UNIVERSITY students enjoyed all the fun of the fair while learning about its signwriting traditions.
Last week, undergraduates on the typography and graphic communication course visited Carters Steam Fair at Prospect Park, where they met its owner, Joby Carter.
He gave a talk about signwriting and hand-painting, before letting the students explore the many attractions in the park.
And while the famous steam fair enjoyed its final weekend, the legend will live on. Mr Carter is looking for a permanent base for his many vintage rides, while also teaching his art to others interested in signwriting.
And that includes setting a challenge to the students of creating a design of a company logo or brand in the style of a fairground typeface.
First prize is a place on Joby Carter’s five-day intensive signwriting course, funded by the University of Reading.
Second and third place will receive a poster bundle which includes Carters Steam Fair postcards, Joby Carter’s sign writing book, ‘Signwriting: Tips, Trick and Inspiration’, palettes, brushes and pre-prepared sign writing boards.
Mr Carter said: “I’m delighted to be teaming up with the University of Reading and the opportunity to talk to a new generation interested in creating beautiful letterforms and designs.
“Traditional hand-painted lettering and fairground art is often missing from the art and design archives as the styles are often painted over or updated as part of the continual evolution of fairground rides in line with popular culture of the time.
“It was great to show the students around the fair to see examples of the fairground fonts in real life.”
He added: “These 100-year-old skills were recently at risk of dying out due to the increasing use of computers, digital software, vinyls and masking but at the fair we have been passionate about ensuring they are kept alive for future generations via a mixture of workshop courses, virtual courses and my best-selling book Signwriting Tips, Tricks and Inspiration.
“This collaboration with the University of Reading will help us on our mission to raise awareness of signwriting and continue the interest in the craft.
“I’ve always been passionate about keeping these traditional signwriting skills alive – I’m not a fan of computers and at the fair we avoid modern methods and like to take time to do things the old way whenever we can.”
And James Lloyd, a lecturer on the course, said the visit had been important.
“It’s a reminder that design and typography can be about really inspiring people,” he said. “There’s an incredible sense of enthusiasm and joviality that comes across in Joby’s letters, and the paintwork is really incredible.”
The students, he added, would benefit from the team-up with Mr Carter.
“It’s really big for us to be offer these kind of in-person opportunities, which we haven’t been able to do over the past few years due to lockdowns.
“The physicality of learning about how to make letters with traditional tools and skills is wonderful. Most students of this generation are very much digital natives, and have never maybe picked up a paintbrush in quite this way and tried to do something serious with it.”
He added: “Most people assume graphic design happens exclusively on a computer these days, and of course much of it does.
“But the history of letterforms – the shapes and styling of the characters we all write or print, is intrinsically linked to analogue tools that have evolved over many thousands of years.
“These shapes are also guided by specific objectives that are very much part of the real world – whether ensuring clarity and trustworthiness in delivering financial information, or eliciting joy from the vibrancy and swelling forms of fairground lettering.
“At Reading, we like to engage students with how letters are made in as many contexts as possible.
“We’re delighted to be collaborating with Joby Carter to introduce more of our students to the traditional skills and modern applications of signwriting.”
