In 2008, Rebecca Seddon left her job in physics to join her husband in their family sign writing business. With no practical experience, but a love of homewares, Rebecca began thinking about how she could combine that passion with the sign writing techniques, materials and skills; and so, Boutique Sign Company was born.
“I started out making name plaques for children and then followed that with a few years of doing signage for weddings (seating plans, welcome signs, etc). But then I stumbled on the idea of house signs. I really love homewares and enjoy the idea of making a great first impression at the entry of a home, with a product that has obviously been custom-made.”
Liking her house signs to have a classic feel: “Because unlike cushions, throws or bedding they’re not going to be updated or changed from one season to another,” Rebecca has a wide array of signs on offer. “All our signs are made to order so our clients can further personalise their house signs by tweaking the colour, size or font. Also, a proof is included in the cost of our signs so our clients know exactly what they’re getting.”
With styles that suit all types of homes — from terraces and Queenslanders through to cottages and Victorian homes — Rebecca believes her house signs are the perfect finishing touch to your abode. Made with longevity in mind, all signs are three-dimensional, featuring raised acrylic letters or perspex faces to give a sophisticated finish. And excitingly they’ll soon be releasing a brand new gold leaf design (with 23 carat gold), and what’s more sophisticated than that?!
It was at age 15 that TJ Guzzardi began his journey to becoming a sign maker, taking his bass guitar to be pinstriped and being inspired to give it a go himself.
Photo Credit: Andrew Watson
“I saw a guy doing pinstripe designs on my double bass,” says TJ. “And while I watched him, I thought that’d be pretty cool to learn to do and so I decided to give it a try.” From there, he bought some brushes and started painting. Thanks to his dad owning a hot rod shop, TJ’s skills continued to grow, being commissioned by his clients to paint their cars.
TJ’s Melbourne workshop. Photo Credit: Andrew Watson
Yet it wasn’t until five years later that TJ really found his groove, when he took the jump from pinstriping to lettering. “I was asked to do a tattoo shop sign for a friend and I had never done any lettering before,” he explains. “I was always scared to give it a go but we designed it together and I painted it. Through that, I left some business cards and from there all the work I’ve done has slowly built up to a full-time job. Now I have jobs booked through to September which is really cool.”
Since those initial days, the self-taught sign maker has gone far, literally, with TJ having travelled around Australia painting signs, created a couple of signs for Mexican soft drink company, Jarritos, as well as being commissioned by Harley Davidson. “They invited me to create a helmet and paint one for an art show which they ended up buying and displaying in their Sydney head office,” says TJ. “They gave me a brand new helmet to do whatever I liked with, and I got to be very creative and make it look like it was 40 years old and all distressed.”
Harley Davidson helmet. Photo: Andrew Watson
A lover of everything 1950s, all his signs have a definite vintage vibe, something else which harks back to his childhood: “When I was a kid, my parents dressed very 50s,” explains TJ. “My dad was very Grease like, he had the slicked back hair and the leather jacket. I was kind of just brought up in that culture and have taken that and then combined it with my own feel.”
Painting on salvaged materials — anything from a toilet seat to an old trunk — TJ is not afraid to paint on any surface: “If the paint sticks to something, I’ll paint on it!” His sign making process is very delicate and time-consuming and is something that a select few will get to experience during the Meet Your Makers Studio, a new feature at the upcoming Life Instyle trade fair in Melbourne.
TJ’s Melbourne workshop. Photo Credit: Andrew Watson
Featuring artists and designers, including TJ, these live workshops will give visitors a unique opportunity to see how these creators bring their designs to life. “I’ll be painting one of my signs on the day, either an old sign for a café or just a decorative sign,” explains TJ. “I thought it’d be something cool to be involved in, a place where I could show my work to a different audience, compared to those who I normally do my work for.”
Life Instyle Melbourne is being held at the Royal Exhibition Building from 31 July to 3 August 2014. TJ’s workshop is on Thursday 31 July from 10-11.30am. More information on this trade-only event can be found here.
