From Art Chantry‘s disquistion on the theme:
sign painting is (for my money) the true secret brotherhood of graphic design everywhere. when pompeii wand herculaneum were excavated, guess what they found painted on the walls of those ancient buried cities? murals? beautiful artworks? no, they found ads. painted by professional sign painters.
for the last 150 years, sign painting has been the bedrock of american graphic design. without it , there would have been no training, no skill set, no place to learn the aesthetics of typography and design. where did “graphic designers” (a term that wasn’t in common use until the 1950’s) and ‘commercial artists’ learn their trade?
why, in the back of those popular mechanics pages, those little ads in those little trade magazines that said “learn sign painting in your own home.” that was the training ground for american design for generations. it was a mail order business.
one thing that was guaranteed was that if you could paint a decent sign, you’d always have work….
this is one of my favorite home-made signs. it was fastened above one of those 1920’s vintage cement one-car garages that pepper the seattle environs. it was on california ave in west seattle. it was there for years (this photo is over 20 years old). some of you may even remember it.
the xmas lights are what make it.
this sign puts the lie to everything i’ve ever learned about “good design” and “design culture”. basically, we’re all hacks making our versions of this crappy sign.
The Xmas lights are what make it. Too true, although the red X is also a nice touch.
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