NGS Graphic Design practice

THE COMPLIMENTING ELEMENTS OF LDN DESIGN

We embrace a London that oozes design diversity.

Introducing Seraina Baumgartner to NGS meant us now having a relational connection between our classic lettering origins and our Swiss type heritage, and the implementation of advanced CAD tooling skills. Along with gaining new access to market trend activity, such as typeface design and sign restoration, the new mix brought us opportunity to shine out from any other sign writing company in UK.

This page charts some meaningful times and places in our studio practice development.

WE LOST BOWIE, BUT WE GAINED FROM CHANGES

”It’s important to go a little further just out of your depth to really discover something new”

David Bowie

Today we have a studio that projects a talent and capability to deliver design for corporates and retail legends. Our new-school approaches compliment our Heritage London reverse glass gilding Old School prowess. We now include full font creation lab aiding our powerful graphic design work, sitting alongside everything we do that drips with paint.

The holy grail of custom font design is now a natural option for our new era of NGS typographic painted sign production – our daily bread, in-house, has become new product development.

NGS Typographic Origins: Clarendon ‘Slab’ Bold adorns this c1982 Watney pub sign writing.

Above: Slab serifs for AstraZeneca Cambridge 2023.

FINDING OURSELVES: THE NGS FOUNDRY LANDSCAPE

We may see a typeface on the way to a project that ignites a brand new font family, or the destination project itself often reveals the same. On arriving at BMA in Canary Wharf to update their Honours Boards, I stood in front of the 5m wide oak panels staring at rows of William Sharpington’s original works. 5m of one of the worlds great sign writers work fed me.

We constantly find, observe and discover, adding priceless refinements each day, as we venture through NGS installs. When we arrive home they get logged and downloaded into our archive. Long days… great days.

It is the perfect setting which now hooks up with our own family jaunts to and from Zurich, Pompeii and Emilia Romagna Italy – and of course both extremely important historical typographic homes.

What started as a collection out of a love of Helvetica, Clarendon and (Edward) Johnston, has quickly embraced the likes of Giambattista Bodoni, Haas and Muller Brockmann.

It’s a game-changing practice and unmatched standard we proudly call our own.