# Hand-Painted Signage & Vernacular Lettering

> Letters painted by trained sign writers on fascias, windows, walls, vehicles and showcards, from Victorian gold leaf on glass to Mexican rótulos, Indian bazaar boards and Ghanaian barbershop signs. Brush-built letters with shading, drop shadows and outlines are fitted to the panel and mixed in a few styles for hierarchy, valuing legibility at a distance and the painter's flourish; vinyl displaced the craft in the 1980s and it has revived since the 2010s.

- Period: 1800–present
- Where: Global / networked
- Origin: Commercial streets worldwide; codified by the British and American sign-writing trades
- Branch: Traditions & vernacular
- Also known as: Sign writing, Showcard writing, Rótulos, Ghost signs
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/hand-painted-signage/

## How it works

- Build letters stroke by stroke with a lettering brush, letting the start and finish of each stroke show.
- Give display lines weight with drop shadows, outlines and blended shading in a second colour.
- Fit the lettering to the panel: condense, extend or arc words to fill the available board.
- Mix a few letter styles (a casual script, a block or Egyptian, a Roman) to rank the information.
- Choose high-contrast, weatherproof colours, and gold leaf on glass, for legibility at a distance.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Script](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/script/) (characteristic)
- [Slab serif](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/slab-serif/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Condensed display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/condensed-display/) (occasional)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (occasional)
- [Jewel & metallic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/jewel-and-metallic/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (occasional)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Hard offset shadow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hard-offset-shadow/) (defining)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (defining)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (characteristic)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (occasional)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Modular grid, Straight photography, Bitmap & pixel, Monospace, Desktop publishing

Palette: #b8262b, #c99a2e, #141414, #f1e6cc, #1f5a3d, #1e4a8a

Typefaces: One-stroke casual (showcard) alphabet, Block and Egyptian sign writers' letters, Sign writers' Roman, often in gold leaf on glass, Brush script

Known for: W. G. Sutherland, The Sign Writer and Glass Embosser (1898); Frank Atkinson, Sign Painting Up to Now (1909); Faythe Levine & Sam Macon, Sign Painters (book and film, 2012–13); Better Letters and BLAG magazine (Sam Roberts, 2013– ); New Bohemia Signs, San Francisco

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Influenced by: [Victorian Letterpress & Wood Type](https://stylogeny.com/styles/victorian-letterpress.md) (1810–1900)
- Led to: [Fileteado Porteño](https://stylogeny.com/styles/fileteado-porteno.md) (1890–present)
- Led to: [Amazonian Boat Lettering (Abridores de Letras)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/amazon-boat-lettering.md) (1925–present)
- Led to: [Jeepney Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/jeepney-art.md) (1946–present)
- Led to: [Pakistani Truck Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pakistani-truck-art.md) (1947–present)
- Led to: [West African Barbershop & Hair Salon Signs](https://stylogeny.com/styles/barbershop-sign.md) (1950–present)
- Led to: [Hong Kong Neon & Beiwei Shop-Sign Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hong-kong-neon.md) (1950–present)
- Led to: [Picó Sound-System Painting (Colombian Caribbean)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pico-sound-system-art.md) (1967–present)
- Led to: [Kinshasa Popular Painting](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kinshasa-popular-painting.md) (1970–present)
- Led to: [Graffiti & Hip-Hop Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hip-hop-graffiti.md) (1972–present)
- Led to: [Chicha Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chicha-poster.md) (1980–present)
- Led to: [Jamaican Dancehall Signs & Sleeve Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/jamaican-dancehall-graphics.md) (1980–present)
- Led to: [Ghanaian Movie Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ghana-movie-poster.md) (1985–2005)
- Alike in its design choices: [Ultras Graphics (Curva Banners and Tifo)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ultras-graphics.md) (1968–present), 71% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Chilean Unidad Popular & Nueva Canción Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chilean-unidad-popular.md) (1967–1973), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Edo-moji Commercial Lettering (Kanteiryū, Yose-moji, Sumō-ji)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/edo-moji.md) (1779–present), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Early Turkish Republican Graphic Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/turkish-republican-graphics.md) (1925–1960), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vietnamese-propaganda-poster.md) (1945–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Black Lives Matter Street Murals](https://stylogeny.com/styles/blm-street-murals.md) (2020–present), 57% alike

## Real works

- [Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama (signs for F. M. Pointer, House Mover, and a fish market)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roadside_stand_near_Birmingham,_Alabama.jpg): Unrecorded local sign painters; photograph by Walker Evans, 1936, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, FSA/OWI collection (LC-USF342-008253); image via Wikimedia Commons
- [Example of Letters in Various Projections and Positions (Plate XVI of The Sign Writer and Glass Embosser)](https://archive.org/details/Sutherland-40441/page/n100/mode/1up): W. & W. G. Sutherland, 1898, Caroline Simpson Library, Museums of History NSW; digitised by the Internet Archive
- [Sign for L. Simolin's liquor store (L. Simolins Spritvaruhandel)](https://porvoonmuseo.finna.fi/Record/porvoonmuseo.b1c81b86-661b-42c7-b809-6131b8740164): Unrecorded sign painter, 1880s, Porvoo Museum (BM7195), via Finna and Europeana
- [Wall advertisement for drogisterij Tet van den Berg, Voorstraat 94, Harlingen](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20140429_Muurreclame_Voorstraat_94_Harlingen_Fr_NL.jpg): Klaes Posthuma (2010 restoration of an older wall sign), restored 2010 (photographed 29 April 2014), Wikimedia Commons (own work by the photographer)
- [Rótulos at the gate of Radiadores Negroe, Calle 53, Mérida](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rotulismo_en_M%C3%A9rida_de_Yucat%C3%A1n.jpg): Unrecorded rotulista; photograph by Rotulismo hispano, photographed 6 November 2010, Wikimedia Commons (from the Rotulismo hispano Flickr stream)

## Sources

- https://letterformarchive.org/news/w-g-sutherland-the-sign-writer-and-glass-embosser-manchester-london-1898/
- Faythe Levine & Sam Macon, Sign Painters (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012)
- Sam Roberts & Mike Meyer, Sign Painting: A Practical Guide to Tools, Materials and Techniques (Laurence King)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Hand-Painted Signage & Vernacular Lettering”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/hand-painted-signage/