Paper Grocery Signs with John Downer

Traditional paper grocery store window signs are a classic American sign (painting) staple requiring lettering, layout and production skills. In this hands-on workshop, learn to letter and design layouts for paper signs and to work with Japan color paint on butcher paper as well as the tricks of the trade to do professional quality signs quickly.

Day one will focus on layout and letter design and day two will focus on execution and tricks of the trade for fast production.

Required Materials

• Scissors
• Yardstick
• Pencil & eraser
• Sharpie fine point, black
• Optional, but recommended, a 24" mailing tube
• Apron
• 3 empty, rinsed, aluminum beverage cans
• approximately $50 for Mack series 162 brushes, and shared materials: Ronan Superfine Japan Color paint, turpentine, and paper [this will be payable in cash during the first class session]

Class size is limited to 16 people.

Mr. Downer is a sign painter, a typeface designer, and an educator. He has written about type and type history for various publications and is widely known as a perceptive type critic. His typefaces have been published by Bitstream, Font Bureau, Emigre, House Industries, and Design Lab. Among his most popular type designs are Iowan Old Style (on Apple Books and iOS 7+), Roxy, Ironmonger, and the ubiquitous food and beverage branding favorite, Brothers.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, a region of the US with a rich history of sign painting and hand-lettering, Mr. Downer was first introduced to commercial pen & brush lettering in the 1960s in junior high school. He began an apprenticeship in a sign painting shop at age 18. He holds BA, MA, and MFA degrees in art.

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. He began teaching lettering at the university level in 1972, making him one of the most experienced American educators in the fields of lettering and typeface design. He’s been teaching in the Type@Cooper program at The Cooper Union since its founding in 2010. He established the Sign Painting Support Group on Facebook as a platform to educate and guide serious enthusiasts and professionals in the principles of letter construction and the tricks of the trade.

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