Years ago I became fascinated with written letters used to convey thoughts. I enjoyed just looking at all the different styles and how they were used to enhance copy for extra emphasis, how they were attention grabbing, or simply how they displayed artistic beauty. I really liked Japanese and Middle Eastern calligraphy, even though I had no idea what the words meant.

I tried to use what I thought I learned when I got into sign making. I’m sure my early work was a little lacking but I think I did develop a better use and technique over the years.

As part of my sign making early on, I didn’t have a computer so I relied on books and magazines for ideas and inspiration. When I saw alphabets I liked, I would either draw them the size I needed, or later photocopy and enlarge them. When I thought I would use that style again I took the time and trouble to make ¼” thick templates of the letters, sometimes in more than one size. After several years I had accumulated several boxes of these templates. I imagine I had spent several hundred hours making them.

Now I find I don’t have as many signs to make except for the ones I make just for fun. When I do get a commercial job, I simply find a font on free sites online, print what I need, photo-enlarge the copy to the correct size, and transfer it onto the sign face for carving, routing, or sandblasting.

This had left me with several boxes of letter templates that were taking up space. I didn’t have any idea what to do with them, so I simply put them in my shop dumpster and sent them to the waste-to-energy site.

I did, however, save a few templates for an “art” project I created after listening to a certain national politician constantly exercising his mouth to get attention.

 Ken Kaiyala
8-23-2024