign writers and letterers?

First Thoughts and Preconceptions...
In the digital era, there are a lot of alternative solutions to sign writing that are cheaper, quicker and a whole lot easier. But I don't think that these alternatives are anywhere near as high quality, or that they even hold as much character as a hand painted sign. For example, vinyl needs to be replaced every year or so, as the weather effects the sticky plastic a whole lot quicker than it effects enamel. It may still end up a lot cheaper than paying someone to paint you something, but I think that there is affordability in quality.

Computers and technology have definitely affected typography, and in many different ways. I think that computers have limited designers. People are afraid to step outside their comfort zones and experiment with their designs. People are afraid to fail, where as before when you'd have to hand draw your posters, or create them through screen printing / letter press, designers seemed to be a lot more experimental and would play around, knowing that they could fail or even cause a happy accident. Designing definitely seemed to be more of a skill before computers. Nowadays, anyone and everyone thinks they're a designer if they have the right software!

Weingart’s quote: “What's the use of being legible when nothing inspires you to take notice of it?" If designers aren't experimenting with their typography, or trying to produce something new and exciting, who is going to want to look at it? It's boring following rules and structure, and creating the same things over and over again. I think that sign writing and lettering are so much more exciting when it comes to typography usage, as you can really make something catch your eye and stand out from the crowd, whilst still being completely legible.

I think that the future still holds a place for sign writers and letterers, but it's definitely becoming a niche market, as a lot of people like to think that they can produce the same work themselves by printing things out or cutting it out of vinyl... I think that sign writing is an art form, and should definitely be more appreciated and sought after.

What is the purpose of the study?
To find out whether sign writing is becoming extinct, and whether there's any way of helping the public appreciate the skill and craftsmanship.

Is your question researchable?
I think so! I've found lots of books on the subject already, and have even bought the Sign Painters film to watch to get more of an insight into it. There are also lots of books out there that are about technological advances that will help guide my research.

Title:
How has the digital age affected the use and importance of typography within sign writing?

I am planning on researching into an area of typography that is particularly interesting to me - hand rendered typography. I have noticed that it has started to become more of a trend within design, as people start to branch out from their computers and start playing with design rules. Within this research, I plan to focus on both drawn and painted type, for example areas of drawn typography, such as..

and areas of painted typography, in the form of sign painting..


as I've found a recent love for sign painting, I'd imagine my research will edge more towards the skill behind the craft and the variety of traditional methods that are put into place when painting a sign.

I want to look into the history behind sign painting and drawn typography - find out why it became important, how it became popular, and how it sits in today's design society. The history behind it will also involve areas of English history, such as the sudden demand for literacy and the Guttenburg Press - how all of this impacted the need for painted signs. Did this effect the need for hand written type though? As people found letterpress faster and easier, more effective for mass production. How the letterpress also led to structure, swiss design etc. How this effected the need for sign writers and letterers / how it affected their design styles.

Look at illuminated manuscripts - very early form of lettering.

Weingart’s quote: “What's the use of being legible when nothing inspires you to take notice of it?" How has the digital age affected the use of typography and the need for legibility vs creativity? Has hand rendered typography become much more apparent now that everyone is bored of the 'norm'?