During the pandemic lockdown (2021/2022), I had the opportunity to take another creative journey into the world of sign painting. I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials, viewed Sign Painters documentary, joined the odd sign painting group on Facebook and purchased some books along with my first sign painting kit and materials from Dragging The Line.

I was lucky to be commissioned to paint three signs for Deroche General Store (DGS), upgrading some outdated generic signage. The signs highlighted sections in the store for the most customer engagement:

1. World Famous Beef Jerky

*Final result before taking the sign to the store for installation.*

2. Ice Cold Beer Sold Here

*It fits nicely above the cooler.*

3. Deli Sign

*Sandwiches, Deli Meats, Soup, Farmers Sausage, Pepperonis*

The overall theme for the signs was to use natural wood and sign paint since the store is in a rural (forested) part of the Fraser Valley. The store is famous for its beef jerky, and folx from all over the Lower Mainland come to purchase their jerky. I incorporated DGS branding (font, colours) into each of the signs for consistency. The signs were hand built with reinforced wood frames to prevent warping, and the layout/designs were transferred using large format (paper) pounce patterns. Some of the processes are visible in the image slideshows below.

If you are passing through Deroche, stop at Deroche General Store and look at the in-store signage. Remember to grab some of their beef jerky too!