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“If I’m ever asked to recommend someone for sign writing projects I only ever forward Nick”.
Dana Robertson. Founder NEON Creative
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“… paint? it can manifest something completely new… ” NG
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NO ORDINARY TYPE
A PRETTY PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF MY LIFE CHOICE +CAREER PATH
The passion of NGS super-artform lettering
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My name is Nick Garrett (Johnston), a specialist Traditional London sign-writer, graduating from University of the Creative Arts Camberwell with a first class degree in Fine Art Painting.
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My family hail from Scotland, Ireland, East Anglia and as far off as Belgium and Switzerland. I grew up in pretty tough South London.
I live in Margate with my partner Seraina.
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‘No Ordinary Type’ was coined by my excessively talented buddy Dana.
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Currently I am a professional artist and signwriter.
I call it super-artform because it feels that way to do it.
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I am training to become a practicing counsellor.
I also have a pet creative business called NGS Relic Guitars.
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Being an artist is for me the most energising profession. All I want.
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“All I want is You…”
Lennon
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BUILDING A STRONG ‘ART-BASED LIFE’
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I have something in common with Albert Einstein: I was a rebel at school.
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My gilding and signwriting career started when I was 15, supported by my mother and grandfather, tutored by the great London artist Euan Uglow.
I then apprenticed with the incredibly talented Battersea sign and poster writer Andrew Whitmore. Just watching his magic hand built my career.
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It wasn’t always easy learning from these creative and oft volatile giants.
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Both artists were a mix of hard and soft approaches which I liked. They remain in my heart: priceless gifts that made me strong and mentally tough. I would come to rely on their legacy as I rolled on.
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Unforgettable, tough lessons still fill my mind every time I climb the ladder and load the brush for your sign!
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5 YEARS OLD AND BELIEVING IN ART
Perhaps the toughest life challenge I faced as a child and as a man was overcoming the devastating lack of support from my father.
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I was painting pictures against his will and later confronting his fearsome hostility toward the arts and finally finished my relationship with him in 1983. I had no choice.
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…our beautiful and unique core needs nurturing and I say this to give those of you strength and courage struggling with any type of prejudice conflict.
“All art is good.
Creativity is the sweetest form of respect and love.”
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To succeed against such adverse odds creates a toughness which became a survival mechanism in me. The challenges have inspired me to become a counsellor and help others to help themselves.
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LIFE WILL CHUCK IT AT YOU: REBUILDING MY WORLD
In 2017 I was suddenly alone with my workshop in London as my creative work was once again took it’s toll: my marriage disintegrated due to workload.
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I found myself without my partner, children and my home.
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Once again I needed to look inward, develop a strategy and stay fully functional and useful.
To rebuild my life I needed to stay positive: find great clients, find a business guru/mentor and of course my kids.
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Thankfully my hand stayed steady.
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I had great support from my financial adviser who became a good buddy: Guy Bridger of Taxfile.
Jack Hollands also stayed in my background with his special positivity.
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ART HEALS AND REGENERATES
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Sleeping on the floor of my studio, signwriting and teaching daily along with the strength and faith of my friends, clients and the empowerment of my earlier teachers, pretty much saved my life.
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The brush stayed mighty companion.
It creates great things.
It regenerates doubts into positive actions.
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Some letters go beyond words.
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And then out of the blue things changed. I met with studio success. The work grew and I started to live happier days.
Then later I met her. The S.
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Thanks again for keeping me strong: to family including of course partner NGS’s Seraina, Richard, Jack, Ryan, Tom and Mark Hobbs.
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TODAY (Dec 2021)
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We can’t do all this alone can we? Who would want to.
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TRAINING TO BE A PRO WRITER
1985: NGS SIGNWRITING BEGINNINGS
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After 5 years of pretty tough training I started working with all of the major London breweries and found success along with some great friends.
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NGS MANTRA – CLARITY, HONESTY, BENEVOLENCE
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NGS is built on good things including fun, hard work and dedicated obsession for making London more beautiful.
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The purest shape and essence. In a word: Beauty. Another word is, Couture.
Nick
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Today Seraina and I offer you absolutely and above the best sign writing from London to Margate, always painted faithfully by hand. We like to have a laugh and take the process very seriously which creates the right final mix.
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There’s a genuine joy in this work we do, rain or shine and I hope you feel it too.
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AMAZING TEAM WORK
THE ‘S’ IN NGS
NGS’s Seraina Baumgartner (the one chewing her brush) hails from Zurich and joined me as a sign painter and gilder in 2019.
With a background in fine art, screen printing, design management and graphic signage, she has a superb eye for detail, specialising in fine numeral styles and heritage designs.
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ABOUT THE WORK ETHIC & THE MAGIC
I have always believed in finding magic – just have to be dedicated and love what you do, it’s the same with design… magic happens. But if you’re not a dedicated typographic designer you’re not going to be a great writer. To be a great designer one really needs to be an artist first.
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BY HEART: SHARING THIS LOVE OF PAINT
I was lucky to be born with a gutsy passion for art and fine lettering. My mother pushed me relentlessly into a creative career.
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It was natural for me spending hours watching my grandfather Francis Baker, chiselling his ‘London Romans’ in his tiny cedarwood workshop in Putney.
Portrait of my Grandfather 1987 oil on board. Nick Garrett
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It shaped my love for him, my letters and seeded my sharing philosophy. I’ve passed on these skills throughout my journey.
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BY EYE: PERFECT LETTERING STYLES
For my lettering practice I travelled and studied directly from the greatest letters and always in the home of the world’s finest lettering: Rome (Trajan), Parma (Bodoni), Zurich (Haas Helvetica) and London (Johnston/Caslon).
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“I have recently found my 3rd generation family name is Johnston. Pretty chuffed about that.
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BY HAND: OUR CUSTOM MADE TOOLS, FONTS & PAINTS
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Hand drawn Lettering.
NGS bespoke hand made ‘NGS Johnston’ Fonts.
NGS Custom brushes for the finest finish.
The humble pencil is our premium design tool.
Photoshop, Illustrator/cad design visuals output for 100% brand duplication.
CUSTOM FONTS
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WHY NGS?
YEP IT’S IN THE DETAIL
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Come to us with all your important ideas and expectations. We specialise in finding you a visual edge.
Aim high and we’ll deliver.
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NGS community Schools, Theatres, Gallery projects – We’re happy to run donation projects helping kids enjoy their creativity.
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Nick guiding RESPECT school mural project in Italy and daughter Laura Ellen far right.
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We have a saying:
By eye, by hand, by heart.
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Let’s continue to share great projects,
Nick Garrett-Johnston
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CLIENTS..t, sign writer, s
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