Introduction to Sign Painting

Join us for an exciting 2-Day Sign Painting workshop with John Downer.

John Downer’s sign painting career began in the late 1960s and was instrumental in steering his path toward type design. In this introductory course, he will teach the two main kinds of letterform construction which have traditionally been done with a brush: single-stroke and built-up. Students will learn the importance of paint consistency and brush control. The class will focus on rendering a few particular styles of capital letters that were commonly used in American sign painting during the 20th century. Script lettering will not be addressed.

About John Downer

Mr. Downer has been a journeyman sign painter since 1973, a freelance typeface designer since 1983, and a crusader for designers’ rights his entire adult life in the lettering game. He has written about type and type history for various publications, and he is widely known as a perceptive type critic. His typefaces have been published by Bitstream, Font Bureau, Emigre, House Industries, and Design Lab.

A STA and CBPA partner event

This workshop is the second in a series of collaborative workshops co-sponsored by the Society of Typographic Arts and the Center for Book and Paper Arts. The short classes in this series will explore ways that graphic designers and artists can engage in new material practices.

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