Restaurant sign writing produced on the facade portico and entrance pillar by sign writer Traditional Signs of London.

The clients, a fruit & veg wholesalers, were investing in a pop up restaurant in Kensington.

They were looking to have fresh branding and logos produced by sign writing onto the masonry of the portico & pillar.

The artwork was produced by their own graphic design contractor, so the initial part of the project was to take the digital design & produce the artwork on paper for use as a template once on site.

The contracted designer did make several revisons and was unsure what the clients wished for so there was much liasing via the clients, themselves & Traditional Signs of London to get a defined artworks.

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

The final artwork was decided by the designer. Personally I feel it would’ve been better with the subtext closer to the heading, then the heading to be a bit further away from the cornice & centred better on the architrave.

The clients were happy with it, as it was only temporary, due to being a pop up restaurant.

So the artwork is then produced on paper to scale, which is taken to site and used as a template.

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

 

Once on site the artworks are measured into place.

It’s important to ensure all of the artworks are level, equally spaced and in the ideal locations for the overall visual appeal.

Restaurant sign writing can vary a lot depending on the fascade & building shape. In this instance the sign writing was to be written on the portico architrave and the centre pillar.

The artwork is reliefed onto the masonry using charcoal, so that its easily removed but can also be seen as a guide to paint to.

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

The main branding wording is produced first, before the subtext is painted. Specialist sign writing quill brushes are used for this.

A special mix of paint is also used. Sign writer’s enamel paints are made with a lower viscocity to other types of external paints.

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

The logo was quite complex, with 2 tone art graphics incorporated. This is to be painted on the middle entrance pillar, with the addition of the opening time details.  It’s quite involved & labour intensive.

 

.

.

 

 

 

.

.

 

 

The artwork, like with the portico architrave, is reliefed onto the pillar once measurements and alignments are done.

The sign writing can then be started.

It was again written using a specialist sign writer quill brushes.

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

 

The logo was labour intensive to produce. This is painted first as the ladder is restricting access to the area requiring writing under the logo.

The two tone art is produced by painting all the outlines, before painting the fill areas & dry brush shading.

 

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

This is far from a simple task. The curvature of the pillar & uneven surface adding to the task.

Once completed, it was a further effort to then paint all the opening time wording below.

When competing with the weather this can also make for a hindrance, as well as requiring a bent over stance to paint the fine lettering. 

The client was very happy with the finished result and also appreciated the efforts.

 result is a very crisp finish to the lettering and artwork as a whole.

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

 

Due to the time of year this work was produced, the sign writing was completed under fading light. A better picure was taken of the pillar signwriting, when passing the Restaurant on another project

 

.

.

 

 

 

 

.

.

 

Producing restaurant sign writing on this type of facade is unusual bordering on unique to West London, but with the skills & knowledge of producing residential work on porticos and their pillars, it meant it was very suitable on this occasion.

 

.

.

 

 

 

.

 

 

Hand Painted Traditional & Contemporary Sign writing in London

Sign writer: Traditional Signs of London

info@traditionalsignsoflondon.uk