The increased reliance on computers in the design world has tremendously shifted the nature of graphic art, but there are still challenges that are best solved with “hands-on” techniques. I am constantly working on ways to combine the old and the new so that I can problem-solve more efficiently and strengthen my position in the graphic art world. 

 

This innovative blending requires creating new uses for all of the graphic tools, such as scanning, tracing, pouncing, hand-sketching with pens, hand and plotter cutting, using photos and modifying files to suit the specific situation. The client doesn’t care if it takes me one hour or eight hours to transfer an image, so I owe it to myself to utilize the most expedient method. Nowadays, when many jobs include designer-supplied art, sign artists are often left holding the “graphic art problem,” as we attempt to achieve our client’s signage goals. It doesn’t matter if a technique is used regularly, or once in a lifetime, because every good time-saving trick feels like a miracle when it saves the day. Here are a few of my recent graphic art challenges and solutions.

 

Figure 1. Supplied art for Sportivo with lo-res bitmap image. Figure 2. Completed sign with plotter-cut circle and hand-cut image.

Sportivo (Figure 1) had a logo with embedded clipart that did not trace well. My preferred solution would have been to print out the art onto 8.5" x 11" paper and then use a fine drawing pen on tracing paper to redraw the image. Then I would scan and computer-trace the new drawing to create a clean vector file for the plotter. In this case, the pen work was too difficult to render cleanly, so I used my overhead projector to sketch out the design on paper. Because there were two signs, I made a pounce pattern for hand-cutting the image on vinyl (Figure 2). If the job had required many multiples, I could have cut it out of black vinyl first and then scanned, traced and cut it on the plotter.

 

Figure 3. Hand painting transferred from the Berkeley Free Clinic poster on the left. Figure 4. Pleasant Valley Dental, painting directly with projection only.

Berkeley Free Clinic (Figure 3) was created from an old poster because there was no file available. I took a digital photo of the poster and then did a color trace of the photo on the computer. It was surprising how well this worked and may have had something to do with the gold ink on the poster. Then I used the pounce attachment on my plotter to make a pattern that was acceptable for hand-painting. If I had tried to use the trace to cut vinyl on the plotter, I probably would have had to do a lot of editing.

 

Pleasant Valley Dental (Figure 4) had art work similar to silk-screen art, which is difficult to draw out for pouncing. Yet the project required a hand-painted rendering. This time I did what I call a “live-projection.” I projected the tree image and started painting with a fine brush, without a preliminary sketch! It was very fast and matched the style of the artwork well.

 

Figure 5. Rossi Cigar, before. Figure 6. (Right) Rossi Cigar, before, taken from the scaffold, which minimizes the distortion that is unavoidable when the photo is taken at a distance.

Figure 7. Rossi Cigar, in progress. Figure 8. Rossi Cigar, completed.

Rossi Cigar was a restoration of an old ghost sign that was going to be painted over completely before I began my work. The sign was far too large and high on the wall to reproduce with tracing paper. Some of the lettering may have also been too faint to trace. I solved the problem by taking a few good digital photos (Figure 5) of key elements, from a scaffold. Next I printed out the pictures and drew over them with a pen onto tracing paper. I scanned and edited the resulting vectors and reconstructed the full line of text based on larger photos and on site measurements. (Figure 6). I was then able to hand-paint the whole design using the pounce attachment on my plotter. (Figure 7 and 8). 

 

Figure 9. The original Silver Moon window done by an artist with aluminum powder? Figure 10. The new larger Silver Moon in 12k white gold.

Silver Moon was a unique hand-lettered window that needed to be reproduced and modified onto a new and larger window (Figure 9). It would have been time-consuming to the accurately render the lettering by hand on a small-scale. I took detailed, close-up photos of the original and then printed them on a transparency. I projected the photo onto paper and then taped it to the outside of the glass. I then used it as a hand-lettering pattern for gilding. It is handy to draw paper images in reverse so they can be taped on the outside, but with the lines on the inside of the paper. A separate difficulty arose when I realized that 12k white gold does not look good when applied with brushy hand-lettered fast size. So, I projected onto paint mask material and hand-cut the script, which I then applied to the glass. This allowed for a much smoother application of size which looked much cleaner with the white gold. (Figure 10).

 

Figure 11. Loka Yoga, very rough scan of art work with plotter cut paint mask. Figure 12. Loka Yoga, with outlines and paint mask removed. Figure 13. Loka Yoga, completed with mica color and 23k gold.

Loka Yoga had a new logo that was developed from old-fashioned art and now the logo needed to be reproduced onto glass. (Figure 11). The art would have been almost impossible to cut from vinyl with any method. I did a rough computer trace of the image and plotted out the result on paper with my pen attachment. I then used this pattern to hand-paint the image which was rather abstract but which was easy to follow with a brush (Figure 12). In the middle of the hand painting, I placed a paint mask of the lettering, which kept that portion sharp and clean for gilding (Figure 13).

 

Figure 14. Age Song logo, using a few enamel-receptive vinyl tricks. Figure 15. Bill’s window restoration in progress, using 3M liner on outside of glass.

Age Song had a blended and heavily-filtered computer logo that would have been uninspiring at an expanded size. I decided to hand-paint the logo, but I needed multiple copies. I made it easy by creating a new vector file to mimic the shapes of the logo. I pen-plotted the outline image on enamel receptive vinyl, and then made a second pass with the cutter. This way it was very easy to see and to weed the vinyl, after doing a loose paint blend on clear film (Figure 14).

 

Bill’s Trading Post had a lovely gilded window that was destroyed by a break-in. The replacement gilding needed to match, with different wording, similar lettering on the other side of the storefront. I was able to trace and recompose based on the existing window. I discovered that the clear backing liner for 3M vinyl works very well as tracing material (Figure 15). I used a pressurized ink pen to trace the letters which helped to make tight lines at any angle.

 

Figure 16. Quince window logo, using commissioned plotted vector art. Figure 17. Quince completed, with imitation gold (brass) leaf.

Quince required a custom fruit image to make the most of their name. I hired Scooter of Coyote Signs to create a vector image of a quince. This new image proved to be a great time saver over hand painting because I was able to get a firm client approval and then plot out the design, which could then be used for multiple purposes (Figure 16 and 17). 

Today, computer technology is opening up a myriad of new ways to be creative and profitable. But we contribute to our own obsolescence when we limit ourselves solely to digital techniques without the benefit of “hands-on” graphic art skills. I advocate using a combination of the latest technology with valuable handwork and ingenuity to create demand for our own unique brand of expertise.