It's A Sign

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