Signwriting

Signwriting by brush is still very prevalent, despite the mass use of vinyl & other graphic signage. There are a lot of reasons signwriting the traditional way can be ideal even in the modern sign era. Many varieites of businesses use signwriting but in a more modern way, for instance you may have a modern branding designed by a graphic designer or architect, but a signwriter is able to produce that same logo or ‘font’ onto a variety of surfaces & make it display as visably as possible. Painted signs are able to be adjusted on site, as signwriters have the ability to know how to rectify ‘negative space’ around words to best fill spaces, but not over fill spaces, so the branding & wording is in the best possible layout & look to draw the attention of passing custom.

Signwriting is a very traditional form of writing & advertising that goes back centuries. Mainly based on calligraphy lettering & roman styles of text. Signwriters learnt how to size words & space them into the best visually impacting way as well as use the best colours to make it eye catching, but smart & professional. As time has gone on with the computer age & beyond, obviously advertising for companies has altered but there is still a lot of uses for traditional signwriting. You only have to look at modern ‘graphic’ designs for major companies that use signwriting in their designs & branding. Most notably Pret A Manger on all their interior walls, But other companies see the appeal of an ‘aged’ look sign, which is now very popular with hipsters & modern ethical & organic coffee houses, cafes & eateries.

So signwriting can be formed straight from the design of the knowledgable signwriter or converted from the computer designed fonts & designs too. This gives companies a competitive if not cost effective way of having a good designed durable, non tacky sign.

Varieties for Signwriting Usage

Surfaces

Wood, Metal, Glass, Masonry, Brick, Plaster or rendering, Canvas

A big advantage painting signs has over other forms of signmaking is that there aren’t many surfaces paint won’t take to. As long as the surface is clean & well prepared first. Glass needs to be clean to allow the paint to grip, but with hardner added to the paint or varnished over the lettering can last longer than vinyl in windows, as the paint if treated properly won’t fade & can’t peel. If painting on wood, its best if the wood has been treated with a varnish or paint before the lettering is written to avoid any ‘bleeding’ but if done correctly it won’t bleed & the paint will last a long time. Obviously vinyl can’t even be applied to stippled render, uneven masonry or brickwork, so painted signs are much more of use for those surfaces too. In fact really vinyl is only ideal for a large abount of signage on a smooth surface such as metal (for modern vans & cars) or plastic (shop signs) but the latter tends to be made by sign companies that have no idea on colours & design & commonly seen as a ‘light box’ sign with bad ‘fonts’ & printed pictures. Signwriting is far more classy, professional & far from tacky.