Reserve Window Design by John Downer

February 12th, 2010

We hired our good friend John Downer, who is a professional sign painter & typographer, to fly to LA to do gold leaf lettering on our store window & transom. Glass gilding is becoming a lost art that only a few dozen people in the United States still know how perform. Stay tuned for a video interview with John, where he explains this beautiful process in detail.


A straight-on view of the gold leaf sign on our window at 420 North Fairfax. To achieve the pale highlights in the name Reserve, John applied matte varnish to the glass before laying the gold leaf.



John works intently on shading the bottom line of gilt letters, using a small sign painting brush called a quill.



An angled view of the new Reserve logo.

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12 Trackbacks

  1. By The News* 02.16.10 « The Exhibit Designer on February 16, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    [...] with taking photos. + Anyone else want to go to the Neon Bone Yard in Vegas?? + Gold leaf lettering window design by sign painter John Downer + Beautiful and clever wayfinding for Surry Hills Library by Collider [...]

  2. By Midweek Miscellany | The Casual Optimist on February 18, 2010 at 5:47 am

    [...] Reserve Window Design — “We hired our good friend John Downer, who is a professional sign painter & typographer, to fly to LA to do gold leaf lettering on our store window & transom. Glass gilding is becoming a lost art that only a few dozen people in the United States still know how perform” (via We Love Typography): [...]

  3. By MERGE  – Lost Art: Glass Gilding on February 18, 2010 at 6:39 am

    [...] Clothing and Books hired professional sign painter John Downer to adorn their new storefront window, detailed here. The final product is simply stunning. I absolutely love hand-painted signage, and it’s great [...]

  4. By Reserve gilded store window « United Style on February 23, 2010 at 10:38 pm

    [...] You can find more pictures and background on the project at the Reserve blog. [...]

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  8. By An Almost-Lost Art: Glass Gilding | When We Work on May 5, 2010 at 7:30 am

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