10 Sign Painters Discuss Their Craft

Learn from the best.

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Image via Complex Original
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Does anybody remember when street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint? Some still exist, but hardly any new ones are made thanks to computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers. It's another instance of new technology replacing the handmade, for better or for worse.

Sign Painters, edited by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon, gathers the voices of prominent sign painters to tell their stories about entering the craft, and for some, leaving it. The book has a beautiful introduction by Ed Ruscha, adding to the rich context the book gives for a genre of art and functional design that many overlook.

We chose a few excerpts share, many of which seem to show these artists in conversation with one another. Check out 10 Sign Painters Discuss Their Craft to realize the importance of this historic art form.

Buy Sign Painters here, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

RELATED: The 25 Young Painters You Ought to Know

Colossal Media (Paul Lindahl and Adrian Moeller)

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Ernie Gosnell

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John Downer

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Sean Starr

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Roderick Laine Treece

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Norma Jeanne Maloney

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Bob Behounek

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Ira Coyne

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Justin Green

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Stephen Powers

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