Sign Painters
Regular price
€23.99
There was a time-as recently as the 1980s-when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our visual landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade. In 2010 filmmakers Faythe Levine, coauthor of Handmade Nation , and Sam Macon began documenting these dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship. Sign Painters , the first anecdotal history of the craft, features stories and photographs of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States.
Since graduating from High School Faythe Levine hasn't stopped working on project after project. Her interest in outsider communities, artists and the stories and people whom often get overlooked have propelled her to travel extensively. The constant in Faythe's 20 years of creative work is her dedication to documenting her day to day life and travels through photographs and correspondence (once handwritten letters, now more commonly through social networking sites). This dedication has allowed her creative community to have an international reach full of a variety of both famous and infamous people of all types. Sam Macon is a ?lmmaker. He directs television commercials, music videos, short-form documentaries and Web-based video content through production company Radar Studios. He also helms commercial projects in Paris through Cosa Productions and in Moscow with Bazaleves Films. He is currently working on the feature-length documentary Sign Painters. In addition to directing, Sam has taught video production at the Chicago Portfolio School and has been a guest lecturer at DePaul University and Syracuse University.