Hand-lettered work for large hotels and restaurants, has largely disappeared, thanks to the ubiquitous personal computer in the back room. However, and perhaps conversely, smaller establishments can still prove a fruitful hunting ground for the humble scribe. They seem to want to difference themselves from the large establishments, and maintain a more personal touch - long may this continue.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not against computers - far from it. Without PCs there would be no Fountain Pen Forum, and I'd be sitting here, speaking to myself!

caliken

Was that definitely hand-written?

Yes, every letter was hand-written.

(I'm hoping that your comment was intended as a compliment!)

This is really nice work with well chosen and proportioned script in fine matching colours Ken!

Even the content of the menu is not bad - especially as its well past lunch time and I have not eaten anything since early morning...

By the way, now that I look at the menu again. Was it also you who drew the place itself in the background? It has got something very gentle and atmospheric about it.

Thanks for shearing it here, Zed

I'm afraid that I can't take credit for that. I was given a pre-printed copy of the background for size, positioning and colour-matching, and my lettering was then overprinted.

Thanks for your comment.

That's wonderful. Wish the picture was a bit larger so we could study the letters more closely.

Beautiful work Ken! I always enjoy seeing your writing artwork, so I'm glad you periodically post it on FPN.

At first I thought perhaps you did only the larger burgundy/maroon lettering; nice to see you got to do the whole thing. And if they are as thrilled as I'd expect them to be, I guess you'll find yourself called upon when the menu changes, right? Was this from a local restaurant? Did you approach them or did they reach out to you?

~Gary

Yes indeed! Superb!


And I'd like the prawns followed by the scallops please. You do deliver?

Caliken, what gorgeous work! A perfect combination of style and legibility. If I may ask, what kind of pen and ink did you use?

Excellent alignment and spacing! Thanks for posting.

Thank you all for your comments
Darteres -
Here's an enlarged section, as requested.

Scrollpoint -
The large lettering was written in gouache with Mitchell dip nibs.
The small lettering with a Manuscript pen filled with Aurora black ink.

MYU -
This is for a restaurant in a local hotel. For a long time , I was working for a number of large hotels throughout Britain, but this work has largely dried up now, as I explained earlier.
When I first started out full-time, I did a fair bit of research, which involved writing out dummy menus and wine lists and sending them to possible outlets for my work. These trial efforts were specific to each of the potential customers, both in style and content. This was reasonably successful and I established several long-term contacts.

For anyone considering this as a means of income - remember that perfection in lettering isn't what is looked for here. In fact, work which has been obviously handwritten is ideal. These establishments want something different: something personal.

caliken

Thank you very much!

If you make a mistake, do you have to start all over again? Absolutely beautiful and glad to see it is still appreciated.

Thanks for your comments.

In work like this, which is subsequently printed, it's quite possible to patch together sections of writing - the patches can be easily removed in the reproduction process.

However, one-off items such as scrolls, diplomas, testimonials etc., must be right and cannot be altered in any way - any errors and you have to start again. Fortunately, I haven't had too many disasters of this kind!

How wonderful this is, and a perfect choice of colors.

You're right, anything done these days that looks hand done is desirable in many aspects. For this restaurant, it just speaks of simple, yet elegant, class. Very warm and inviting.