central city living

I have a thing for hand painted signs.

It's something I haven't explored yet on Blip, but it comes from a childhood in 1970's NZ and a grandfather who worked with type every day. This is the same grandfather who I mentioned yesterday (unfortunately my other grandfather died when I was 5). Ken was a top class cyclist, a wharfie, and an engraver, so each day he would sit in his little shed and hand render type in silver and brass and gold. Some days I would be lucky enough to sit with him for hours as he sat hunched over some trophy for player of the year (before they became plated plastic, throwaway items), with magnifying glasses over the top of his glasses.

He would explain to me each step, first selecting the position of the text and, if it was a large or complex piece, drawing it out in a small notebook in biro, carefully counting the letters to find the center, then adjusting it to allow for each character's width. Then he would wipe the surface of piece with a white paint that he could then draw each letter and swirl on with a sharpened leadless pencil - essentially wiping the paint away where he was to engrave. He always got this part right. Next he would pick up his drill and carefully but confidently engrave the vertical lines, the horizontals then the others, varying their weight so as to construct each character correctly. After this he would make the serifs by cutting the metal away with a small hand held chisel. I would hold my breath as he pushed the chisel into the metal, it would bite in, then with a gentle flourish the metal would disappear leaving one side of a serif. I would often get the job of winding the handle of his sharpening wheel as he polished these cutting tools. They sit on my bench in my basement of goodness today.

Ken had taught himself about typography with Speedball's typography handbooks, one tatty copy of which he gave to me as a child. I was surprised to find a version of them is still available - these days though, it is a PDF.

One of the things I like about living in Dunedin is there is still an abundance of hand painted signs around the city. They are slowly disappearing but I am photographing a few before they disappear for ever.

This sign is in a side alley running off George Street, the main shopping street.