My Senior Thesis in Graphic Design is a kit inspired by the traditions of sign painting, with an updated twist. The kit includes everything a beginner needs: a 50-page history book, an instructional accordion fold booklet, chisel and long liner brushes, sign painting enamels, and a palette complete with origami cups.
The project was completed over a ten week period, with the first four weeks devoted to research and photography. The extensive research I conducted completely shaped the final product. For example, through interviewing practicing craftsmen, I uncovered that bricks were an ever-useful tool in sign panting, providing a grid for lining up and measuring letters. This led me to design the packaging and book based on the proportions of a brick.
I also photographed "ghost signs" in Philadelphia and New York, and dug up early 19th Century sign painting handbooks to fill out the page layouts with relevant and accurate imagery.