Blog Post: The Beauty of Hand-Painted Signs

I really really love me these hand-painted signs. I mean really, come on—what’s not to love? They’re old, imperfect, and full of a utilitarian charm like that speaks to a warmer and brighter time in my minds eye. On today’s wander, I stumbled across the faded grandeur of a sign for Nor-Est Radiators, plastered on an side on of the industrial building that’s seen better days.

Close-up of a rusting vent and horizontal yellow and black stripes from the hand-painted sign of a radiator business. — A fragment of the hand-painted radiator business sign, showcasing weathered black and yellow stripes on cracked concrete.
**Camera**: Leica M-D (typ 262)
**Lens**: Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 ASPH “1966”

This photowalk I was shooting with my trusty Leica M-D (typ 262) and that new dreamy Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 ASPH “1966”, I love the details as well, these yellows and blacks, the bold and yet weathered. While flaking away. The rusting vent that someone just painted around? It is an amazing example of utilitarianism at its finest. This sign has been here forever and even though it stands large and colourful it also feels forgotten and overlooked.

Finding these awesome hand-painted signs does feel a little like a small act of rebellion against today’s world of vinyl and soulless branding. This sign yells out that, “I mattered!” and “someone braved the elements to create me here in this actual space.” the textures tell a story of decades of wear and tear.

Black and yellow stripes on a weathered concrete wall from a hand-painted radiator business sign, with visible cracks and aged textures. — A fragment of the hand-painted radiator business sign, showcasing weathered black and yellow stripes on cracked concrete.
**Camera**: Leica M-D (typ 262)
**Lens**: Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 ASPH “1966”

Hand-painted signs like this one are becoming rarer, replaced by vinyl decals and digital printing. Yet they represent a time when craftsmanship was as integral to a business’s identity as the services it offered.

I do find that hand-painted signs like this are becoming increasingly more and more rare. Having be for the most part replaced by vinyl and digital printing, this particular example serves as both an advertisement and a record of craftsmanship from another era.

A few years back I saw this awesome documentary about the folks that hand-painted signs still.

Sign Painters. Directed by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon, the film documents the skilled practitioners who hand-lettered storefronts, billboards, and murals before the rise of computer-designed signage. The documentary also highlights the trade’s decline and the creeping sameness introduced by quicker, cheaper methods. It also captures a resurgence of interest in traditional techniques, with younger artists and shops like San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs carrying the torch forward.

After watching this and learning about this fading craft, I had a much deeper appreciation for the random pieces that I find in the wilds. (like this Nor-Est Radiators sign) They’re more than just ad’s for whatever the business does (or in many cases – Did) They are works of art created through some age old techniques and when I find them still in the world I have to capture them and share them!