signs
East Central Lofts
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The two signs at the left were 2 existing signs from the 30's or 40's that I recreated from photographs I had taken some years ago. The old signs were revealed after some metal siding was removed and the City of Charleston, which now strictly forbids oversized signs, asked the owner to preserve them as part of the historic fabric of the city. 10 years passed and the weather took its' toll and the remaining bits were completely lost when the building was steam cleaned. Fortunately, I had good photographs to work from and was able to restore them to almost new condition.
The East Central Lofts sign was commissioned while the building was still under construction. The clients had a general notion of what they wanted, but the exact placement and typeface was left up to me. We all wanted to recall the era when brick buildings were routinely named by large hand-painted signs that could be seen from far away. The letters are ivory colored, but I added a little yellowing in an uneven way to suggest aging. This is as straightforward of a sign as it gets, and that, to me, is what makes sign painting a satisfying enterprise. You take a concept through the design phase, and then it becomes all about the execution. Even though I strive for perfection in the execution, it is never perfect. Paradoxically, the human touch in a hand-painted sign, though imperfect, makes it more appealing than a digitally produced version could ever be. Because of some construction issues the brick on this wall was completely removed so this sign no longer exists. |
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