This time last year, I had to abandon this sign, leaving it to the mercy of a construction crew in an empty building. I left it with screws, bolts, rawlplugs and mounting instructions and quit France.
It's such a pleasure to see it up on the brand new facade letting everyone on the D93 know that La Boulangerie-Patisserie du Grand Barry is finally open.

Grand Barry is the name of the rocky outcrop behind the village of Vercheny (Drome). I immediately liked the name - in my head it was Big Bazza :-)

If you're curious about the 'font,' it isn't one. This is custom lettering inspired by a ghost sign in the nearby town of Die (swipe left to see it). But as the work progressed, I realised skinny lettering wasn't well suited to hearty loaves and indulgent cakes, so the letters got stouter. I gave them gold-leaf 'fillings' too.

For the first time, I submitted my ideas to the clients not just as a PDF but also as a sample letter so they could see the real paint colours and the leaf shining.

After that, it got technical. I realised I'd be gone by the time the wall was repointed and so devised a system for fitting the 5m sign to the irregular stone. I made a lightweight wooden chassis which would hold on a single screw so the fixation points could be marked out (see photo if bored teen demonstrating this). Afterwards the three front pieces could be fixed to the chassis.

A massive thanks to Laurie & Hugo for trusting me with their bakery-baby. I'm delighted with the results even if we all had to wait for them. Big-up Big Bazza - you can check them out here:
@la_boulangerie_du_grand_barry


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When I finish designing a logo/lettering for a client, the usual format for the graphic guidelines is a PDF, which they can send to anyone who needs it.
This time, working for the new Grand Barry bakery which will open in Vercheny, I used some scraps of wood and rattled off one letter to see what it would really look like. Check the little flashes of gold leaf.
Pretty tidy, huh?
The real thing will be 4m long. Still not sure how I'll deliver it but I can't wait to start the build...

BTW, I'm not taking any new French commissions now - go hassle my co-worker Yoann @lepignonpeint

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#alwayshandpaint
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#jillstrongart