Our visiting lecturer today was sign writer Jack Hollands. Having graduated from UCA with a degree in Graphic Design, Hollands has since dedicated his career to learning the craft of sign writing. He achieved this undertaking internships with gold leaf specialist Dave Smith and Italy based sign writer Nick Garrett.

Hollands informed us in the talk that he prefers creating all of his signage freehand, explaining that working with stencils and masking tape can often give harsh edges that leave the type feeling less organic. He’s also spent time creating his own specific ratio of gelatine to water to ensure that the gold leaf he uses has a clear reflective quality, advancing from a classically murky finish.

I found the talk interesting, if not overly engaging. In my mind Hollands didn’t seem to be particularly impassioned by what he was talking about, but then I’m not sure if he was a little nervous. He was particularly damning of his experience with his degree. The thing that resonated the most with me though, was a quote from designer Eric Gill that “you have to strive for mechanical perfection, but know that you’re never going to get there.”

Images sourced from www.signwritingjack.com

 

Liv Siddall is currently editor of the Rough Trade publication. A Graphic Design graduate from Kingson, Siddall has spent most of her career working for the design blog ‘It’s Nice That.’ Liv took the stage with an almost nervous charisma. She talked of her experience in the world of blogs with a real passion, but in a way that felt like she didn’t feel she deserved to be talking about it. She was definitely the most engaging speaker I feel we’ve had so far.

She presented us with tips on how to tackle small budgeting in publication making. She gave us tips from her friends in the business and a massive selection of examples of their work. It was great to hear from someone who was surviving in the industry and had a good knowledge of how to use the internet to their advantage- something that has been severely lacking from the other speakers.

“Don’t get mad, get drawing.”