This article has been edited since it first appeared in print.
An idea that dates back centuries to the dawn of retail, business signs originated as symbols engraved into buildings and have evolved alongside commerce and technology. Ever more elaborate signboards proliferated beginning in the 1300s, employing generations of artisans. By the late 18th century, overcrowded streets — and injuries caused by occasional bracket failures — led to signage restrictions and the advent of painted window signs.
By the 1990s, handmade signs of all sorts had been eclipsed by vinyl technology and digital printing. But, like record albums and Polaroid cameras, hand-lettered windows and signboards have come back in recent years, offering distinctive character and nostalgic appeal that stand in quiet contrast to sleek manufactured signs.
In Richmond, hand-lettered signs, whether wood, window or chalkboard, bring charm and a unique sense of place to local storefronts and city streets. Meet a few of the makers behind the messages.
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Brad Bacon uses an electro pounce machine to make patterns for his signs. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Photo courtesy Brad Bacon
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Photo courtesy Brad Bacon
Brad Bacon
Brad Bacon can paint pretty much anything, from funky original lettering to beautifully realistic illustrations for large-scale murals, professional signs, T-shirts and even a skateboarding half-pipe.
While he briefly studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University, the Richmond native is largely self-taught. Bacon worked in graffiti and airbrushing before progressing to sign painting. He apprenticed under a friend, hand-painting ads in New York City, before landing jobs on his own. “It really snowballed and got to the point I was able to start my own business in 2005,” he recalls.
One of Bacon’s earlier projects was the window at River City Tattoo. He used spray paint to create a loose, edgy look rather than the more controlled finish of a paintbrush. Since then, Bacon has painted signs for numerous Richmond businesses, such as En Su Boca, The Fresh Market in Carytown, Bombolini Pasta, Helen’s Restaurant and Lucky AF on Leigh Street (including the large cat mural outside the restaurant, which has become a Scott’s Addition landmark).
Bacon especially values the freedom of original designs. “You can copy and paste a computer font, or you can do something much more creative,” he says. “Hand-painted signs are just more personal and have a lot more soul.”
Simple projects can take just a couple of hours, while more complicated assignments can take a week or more. “I’ve painted on [everything from] really challenging corrugated metal to gnarly brick that’s in bad shape and has to be prepped,” Bacon says.
One of his favorite projects was painting a wall inside My Noodle & Bar on Monument Avenue. As a tribute to the bar’s extensive bourbon collection, Bacon meticulously painted bottles of Blanton’s, Elmer T. Lee, Stagg and Buffalo Trace in intricate detail, each 3 to 4 feet tall.
Some of his work has lasted decades, while other designs are fleeting. Last year for Fanboy’s holiday pop-up, Bacon painted the Grinch across the cocktail bar’s facade, then promptly painted over it in January with a silhouette of comedian Larry David. He says that’s just the nature of the business — and the fun of the job. —Laura Anders Lee
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Billie Claire (aka Claire Vendetti) with a window she painted at Shop Made in VA in Scott’s Addition. (Photo by Ash Daniel)
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A holiday window for Goodwill (Photo courtesy Billie Claire)
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A chalkboard at Lil Cakes & Creamery (Photo courtesy Billie Claire)
Billie Claire Handmade
Claire Vendetti, billieclaire.com
Claire Vendetti is a pen-and-pencil kind of girl. “It’s a beautiful way to express my connection to nature and humor,” says the artist, who is also known as Billie Claire. Her work includes custom illustrations, specialty window painting, chalkboards and interior murals.
One of her favorite projects is hand-lettering the chalkboard list of ingredients and their sources for Sweetgreen restaurant in Carytown. “I love this project and tying in the local element,” Billie Claire says. “I love the structure and making everything precise, the formatting and creating a nice layout. I nerd out over that.” She also enjoys knowing that her work helps local farms.
When Billie Claire was growing up in New Mexico, her mother was a pottery artist and elementary school teacher. One of her grandfathers was an oil painter, and the other did calligraphy. Billie Claire and her sister tackled a new art project every day — including, when she was 7, calligraphy classes.
Billie Claire’s own art career took root in Austin, Texas, where she taught first grade and an after-school craft class. In her spare time, she created greeting cards and wedding invitations for friends. When a neighbor asked Billie Claire to share a craft booth at a local market, “the lightbulb went off,” she says.
In 2016, she quit her teaching job and started her business, which she branded for her namesake and great-aunt, great-aunt Wilhemina “Billie” Claire. After moving to Richmond in 2019 to be closer to her husband’s family, she opened a wholesale line of illustrations, tote bags, stickers and greeting cards that she sells to stores including Mongrel in Carytown.
Billie Claire also enjoys large-scale work. For one recent project, she hand-lettered messages across the front windows of Goodwill’s Stratford Hills location. “It was three panels high and eight panels across,” she says. “I also did a window painting for Chick-fil-A [in Short Pump]. It was a cow in my style with a speech bubble.”
