{"id":6140,"date":"2013-06-29T11:26:42","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T15:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=6140"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:21:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:21:48","slug":"film-review-sign-painters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/29\/film-review-sign-painters\/","title":{"rendered":"Film Review: Sign Painters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"signpainters1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even though many hours of my life are spent watching films, I rarely sit down and write a review about one. But this particular film left an impression on me and would be quite interesting for anyone working in a skilled trade industry–like bookbinding.<\/p>\n

In 2010, filmmakers Faythe Levine and Sam Macon began documenting the dedicated practitioners of a somewhat dwindling industry in Sign Painters<\/em><\/a>. The film follows a handful of artistic (sometimes egotistical) and witty characters who are both veterans and newcomers to the industry. The audience gets some insight to an industry that is over 150 years old, how it was affected by the onset of technology and the ways it’s bouncing back.\u00a0
<\/i><\/p>\n

\"signpainters2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign painters are responsible for decades of hand-painted signs for businesses, in the form of advertisements, announcements and notifications. Not only were sign painters incredibly skilled with a brush, but had a deep understanding of lettering and design. In a culture where now just about everyone has access to design programs and a printer, signs have been less permanent and more unattractive. As one sign painter in the film puts it: We’ve become a culture dumbed-down aesthetically.<\/p>\n

The history and future of sign painters is visible through each hand-painted sign, whether freshly painted or aged through decades of wear and to those who dedicate themselves (not to a life of wealth), but to the love of lettering, design and painting.<\/p>\n

\"signpainters5\"<\/a>

Snippet from the opening sequence–one of my more favorite hand-painted signs in my hometown!<\/p><\/div>\n

Finally, another quote from the film that I find to be particularly lovely—“I think that every human being has the capability of altering their environment for the better with their bare hands.”<\/p>\n

Now for a documentary about Bookbinders!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though many hours of my life are spent watching films, I rarely sit down and write a review about one. But this particular film left an impression on me and would be quite interesting for anyone working in a skilled trade industry–like bookbinding. In 2010, filmmakers Faythe Levine and Sam Macon began documenting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16,18,295],"tags":[600,1133,1134,1132],"class_list":["post-6140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artist","category-moving-images","category-tradition-of-craft","tag-documentary","tag-faythe-levine","tag-sam-macon","tag-sign-painters"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-1B2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6067,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/23\/daily-glimpse-with-anna-14-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":6140,"position":0},"title":"Daily Glimpse with Anna","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"June 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"DAY FOURTEEN At 12:10 in the afternoon I was touring the Samurai! exhibit at the MFA before viewing the doc Sign Painters, while Anna was at the Hollywood farmers market--just ate the best strawberry of her life!!","rel":"","context":"In "daily glimpse"","block_context":{"text":"daily glimpse","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/daily-glimpse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"day14_meanna","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/day14_meanna-1024x512.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/day14_meanna-1024x512.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/day14_meanna-1024x512.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8641,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/14\/fort-point-arts-community-open-studios-october-17-19\/","url_meta":{"origin":6140,"position":1},"title":"Fort Point Arts Community Open Studios \/\/ October 17 – 19","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"October 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Come by the historic waterfront neighborhood of\u00a0Fort Point for the 35th FPAC Open Studios. Stroll through the many warehouses that are home to painters, sculptors, ceramicists, jewelers, performance artists, printmakers, book artists, photographers and more. Herringbone Bindery will be participating along with Colin Urbina of Third Year Studio\u00a0at 369 Congress\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "bookbinding"","block_context":{"text":"bookbinding","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/bookbinding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/FPAC-OpenStudios.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/FPAC-OpenStudios.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/FPAC-OpenStudios.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/FPAC-OpenStudios.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12146,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/31\/swell-things-no-52\/","url_meta":{"origin":6140,"position":2},"title":"Swell Things No. 52","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"1. The work of Rose Nestler can be both playful and intrusive. Using traditional sculptural and sewing techniques, Nestler manipulates fabric into these large-scale objects that speak to our ideals on clothing and how they perpetuate patriarchal standards and norms around gender and sexuality. Her pieces stand alone or become\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/stno52a.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/stno52a.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/stno52a.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6108,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/30\/swell-things-no-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":6140,"position":3},"title":"Swell Things No. 6","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"June 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"1. House of Holland :: Resort 2014 \/\/ Baby Love\u00a0is bursting with colors and patterns2. L\u00e9o Caillard and Alexis Persani digitally dress up classical sculptures at the Louvre in some hipster threads; taking a humorous spin on the contrast between contemporary and classic culture. | snagged from Design Boom3. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/stno6c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/stno6c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/stno6c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5694,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/20\/book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":6140,"position":4},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2010, Susan Collard created her smallest book to date with a wide range of materials including birch aircraft plywood, basswood, slate, various metals, mirrors, linen thread and a shell.\u00a0Small Museum of Nature and Industry is a bit fatter than a perfect cube with dimensions of 2\" x 2\" x\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/smallmuseum3-susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/smallmuseum3-susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/smallmuseum3-susancollard.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9263,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/09\/sign-up-for-the-monthly-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":6140,"position":5},"title":"Sign Up for the Monthly Newsletter","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm excited to announce the launch of the Herringbone Bindery newsletter. 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