Lettering / Ryans Editorial

I think Denise posted these once... I think.

 

Another I really liked..............

 

I LOVE the old hand lettering on race cars, dragstrip or roadrace, even dirt trackers.

I'll play along and repost my grandpa's racer pic. Can't get more hand lettered than that...

 

on the other end of the spectrum, I ran across a tow rig in the parking lot over the weekend. It had some marginal (at best) airbrush work on the doors. The lettering on the doors was "Bad Man Raceing"

I think rule #1 for someone painting something on a car... MUST BE ABLE TO SPELL CORRECTLY!!!

 

For me, there is a second part to this. The lost art of lettering is certainly missed, but also the HUMOR in the lettering on some of the cars. It was just a more FUN time.

I think that's a big part of why I like Roothawg's car so much.

These may not all be great examples, but you see what I mean.

 

That's a lot of what separates the men from the boys in today's graphic design world (no matter what tools you are using). We have a team of 8 young "graphic artists" here where I work. I would be flabberghasted if ANY of them even knew what leading is. (And if they'd seen it as an adjustable function in their favorite graphics program, they'd probably pronounce it incorrectly.) Try to get them to understand the difference between kerning and tracking and you might harm some brain cells.

Look at the 304 in this pic that Rockabilly Tim posted. See how the numerals actually touch one another? But the dark outline goes around everything. Yet it's still highly legible! How much of the stuff "professionals" send to the vinyl cutter (or the inkjet printer or commercial printing press for that matter) would have that level of craft?

 

Yeah, those are from a yard crawl in SW Michigan... been contemplating going out there with a battery powered sawzall to claim those 1/4's for my wall...

 

Man this is great stuff, i loved the editorial. When i was a kid my best friend was a sign painter. In the summer we went to the mountains of new mexico and he would hand paint signs for the towns and in winter here in TX. he would do cars and a little of everything. It was unbelievable the amount of tallent he had, he would paint a car with no pattern just a brush using his fingers as a guide and it would be perfect! This brought back some good memories.

 

What a great post/editorial.

Slide, that's just a good eye for design. Makes no difference if you apply the letters with a mouse or a paint brush. There are masters and hacks of both instruments.

You're right though... kids today don't have a clue about the nuances of type. I used to critique student work and help build their portfolios. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've seen or the answers to questions posed to them. Graphic Design education today is focused on turning out the kids and teaching them programs with no clue about the real world or detail. It's depressing to me sometimes.

 

Yeah, Django, you are so correct. A few years ago a bored Dentist's wife could go pick up a Mac and a copy of Quark and all of a sudden she was a designer.

Now (most of) the kids coming out of school aren't any better.

Keep in mind that the dudes with a brush didn't/don't depend on the typographer/font designer to hand them the proper glyph spacing. They did/do it by eye-- on the fly. Now we (myself included) just bang out the stuff and whatever's built into the font is often what we take. (This is one reason why some digital fonts cost more than others... they are better for a reason, and the good ones rarely require any hand-kerning.)

As you mentioned, it's just like any other profession, there are good ones and bad ones no matter how they do it.

 

Sign painting has gone the way of so many other trades. It really is a craft now. The large majority of people are more than eager to pay less for Helvetica vinyl letters that can be plotted, cut and weeded in a matter of minutes. Look at IKEA, for instance, most folks are content with pre-fabbed reasonably decent looking CHEAP furniture (my kids bunk beds) as opposed to hand built furniture which, of course, comes with a much higher price tag. In almost every instance, the hand crafted, "high rent" stuff is simply being manufactured the ONLY way it could have been produced in the past, by hand (Kinda weird, huh?!). Technology brings automation, and in many ways, uniformity and near perfection (in theory, of course). The irony is that we are the demographic that is drawn to products with the human touch, or in the very least, old world manufacturing processes.
Another thing I find interesting. The super fine line of having a product that is made by hand by a true craftsman, something that rivals the so-called perfection of an automated modern process, versus something that is a bit more "funky" and obviously hand made, arts and craft style. This is where our nostalgic way of life comes in and there is a tendency to OVER DO what we perceive as traditional. Usually it involves a few extra helpings of FUNK! KevinLee (HAMB) had a great thread regarding engine turned pieces in which he brought up the use of pre-fabricated sheets versus laid out and machined by hand parts. Kevin made note of the quality of the work. It's not enough to do it by hand, it should also be done with as much accuracy as is HUMANLY possible. That's the trick, I believe, to end up with a piece that is of the highest standards but built with the human touch.
After all is said and done, there will always be a place for craftsmen to make some sort of living in this modern world. It'll never be for the masses but more for individuals wanting to own something with a bit more soul than you can get at the local outlet mall.

 

Jeems post made me think of the paralell of CNC MACHINED BILLET vs Hand cast alloy, for instance compare billet cnc machined valve covers vs oldschool
cast ones...

 

I'm a sucker for lettering too.

There was a crazy old coot used to have a shop in front of mine that did hand lettering. I wish I had gotten to know him better and realize just what a craft it was, it's dying now because of damn computers.

Hey Daemon, what the hell's going on with yer' head these days, you're looking a serial murderer.

