After a weird and dynamic week I finally finished the mural at the new building of Solaes. I had to print some t-shirts first at Goed voor Goed. So yes, screenprinted shirts is a thing I do as well but let me be clear. I don't take every printing job. It was my day job at one point but I left that in the past. I just want to do cool shirt designs and print some cool things for local businesses who I like and support. Things like "De Buutenplaets" and "Brouwerij Solaes". Anyhow... that had to be done first. After that the fun stuff started. The letters on the wall.
We projected te letters on the wall so I could trace the outlines. This was possible since it was inside. So for the first time painting letters this big on a wall this seemed to be the best option. I trusted on my skills as a painter to pull some straight lines and my knowledge of letters to know how they work. With the right material and the knowledge and a "just start and whatever happens happens" mentality I started the mural. The goal of this sign was to make it look like it was put there in the 1920-30s and is well preserved and restored. The old feeling but a bit more modern.
When the black letters were placed on the wall we were happy with the result. BUT! Jan-Willem, the client and master of the art of beer creation thought it would be rad to place a white line to give it more of a 3d effect. It would make it look a bit more classy so we talked about it for a while to make sure it would be the right thing to do because the people who will visit the brewery would see this and get the idea that it would be more of a higher class place to drink a beer. The story would change. The letters like this would look like it was there when it was just a small brewery who needed a sign. These letters were a bit cheaper to put there and it would do the job. The 3d effect would make it pop more. After some talking we came to a different conclusion. Jan-Willem liked the craft itself and thought it deserved the class and respect. The most important reason came with that: He fucking liked it. That is reason enough to place the white lines to give it more of a 3d effect.
And there we go the final result. Indeed it looked damn awesome. This is the proof of a good idea and your ideas being tasteful always give great results. The letters look great and still look like they are there for decades. I tortured the surface with some sandpaper and the white with some leftover blue paint to give it a bit more of a old look and it blended perfectly. Now it looks like it belongs there and it has been there forever.
If you guys like it I could give you an update in the future when the brewery is fully active and you can see what a sign like this does with the ambiance of the space. Just leave it in the comments! Thank you again for reading this and enjoying the work I do. Vince Trommel/CAVUM