Last month on the blog I shared my love of a handmade sign with you. These signs were homemade and in the wild, interacting with all sorts of passers by - a sort of treasure hunt of creativity and in some cases necessity.
This time I'm sharing my love of a more structured font. Most of these straight and uniform letters are found in a place of industry such as canal networks and old mills with some found at places of leisure like glass houses and swimming pools.
I really admire the no frills and fancy approach to these signs, the font is very to the point with no faff.
Perhaps there's something in the black on white / white on black element that particularly draws me in too. The harshness of the contrast with interesting shapes made in the negative spaces.
This charming example of traditional sign writing on canal boats reminds me to revisit my copy of The Unsophisticated Arts by Barbara Jones. Jones explored the everyday art found on houseboats, fairground rides, tattoo parlours and more to uncover the folklore and stories hidden within. It's always a treat to admire the different names and illustrations used on narrowboats as you walk along the towpath.
(The raised lettering on this sign took every inch of me not to grab a crayon and do an old fashioned texture rubbing in my sketchbook - do you remember doing those at school?)
A more contemporary find, it was such a treat to see these huge letters covering the side of a building in Leeds, this great piece of work You & Me & Me & You by Antony Burrill has a brilliant sense of scale and impact.
I'm not too sure where these last two posts on lettering and font will go next, I have enjoyed sharing this love of mine and will continue to stop dead on towpaths, climb over fences and smile broadly at these things when I see them out and about. Let's just enjoy this space for them and see what comes of it.
Thanks again for indulging my passion!
More on: signs, towpaths, Photo-walks
- Molly Newport
- Feb 22
You're out in the world, minding your own business and then WOW. You spot a piece of unique artwork that you simply cannot just walk past and you must take a photo to capture that moment.
This piece of artwork is so encapsulating that you have to learn more, you can speculate and ask your own questions and maybe you'll never uncover the real truth. So you enjoy the moment, maybe even laugh a little bit, tuck that moment in your heart somewhere and carry on with your day.
This little gem took you by surprise and drew you in, caught your busy attention and made you stop for a moment to pause.
Not all artworks live in galleries.
These little nuggets of gold live everywhere in the wild.
Now, I understand not everyone will be as excited as I am by a homemade sign but I'm sharing it with you anyway - strap in, I've got a whole blog post and a back catalog of photos.
I've always been drawn to look for inspiration in the everyday things that go on around us, the mundane, the genericness, the boring, the un-spectacular. Something that grabs your attention when it wasn't looking and changes those thought patterns.
Not All Signage Is Made Equally
Signage can be created for all sorts of reasons, one of my particular favourites is a business trying to save a bit of time or cash by producing their own sign. Especially when you can almost hear a manager encouraging a junior member of staff to do it because they have 'the nicest handwriting out of the team'. Or even a really over confident boss with strong 'it can't be that hard' beliefs.
And what happens down the line when that sign needs to be updated? Do you start again from scratch, or head to the stationary drawer for Tipp-ex or a Sharpie?
Time mustn't be wasted on silly things like spacing, font size or placement, let's just get it done and crack on with the show.
My second favourite category of homemade signage is those where you can really feel the frustration of the sign-writer.
Something or someone has tipped them over the edge of politeness and an effective sign must be erected. Immediately.
The moment of rage released into an unsuspecting shed, the risk of harm to anything within grabbing distance and slapped upon a fence, bin or bucket lid. The most important task is to get the message (or threat) across.
The message is released so quickly that there's no time to consider capital letters or lower case, the spacing or even what the message will say.
To be fair, some of these messages may be saving unsuspecting tourists from hungry sheep or dangers on private land, in my head I just shout any capital letters when I'm reading them.
And finally, sometimes you just need a clear sign to point you in the right direction, whether you need floor 5 and/or 6, or just a big arrow straight out of the car park
Thanks for sticking with me on this one!
As you can see, this is a very deep passion of mine and I hope it's inspired you to treasure hunt home made signs or maybe to find your own secret art out in the wild.
Let me know in the comments if you have a love of something really mundane and everyday.
If you'd like to read more about some places I've gathered inspiration recently, here are some more ideas for you: Ireland, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and East Riddlesden Hall
Imagine this: You hear the postie squeak your garden gate, the letterbox flap taps the door and something thuds onto your hallway door mat.
You're not expecting anything, will it be a letter containing bills? Another local takeaway leaflet or maybe something else... You peep around the banister on the landing and see that it's a brightly coloured envelope with something scrawled on the front under the stamp. How exciting! Who could this be from?!
You open the envelope and it's a hand drawn card from your mate with a lovely message in it, you smile, feel warm and cosy then pop it on your mantlepiece where you admire it for the rest of the week. That little piece of magic has cheered you right up. You even start to think about what you'd send back to them and start laughing at some silly ideas you have.
In today's digital world what a great use of time to slow down and take an hour or so on a rainy afternoon to create something special for a friend. The cosy act of lighting a candle, pouring your favourite brew and getting stuck into a creative project. A little bit of collage or painting, maybe even opening those colouring pencils you've been 'saving for a special occasion.'
It's a real connection to send something physical to a loved one, it's no more time and energy than inviting them over for a brew and it's so rewarding.
The beauty of a greetings card is that it can be as cheap or expensive as you'd like it to be. Collage some mixed medias and found papers, go out and buy all of your favourite gouache paints, suit your own budget. Take as much or as little time as you want creating it, settle into a watercolour painting of your favourite park or Sharpie a great big word onto the front.
Think of the person who will receive this masterpiece and think of the motifs that bind you together, an in-joke about snails or an embarrassing story involving a seagull... the possibilities!
I like to use people's birthdays and special occasions to make cards, the deadline of a set date gives me something to aim for and I make the card around their favourite colours or animals with my own twist on it. I usually start off with a blank card and pencil a design onto it to later work into with gouache paint or coloured pencil. I can spend anything from an hour to all evening working on something. It never feels like a chore, I love it so much!
If you're looking to get blank cards envelopes and stamps but don't want to commit to buying lots, see if a friend will go halves with you or invest in a pack of good quality paper and learn some paper folding techniques.
Some extra inspiration for you:
A Pinterest collection of ideas
My very old video on how to make an envelope from a sheet of A4 paper