 

to much focus on just pinstriping, i prefer lettering over pinstriping anyday
for me pinstriping is something that should surround an lettering...
not that i do not like pinstriping, just do not want to have it on any of my cars, wouldnt mind having it on art on my walls though

nads: are you talking about the outside or inside of my head?

 

BOTH, Jesus, you done lost yer' mind.

 

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures. I'm a retired sign painter from; as you
guys say, back in the day. Had a great time lettering race and drag cars. I
currently have a '34 Ford pickup with a 350. Dropped axel, no fenders. A real
'50s style rod. And a lettering job on the to do list. It's great to see someone
elses work. Keep up the search.

 

Graphic artists shouldn't be allowed to design a logo until they have picked up a brush and painted one by hand on the lower fender of a car.

 

It's not just lettering that's gone out of style; as an old-timer that started as a draftsman back in 1960, the quality of most CADD drawings today SUCKS!!! (and I use CADD everyday and love it) It's possible to make a good looking CADD drawing, but most of the youngsters today have never been taught the basics of what makes a technical drawing look good.

Another of my favorite complaints is the graphic layout of most 'specialty magazines' (Aircraft, Auto, Antique equipment). My favorite is when they do a picture spread and position the photos as if they are spead-out on on a table, tilted and overlapping each other, or there is a beautiful 2-page spread of an airplane (car, truck, whatever) with the text of the article over-printed on the picture. It ruins the picture and makes the text hard to read.

 

4t6-- right on. The best designers I know have the "traditional" skills to back it up.... whether it's in paint, markers, or X-Acto knives.

 

Along with car/truck lettering, old gas stations are a great place to look for some great lettering. As was already mentioned, it's not only the lettering style that makes it cool, it's also what's being said. The messages are often as utilitarian as the lettering style...that's why you see lettering (or neon) that says "AIR CONDITIONING" on old bar signs. When it's hotter then hell and air conditioning wasn't all that common, you advertise it!

Here are a few old gas station lettering examples I boosted from http://www.vintagegas.com.

Also, check out Robert Genat's book "The American Car Dealership"...it's got a lot of great old dealership/service station photos with some primo examples of hand-lettered signs and windows.

I'm also sneaking in a couple of photos of a friend's old race cars (both cammers!). These are dancing on the edge of the overdone 70's lettering, but I still think they are pretty slick. The red white and blue Mustang was definitely over the top, but the actual lettering is very classic. If it wasn't in gold leaf, it wouldn't have looked out of place a couple of decades earlier.
Curt

 

Here's a link to a picture my '63 Impala with drag racing style lettering. This is my first attempt at hand lettering. Not the best looking stuff in the world, but it'll do. I learned a lot by actually doing this, so my next attempt should look better. Before I painted the lettering, I received a lot of pointers and advice from ElPolacko's dad Len who used to do signs, lettering and pinstriping professionally. Armed with Len's advice, I decided to just give it a go.



http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=165032&d=1140632016

 

My sentiments exactly!

 

My 66 dart. I did all the job with One Shot paint.

 

I totally agree. I go to school at the Art Institute of Colorado, and there are so many students here that will never make it in the business. They have no traditional skills at all! The only students here that can paint and draw are Animation students...and some of them even suck. When other students see my drawing and painting skills they ask me why I'm not in animation. WTF, are graphic designers not suppose to be able to draw anymore?

I'm all about studying classic forms of lettering, whether it be old street signs, advertisements, billboards, posters, even tattoos. I have the traditional skills to back it up, and I'm hoping that employers will notice and that it will help me get a good carreer when I graduate.

A wise man once said, "You have to know where you come from, to be able to know where you're going."

 

I originally posted this on the Friday art thread, but perhaps it'll be more at home here.

Twenty-odd years ago, I was a member of the Vintage Auto Racing Assn in SoCal, and we wanted to advertise an event we were planning at Willow Springs. I volunteered to do an ad, and then realized that I had no resources: no access to type, or halftones, or any of the components to create an ad for reproduction. I decided that I could do it the old fashioned way -- just draw and hand letter everything in black ink. This was the result, done in one pass with felt-tip pens and no retouching. I'm disappointed with my scan because the piece is considerably sharper than this.

 

heck, this thread got me thinking, i'm gonna order some pinstriping stuff so i can letter and outline the lettering i will do on my garage walls etc..
gonna play some with an airbrush aswell..
cool thing is that my girlfriend is educated in classic painting and also
really like these kinda stuff, so we will have some real fun doing all the paintings

heck maybe i should turn her into tattooing aswell?, i still got some space left..


nads: if you ever find it, LET ME KNOW!!!

 

Man sure love old race cars lettered up and stuff painted on brick walls in towns and cities as advertisements. And yes i agree that the vinyl letters make it so damn easy to get it done , but without style. Today we were at a sale and buddy and fellow HAMBer "biggen" scored this lettering box. Looks like they use to have decals in this box and take to job site to stick on stuff. I guess this was the beginning of the end for hand painted stuff. Man what a cool box. I really like the one that says that it costs 2 1/2 cents each.

 

Good Evening,

I was interested to know if you knew Quinn Epperly and if that was the Spirit of America car he helped build that has the misspelled name?

Thanks,
Christie (Epperly) McCarthy