Fanlight window bespoke with hand painted & unique typeface produced on a Victorian terraced residence by Traditional Signs of London.
A client with a Victorian terraced home, which the couple had carefully restored with period features, contacted Traditional Signs of London for a project, which required a unique typeface to be gilded onto their entrance window.
They came with the enquiry of using a typeface which wasn’t typcial of a fanlight or transom window, but had researched & was very in keeping with both the period of the property but also a designer they favoured & admired, so wished to have a subtle nod to them.
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The measurements of the window were given by the client. This allowed for several drawings of the typeface to be produced & the most suitable sizing the clients preferred could be chosen as the template. Once on site & the best sized artwork chosen, its measured it a precise placement enuring all is centred level & upright. The artwork is then reliefed or traced off onto the glass on the external side, so the sign writing can be produced on the internal side. The reason for this is that it adds more prtection to the signage from the elements & window cleaning.
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The outines are hand painted first using specialist fast drying paint. This takes care & precision using specialist brushes as well as a steady hand. Onc ethe outlines are completed they are allowed to dry before an application of specialist gilding size is brushed on in the ‘fill’ of the numbers & letters.
The gilding size has a mix of some powder which allows for visibility to be able to see if the whole number or letter has been covered. Its transparent until the mix is added. Once added it has a slight hue & has a frosted appearance once applied. The trick is to apply the gold leaf to the gilding size just before it sets, whilst its still has a slight tack. This is quite difficult to time & other factors can hinder this, such as condensation, drafts dust etc, so its a delicate process.
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The gold is applied sheet by sheet ensuring all the fanlight window bespoke letters & numbers are covered. Its then allowed to set & harden to the gilding size. Once dry the excess gold leaf is delicately burnished off. As a finishing touch Traditional Signs of London then apply a fresh outlining to the internal side of the numbers & letters.
This way the signage looks the same both internally & externally. This isn’t really achievable if water gilding is the chosen process.
Water gilding is what creates the highly mirrored reflective finish. To create the mirrored look the whole of the number or letter has to be ‘backed up’ which makes the gold fully opaque & the light bounce off it in a reflective fashion.
Once explained to clients the difference they often choose the matte finish (oil gilding process) as the matching internally & externally look is generally preferred. this is something Traditional Signs of London aim to offer over water gilding mirror finish, especially if the clients window is set back & doesn’t see much natural sunlight.
In this instance that was the case. the porch was recessed a fair amount, which restricted sunlight hitting the window, which would’ve hindered the mirror finish gilding from its purpose.
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The outlines are again allowed to dry before a final layer is applied by brush. This is a transparent varnish which adds to the protection of the fanlight window bespoke lettering & numbers. Then window cleaning can be carried out without it affecting the gold leaf gilding. The durability is made far more substantial.
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Hand Painted Traditional & Contemporary Sign writing in London
Sign writer: Traditional Signs of London
info@traditionalsignsoflondon.uk