Don’t let vinyl, plastic or light-emitting diodes dull your senses. There are hundreds of sign painters around the world who, like their craft-honored cousins in letterpress printing, keep the old arts from becoming olde by offering their talents as viable services.
Over the past few years I’ve celebrated the role that sign painter and historian Sam Roberts has played in bringing the past into the present, and tracing the roots of the present back to the past. His BLAG (Better Letters Magazine) has become a clearing house for precision work by contemporary sign and showcard makers, and has invigorated the art of lettering ingenuity.
Three covers in one: Printed photo, wrapped and unwrapped.
The current summer 2025 issue continues the tradition but with a distinct new twist, thanks to the help of guest editor Mark Oatis, founder of the Letterheads 50 project. The temporarily retitled magazine, IOAFS (International Organization [of] Adverturesome, Fearless Signpainters), showcases “a robust band of artists” that deserve a dedicated issue, at least once every 50 years. The issue takes the art and craft seriously but does not take itself so seriously. The work on the following pages reveals the joyful skill and artful expertise that hand-made sign painters take in replicating the pre-illumination era of lettering iconoclasm.
Also: This link will net PRINT readers $20 off an annual subscription, which includes the current BLAG 07.
The post The Daily Heller: A Sign That Hand-Painted Signs Are Not Obsolete appeared first on PRINT Magazine.