Artisinal Advertising

We hope you’ve picked up a copy of the book Sign Painters, and if you’re lucky you’ve gotten a chance to see the documentary of the same name. In January, Collector’s Weekly talked to Faythe Levine, one of the authors and film producers, about the trend of reviving hand-painted signage, how to learn the craft, the effect of vinyl signs on the industry and her favorite hand-painted sign.

My favorite painted sign in Milwaukee got sandblasted about five years ago. Oh my gosh, it was so beautiful. It was on a five-storey Cream City brick building, this type of light-colored brick from a nearby quarry. And the sign was a beautiful, giant, bizarre-o ’70s rainbow, like this faded bubbly rainbow. I don’t even know what it was advertising. I think the building was just a storage space. Luckily I got a picture of it before they sanded it away for no reason.

Read the full interview here.

If you’re new to the idea of hand-painted signs we suggest you read the forward to Sign Painters, see a slideshow of some of the beautiful signage from the book, or watch a 7 minute version of the feature-length documentary on Nowness.