Artisanal Advertising: Reviving the Tradition of Hand-Painted Signs

January 13th, 2014 
For most of the 20th century, nearly every business hired sign painters to attract new customers with their skillfully arranged lettering and images, whether painted on a billboard, window pane, or the side of an old barn. Then in the 1980s, automated cutting plotters began flooding the market. These devices printed lettering onto sheets of adhesive-backed vinyl that could be applied to lighted signs, windows, or even the sides of vehicles.

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