She uses white paint for window designs to ensure they pop, Billie Clairesays. “Selling in large format is one of my favorite parts of the job.” —Joan Tupponce
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The industry standard for handpainted signs is 1 Shot paint, seen here in Ross Trimmer’s Sure Hand Signs shop. (Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce)
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Photo courtesy Ross Trimmer
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Photo courtesy Ross Trimmer
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Photo courtesy Ross Trimmer
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Photo courtesy Ross Trimmer
Sure Hand Signs
Ross Trimmer, surehandsigns.com
“I never thought I’d be able to do sign painting full time, yet here I am,” Ross Trimmer says. “I really like the niche that I’m in.”
Trimmer has always been interested in painting letters. He got his start in graffiti and tattoo art before founding Sure Hand Signs in 2013. He says sign painting is first and foremost a commercial art, and he’s spent 14 years learning how to paint letters the best way and create signs that do their job well.
It’s also a very practical trade, he acknowledges. Trimmer’s work can be found on everything from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s beer labels to large-scale murals and the storefronts of some of Richmond’s most well-known businesses, including Ruby Scoops, Quirk Hotel, Idle Hands Bread Company, Fountain Bookstore and Bygones Vintage Clothing, giving each their own unique stamp.
As a child, Trimmer lived all over the place, following his father’s career in the Air Force. The family settled in Northern Virginia, where he went to high school and, following a passion for drawing and painting, took a class in graphic design — although it was called computer graphics back in the ’90s.
Seeing promise in Trimmer’s work, his teacher encouraged him to pursue art school. Virginia Commonwealth University felt like a natural fit: His teacher had gone there, VCU had a program that matched his interests, and the Richmond campus was close to his grandparents and extended family. In 2004, Trimmer graduated with an art degree with an emphasis on painting and printmaking, and Richmond became his first permanent home.
Trimmer says the strength of his business is his willingness to do just about anything. “I love to do my own designs that are super out there and crazy and eye-catching, or I’m totally happy doing a company logo four stories up so you can see it from the highway.”
Last year, he completed a window sign for World of Mirth, the landmark toy store in Carytown. Owner Thea Brown says she was looking for a sign to reflect the store’s creativity, whimsy and unique inventory. Having seen his work in Richmond, Brown says Trimmer was the obvious choice. “He matched the fun vibe of our store and our existing sign but really took it to the next level,” she says. “The backfill is glitter, and that sparkle really draws your eye. I’m so glad he took that risk for us.”
One of Trimmer’s most memorable projects was painting the sign for The Watkins at Shockoe, the luxury lofts in the former LaDIFF store on 14th Street. “They had to close the street down for me to get into a boom lift,” he recalls. “I tied myself off to the lift railing and climbed out over the ledge to paint the 3.5-foot-tall letters, two at a time.” After each section, they moved the lift and repeated the process until the 45-foot-long sign was complete.
Trimmer says his process isn’t unlike how things were done more than a century ago. “I use paper patterns, transfer everything and rely on a measuring tape — a measuring tape still works,” he says with a laugh.
A few of his time-honored techniques and materials include gold leaf, acid embossing and good old-fashioned paint. The result, he says, is work built to last, not like vinyl that degrades over time. “In a world that’s all about doing things fast and cheap, sign painting is a trade where quality still matters,” he says. “You definitely can’t rush. There’s no way to make these fast — which is really nice, because it’s the way I like to live my life.” —LAL
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Dalton Plummer in his home studio (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Photo courtesy Dalton Plummer
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Photo courtesy Dalton Plummer
Dalton Plummer
Dalton Plummer takes the energy that is always churning in his mind and turns it into a physical outlet for his art, which encompasses everything from signs and wood cutouts to murals and reverse-painted windows. “It feels good to get the energy out of your system,” he says.
Although he’s been in touch with his creative side since he learned to hold a pencil, the Goochland County native didn’t immediately go into art as a career. Instead, he took a job climbing cell phone towers for a small, private electric company in 2010 and traveled around the state for the next six years, drawing in his spare time. “The work was very physical and very dangerous,” he says.
When the job started affecting his health, Plummer left and turned to art, picking up commissioned projects here and there. “I was doing animal portraits using acrylics,” he remembers. He later took a flexible full-time job that allows him to continue creating artwork as a part-time venture.
Plummer says he has always been a fan of cartooning and lettering but “didn’t know that sign painting was a trade, a specific craft. I grew up in a family that enjoyed outdoor sports like hunting and fishing,” he says. “I didn’t know anybody that was an artist and made money.”
Working for customers all over the U.S., Plummer has crafted signs for restaurants, businesses, beach houses, trucks and motorcycles. “I do all custom work to suit anybody’s vision,” he says. One of his toughest assignments involved reverse painting — applying the color to the inside — the window at Lakeside Tattoo. “It was challenging due to the details and also learning to work on that type of surface. It was a tricky job for me,” the artist says.
