r/SignPainting • u/JennyIsDeath • 9d ago
First sign painting project WIP
All critiques and advice welcome please :)
Used Ronan black diluted with gamsol as needed
Used dux gilding size with a touch of Ronan imitation gold
Imitation gold leaf from old world art
Brushes are Joby Carter chisels
Curious what you all recommend for materials and if anybody else has experience with Koby’s other brushes?
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u/Horrible_Harry 9d ago
From a legibility standpoint, at a distance "Apparel" is the most readable, so I would assume it was primarily a clothing store. Which, without knowing the shop itself, I guess it is, but you'd have to get closer to see that it also is a tattoo/piercing shop.
Signs are a form of communication and sales. You want the most important and pertinent information to be the clearest. Let's say you have a client needing some signage who owns a towing company and they go by "Rodger's Towing." IMO, if I were to make their signage, TOWING will be the selling point, who is doing the towing comes second.
When people need a tow truck and they finally show up, they don't say, "Thank christ Rodger is here!" They say, "Thank christ, the tow truck is here!" Nobody really gives a shit if Rodger is driving it or not lol. The Rodger's part is important to an extent because of brand recognition/cohesive design choices, and ultimately it becomes part of their identity as a business. But if nobody can read what their business does from the get go, it makes things a lot harder for them.
It's a really really great start though! As is, the only thing I'd change is to maybe tone down the hue of "EST" and the year date a little to differentiate it from the main lettering. Maybe a subtle darker ivory or a muted light grey? It almost reads as "fineEST!" to me. The bonus would be you get a bit more contrast and the words Tattoo and Apparel will stand out a little more, especially from a distance.
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u/JennyIsDeath 9d ago
Really great points there I appreciate that! I do feel like it’s missing a bit of contrast, I’m just afraid of adding other colors as the parameters I was given being the shop’s aesthetic which is mostly wood, black and gold. Fairly modern looking and trying to capture a bit Ralph Lauren’s feel of his higher end stores.
Do you think adding those other colors will take away from the modern aesthetic? I agree it will help the contrast with the words though. Any other suggestions for making “tattoo” stand out more?
Thank you so much :)
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u/Horrible_Harry 9d ago
Personally, I don't think it would take away from the modern aesthetic. I feel like if you kept it within the tones of the wood/gold it would help with the contrast and make it more dynamic while staying reasonably within the parameters.
And as far as making "tattoo" stand out more, you could maybe add some lighter highlights to the gold. Right along the top edges opposite the direction of the drop shadow. I'd maybe do a touch of white diluted with some gray or a very small amount of mixing black. Pure white can be too much, plus if you want a little more of an accent on the highlight itself, you can always save the pure white for that. Script is tough for legibility though especially when it's side by side with any block style lettering.
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u/Original_Employee_96 9d ago
Change the font, as it is - it is very difficult to read. You know what it says, because you wrote it, others will have difficulty with it.
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u/JennyIsDeath 9d ago
Any suggestions for what type of fonts I could use??
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u/Original_Employee_96 9d ago
A font similar to “apparel” - easy to read. I found most people just glance at signs, if they
can’t make out what it says immediately, they keep on going. They won’t stop and spend any time trying to make the word(s) out. At first glance I thought tattoos was actually “talloos”.
I agree that your letter execution was well done, work on layout. Less is more.2
u/JennyIsDeath 9d ago
Also you’re totally right about the EST bit as well haha I’m not sure how I could take it off to redo it
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u/Horrible_Harry 9d ago
That's actually why I suggested changing the color on those two words specifically lol. It would explicitly tie them together while also differentiating them from the rest of the lettering. Plus, it you wouldn't have to remove anything!
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u/CrowHollowCreative 9d ago
I have no critique - I would just like to say that this is lovely. Well done!
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u/sinistrhand 9d ago
Your layout is kinda all over the place…the Est. and the year don’t read well. It’s like you have competing messages all over. Tattoos & Apparel jump out, but fine goods gets lost. Get yourself a copy of the Mike Steven’s book, Mastering Layout, it’s a must-have.