About Nick Garrett Traditional Sign Writer London
ABOUT NICK: A COMPLEX YET KIND MIX OF PARTS
My first experience of lettering as a kid was watching my grandfather Francis Baker carve serif letters in stone.
From grandfather I get my understanding of classical beauty.
Nick’s lettering master grandfather Master Mason Francis Robert Baker.
Drawing. Nick Garrett
FAMILY: A POWERFUL DRIVING FORCE
My Passion for studying and painting Roman & Classical London Letters began at the knee of my grandfather.
But it was my mum who put me there and pushed me (with him) to paint seriously and become an important artist.
ART MAKER: A LOVE OF CLASSICS
GRADUATION FROM UCLA
At 21 I graduated from Camberwell School of art with an honours degree in Fine Art, winning first prize .
Camberwell gave me accuracy, shape composition and tonal control.
Fine Art Portrait as student (aged 16 yrs)
Portrait of a girl | Drawing | Figurative skills development | Camberwell College of Art 1981
Fine Art Portraiture today as pro sign artist
Portrait Augustus Adams | Oil on panel | Pall Mall Galleries 2024
Pallet | Enamel Paint | Signwriting training | Learning with Andrew Whitmore
ENGLISH SIGN WRITER
I kept the pallet in my hand from my fine art training days. It was comfortable and allowed me to control the mix and flow of sign writing enamel.
Only recently, due to influence of USA poster writing trends, have I included ‘Pot and Stick’ working practices.
Unlike US counterparts, I rarely work without the trusty Mahl stick.
1989 | Dragons of Walton Street | NGS Signwriting early works
Always by hand
LEARNING FROM ANDY WHITMORE
EARLY SIGNWRITING TRAINING & CAREER
1988 | Pheonix & Firkin, Denmark Hill | NGS Signwriting early works
I started my signwriting apprenticeship with the incredible poster-writer Andrew Whitmore, before trading independently as a London brewery gilder and sign maker for Watneys, Benskins and Taylor Walker, winning Best Pub Sign in my first year.
skills acquisition
From Andy Whitmore I get my brushskills: clean, flowing lettering.
Loving Trajan & Bodoni Letters | Hand Painted | London
Since growing up within a sign lettering family heritage I have always had a love for it, more so than for fine art… and today I enjoy sharing a bit of knowledge with my clients, my curiosity about design and craftsmanship.
1985-95
THE LOVE OF COLOUR | INTERIOR FINISHING | ‘SHABBY CHIC’ INVENTOR
Having lived, worked and travelled extensively as a successful furniture finisher and designer with Tricia Guild founder of Designers Guild UK, London remains an increasingly beautiful city and design hub Which offers creatives the chance to do something new.
When I was asked to recreate Santa Fe finishes in 86 only one other artist was doing this in NYC. I became the pioneer of what became known as Shabby Chic, which led in turn to me designing and selling ranges of furniture to global retail.
SKILLS ACQUISITION
From Tricia Guild I get my sense of colour.
Creating painted furniture in 1988 | Shabby Chic | Designers Guild London
Applying Shabby Chic furniture finishes to Interior Sign Murals.
Ghost Sign branding | Design Progressions
AN EVER WIDENING RANGE OF WORKS TODAY
”My sign work covers the simplest painted house numeral to the most glorious glass gilding. But I also offer many other custom lettering design services…”
There are many secrets in making bespoke letters look absolutely right – it takes years of experience to know which ones to use, the right sizes and spacing – I never use gimmicks.
TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT:
GOLD LEAF WORKS
I stop at nothing to create the perfect final, precision piece, sourcing the best specialist materials from UK, Italy, and Germany and the finest hand pounded English or Italian 23 and 24ct gold leaf. The result is a clean, sleek product.
GHOST SIGNS
Aside from the pristine… I can also make a sign look 150 years old.
BESPOKE TOOLS
Brushes are incredibly important to me, my own collection being handed down by several elder writers and sourced from all over the world including Handovers, Windsor and Newton, USA Kafka, the German Mack brushes and even Chinese and Japanese Zen calligraphy brushes
With this complete custom made set of tools I can create any type of letter in the world.
NGS NEW UNIQUE FONTS
I have also 25 years of graphic design experience to infuse the writing with absolutely the finest compositional design and layout.
Being an artist has made possible the creation of my own unique London Vintage Fonts. So today I can offer clients truly unique bespoke creations, based on the elder master writers of London, for you to use with the modern twist of today.
These bespoke London fonts are now available online and featured on the website.
SHARING. TEACHING. THE REVIVAL.
I ran regular workshops titled London Signsmiths sharing the love and knowledge for the next generations. It’s great fun seeing young artists flourish.
This project is now ended as I always intended for it to run while rebuilding the craft. The Signsmiths project ran from 2013-2020 and was a huge success.
Many of my past students are now practising writers and keeping the tradition alive.
Today
There are just a few genuine freehand writers in London.
I found teaching began to drain me so today I’m concentrating completely on my own lettering journey giving all my special clients the best from my brush: by eye, hand and heart… as I have always done.
It’s as simple as that, making good things to share and enjoy.
Nick Garrett
07960113799
