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I am not only interested in vintage design, architecture, lounge music and umm… stewardesses but also graphic design and typography seeing it has been my major subject in college and what what I work with for a living in a way. One thing that caught my attention lately are those old handwritten posters and placates that were found in major stores and outlets. Handwritten of course, they were in their own way a work of art. Done correctly they would both look elegant and selling. Of course, the effect would be the opposite if they were done the wrong way. Here are a couple of nice examples taken from a book about how to learn the quick lettering technique used for signs and billboards. Now grab your pens and start practicing.


About the author: Chris

Founded Ultra Swank in 2005. Has a crush on Pan Am, Disneyland and the Century 21 Exposition. Lives life as an expat in Barcelona, Spain.

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By Chris

April 18th, 2008

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Comments for this post

  • Charles

    If only some smart guy could create a font! I could create samples of what NOT to do. I actually miss these old hand drawn signs. Supermarkets are not as fun as they used to be.

  • Chris

    There are of course typefaces like that out there, but they need some tweaking and work to look like that. The best thing is to get a Wacom board and draw your own texts, just like in the signs!

  • Traitor Vic

    I’ve got a friend (pretty old fella, actually) who got his start as a graphic artist painting Coca-Cola Signs on the sides of buildings back in the 50s. From there he went on to become a professional Sign Painter. While his work was, perhaps, a bit more classy than the drawn signs in most stores, they are both dying (practically dead) artforms. I miss it all.

  • Chris

    Got any link where we can see his work Traitor Vic?

  • ANNA-LYS

    I never thought of this before, that it actually was an experience in itself to look at this artfully hand-made “extra-pris skyltningar”. But, I agree, it was!!!

  • Anonymous

    Pop Art!

Ultra Swank – Your one stop blog for retro living, style and design

Ultra Swank takes you back in time into the kitsch, chic and swank living of the 50s, 60s and the 70s. We mainly focus on the design, architecture and the lifestyle of the happy-go-lucky and space-age-living mentality of that era – but also on the music and movies that takes you back to happier times. Ultra Swank is run by Chris, a Swede born in the wrong decade that currently resides in Barcelona. Read more

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