Plummer enjoys the challenges, but he says his greatest pleasure is turning a customer’s idea into a final project and seeing the smile on their face. “That is one of the best feelings in the world.” —JT
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Josh Stover and Rachael Perisho at the Variety Shop studio in Brookland Park (Photo by Ash Daniel)
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Variety Shop
Josh Stover and Rachael Perisho, varietyshopstudio.com
Josh Stover and Rachael Perisho seem destined to be together in life and in art. They grew up an hour apart in Florida, but met 3,000 miles from home in Portland, Oregon.
Both were drawn to art at a young age and studied it in college — Stover at the University of Florida and Perisho at SCAD (formerly known as the Savannah College of Art and Design). They married in 2019 and have collaborated professionally on projects for Starbucks, Airbnb and Nike. “I think art helps corporations feel more relatable,” Stover says.
During their tenure in Oregon, the couple completed several murals at Nike’s Beaverton campus and its stores in Texas and Connecticut. One of their most demanding projects was the Fort Worth mural. “It was 100 degrees,” Perisho recalls. “We had to work at night and up on a lift wearing headlamps.”
In 2023, the duo decided to move back to the East Coast to be closer to family. Explaining why they chose the River City, Stover says, “Richmond feels like the perfect balance between Savannah and Portland and has a great art scene.”
Since the move, the pair have painted window signs for I Love You So Much Books and SCRAP Creative Reuse in their neighborhood of Brookland Park, where they work out of their basement studio. Other clients include Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches, Sub Rosa Bakery and Shop Two Three.
The couple credit their success to complementary skill sets and perspectives. “Josh is great at designing original fonts and lettering,” Perisho says.
“Rachael is really good at realism,” Stover replies. “Her A-frame sign for Sunday Bagel looks like a photograph. It’s kinda crazy — I can’t do that.”
The pair has recently branched out into digital logo design and branding. “Every business is so unique, and it’s fun to go in a completely different direction each time,” Stover says.
“We really value collaboration,” Perisho adds. “Client feedback leads us to ideas we never would’ve come up with on our own.” —LAL
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Sarah Apple of Lucky Signs (Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce)
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Photo courtesy Sarah Apple
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Photo courtesy Sarah Apple
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Photo courtesy Sarah Apple
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Photo courtesy Sarah Apple
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Photo courtesy Sarah Apple
Lucky Signs
Sarah Apple, luckysignsrva.com
A North Carolina native, Sarah Apple moved to Richmond to study illustration at Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduating in 2014, she took a side job to figure out what she wanted to do next.
While working in the former Dog & Pig Show restaurant in Church Hill, she volunteered to write the daily specials on the chalkboard. “It was fun because I got to experiment a lot and throw things at the wall to see what worked,” Apple says.
What began as a satisfying creative outlet quickly became something greater. “I realized there was a huge need for signage, not just at restaurants but literally at every business,” she says.
After that, she started learning as much as she could about the craft, taking workshops and experimenting with different design techniques. “There’s a time and a place to use certain fonts and letter styles,” she says. “It’s important to know when to use something friendly and casual versus something serious or high-end.”
Fellow artist Ross Trimmer, who happened to be working on the window sign at the same restaurant, “really taught me a lot,” Apple says. “[Sign painters are] a really tight-knit group, all working to preserve the integrity of the craft. There’s definitely a wrong and a right way to do things.”
In 2017, Apple started her own business, Lucky Signs — the name inspired by her belief in signs both literal and symbolic. She progressed from chalkboards to A-frame sidewalk signs, then window signs and hanging blade signs. Apple has worked with the branding agency Campfire & Co., the coworking space Gather, and popular restaurants such as Sugar & Twine, Zorch Pizza, and Stanley’s. The hot-dog-shaped blade sign at The Mayor in Carytown is hers, too.
Apple says hand-painted signs are worth the investment, offering a level of artistry, individuality and warmth that three-dimensional light-up signs can’t match. “I understand opening a business is very expensive,” she says. “A lot of times I come in after a year, when a business is ready to upgrade and get something that better suits their aesthetic.”
She recently completed her most challenging project to date: a gilded window sign for her friend’s tattoo studio, Nostalgia, in Brookland Park. The 3-by-4-foot floral design is outlined in gilt and took 25 hours to complete.
“It turned out really beautiful,” Apple says. “It’s just really intricate. I’m so proud of that one.”
Gilding, she notes, is a difficult skill, one she learned from Trimmer. “First, you apply gold leaf to the glass,” she explains. “To make it stick, you use an oil substance or water in a process called water gilding. It’s very precise and scientific, but it immediately elevates a business.”
Apple also gilded the window sign for Truckle Cheesemongers in the Fan, including a giant wheel of cheese rendered in gold leaf. “We wanted to foster community in Richmond and in the neighborhood, and having someone local actually paint our signage by hand was important,” owner Maggie Bradshaw says.
Apple, based in Midlothian, completes anywhere from a dozen to 40 projects in a year. One of her favorite aspects of the craft is its lasting impact on the community. “Hand-painted signs just age so beautifully,” she says. “Just look at all the ghost signs in Richmond, those faded painted signs on brick buildings that are 100 years old — like the ‘Uneeda Biscuit’ sign on 25th Street. There’s just something richer and deeper about paint that you don’t get with vinyl.” —LAL
