Thanks for coming to us and all the best for 2022.
I’d like to explain very quickly what makes us so unique and what you get when hiring NGS.
NGS is built on a philosophy of thinking designs through pretty deeply… even overthinking it at the right times counts because of it’s integrity.
ABOUT US
2 NGS CAREERS BASED ON PURE DESIGN
Our own career paths are multidisciplinary, taking in primarily the foundation of classical lettering arts and screen printing, but also interiors, specialist finishing, exhibition design, furniture, accessories for home and product design.
Our professional training is from the top drawer of Swiss and UK creative industry.
Consisting of on Seraina’s side, a proper 5 year design apprenticeship +15 years studio experience and management, all made in Switzerland which makes her a rare breed. Seraina has taught and apprentice trained dozens of print pros over her recent career.
My training started with a fine art career and 2 year apprenticeship in the sign trade, 25 years in home interiors product design (Pottery Barn, Laura Ashley, Designers Guild, Next) alongside my 35 year sign lettering career.
That’s a very strong origin. On reflection it’s a pure design-led DNA.
Yes painting letters honestly makes us blissfully happy.
But our total combined skills and design strength comes from studying at first hand the classic forms of lettering (a rich history which spans 2200 years). This gives us the shapes that make our letters look so clear and special. It’s deep. Deep is good.
Unique in many ways because there’s not a sign team like it that we know of and the tremendous energy that permeates our signwork is something difficult to put into words: glow, spirit, atmosphere, clarity and power all spring to mind.
In summary it’s not a case of slapping up a flashy bit of freefont (we design our own custom fonts in-house) – it’s a mix of many proper things; real design, finding the perfect look and unmatched precision.
ABOUT US
My name is Nick Garrett Traditional London sign writer, old school made new.
I graduated from University of the Creative Arts Camberwell with a first class Honours degree in Fine Art Painting with lettering as a specialisation.
ONCE UPON A SIGN:
FIRST DAYS BUILDING A STRONG, GENUINE SIGN-ART PRACTICE
My gilding and signwriting career really got started when I was 15, tutored in drawing at Camberwell College by the great London artist Euan Uglow. The college life drawing studio was an extremely competitive and demanding place.
I then apprenticed with the superb Battersea sign and poster writer Andrew Whitmore.
It wasn’t always easy learning from these tough masters but it was never forgotten. Their rare, priceless words became synonymous with quality. Indelible by their nature, they remain with me every time I load the brush and paint these letters.
After 5 years of pretty humbling training I knocked on all the tallest doors and started working with most of the major London breweries, finding success, along with some great friends.
Special thanks to the original industry helmsmen Ron Bennett, Ted Ambridge, Mike Jacks and Paul Lawn.
I hope that this training, along with an absolutely essential sense of humour shines through in everything we do.
Let’s get 22 right, share some ideas and make this place more beautiful!
Love, fun, hard work and dedicated creative obsession.
The purest shape and essence. In a word: Beauty. Another word is, Couture.
Joyce Garrett-Baker
Today NGS teamie Seraina and I offer you absolutely and above the best sign writing possible, always painted faithfully by hand.
There’s a genuine joy in the work we do. We hope you get it here.
DESIGN TEAM WORK COUNTS
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.
OUR WORK ETHIC & A DASH OF MAGIC
I have always believed in finding magic – magic only really happens by starting with the pencil drawing.
“Draw Lines and you will become a very good artist.”
Ingres
BY HEART: SHARING THE DEEP LOVE OF ART
My mother pushed me relentlessly into a creative career, so it always felt natural to me to draw.
It was centering for me spending hours alongside her dad, my grandfather, chiselling his ‘London Romans’ in his tiny workshop in Putney.
Hours that shaped my favourite letters and seeded my sharing philosophy. I’ve studied art history and delved deeper into techniques and processes, passing on and sharing these skills throughout my career.
NG
.Paula’s Google ReviewI phoned Nick and five days later had numbers painted on our house. Quick to respond, professional and good fun too.
BY EYE: SENSING THE ‘PERFECT FIT’
For my lettering practice I travelled and studied always in the home of the world’s finest letters and art: Rome (Trajan), Parma (Bodoni), Zurich (Haas Helvetica) and London (Johnston/Caslon).
These journeys have reinforced my typographic knowledge and greatly enriched the shapes of lettering forming the work I may do for you, through to NGS custom font creation and other related pure design projects.
I drew for hours from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Masaccio, Botticelli and touched the carved lettering in Rome and Pompeii.
Working from the greats gets into one’s marrow.
ALWAYS BY HAND
OUR CUSTOM TOOLS
- Hand-drawn Lettering.
- NGS Custom brushes.
- CAD design visuals for 100% brand duplication.
IT’S IN THE DETAIL
We hope you enjoy browsing some of the recent projects here.
Aim high and we’ll deliver.
IN TOUCH
For lead times and costs, let us know if you have a project you would like us to look at, or even just for a friendly chat about this amazing craft.
We have a saying at NGS:
By eye, by hand, and always by heart.
Nick Garrett-Johnston