35 June / July 2023 - Issue 247 email: news@signlink.co.uk at first, but they continued to brainstorm ideas and develop sketches. Damiano remembers their moment of clarity when seeing a ceiling-mounted poster on a bus – it was upside down! Reflecting on this gave them the insight needed to tackle their project. One of the big lessons they learned across the whole project was that ceiling work should be charged at two- to three- times the rate for an equivalent wall mural as not only is the design process more complex, the installation itself is much slower due to the need to take more breaks to rest your neck. An Idea About Ideas The broad concept of the final piece is the process of abstract ideas becoming reality – in short, a “World of Ideas”. This consists of three stages in the life of an idea: emerging from a black hole; evolving in a sea of innovation; and, finally, becoming concrete things in the real world. These are represented by the corresponding texts: Imagina (Imagine); Innova (Innovate); and Todo es Posible (Anything is Possible). Ultimately, there was no stretching of the letters to correct perspective from any given viewpoint. The mural was instead designed to work from the multiple angles it would be seen from. Cami and Damiano carried out multiple tests on-site before finalising the design. These consisted of mounting drawings to the ceiling to check how distinct elements would work together, and how they would look from different perspectives. They also played with different scales of lettering, and avoided too much detail so that colour blocks could be done with rollers – much easier to work with on a ceiling versus brushes. Additional visual elements were added through the use of mounted neon letters for the Imagina part, representing the lightbulb moment associated with good ideas. Cami and Damiano also decided to straddle some of the letters across the ceiling and the walls, along with other graphic elements from the mural. This again supported the notion of ideas moving from mental abstractions into the real world. The final installation took two weeks on-site. Ahead of this, Cami and Damiano trained at the gym to get themselves physically ready for working on the ceiling–they don’t think it helped much as the sore ADVENTURES IN SIGN PAINTING WITH SAM ROBERTS necks were ultimately unavoidable! After painting the block Imagina lettering, the Stamps Neon firm installed the illuminated elements. For anyone attempting to pull off something similar, Cami and Damiano advise ensuring the floor is well covered as there are sure to be lots of drips. These will also inevitably run down the length of your brush and onto your hands, making this type of work much messier than usual. Finally, it’s important to work in front of your head and body. This requires more care, as you’re not looking square on at your work, but helps to prevent paint getting into your eyes and hair, and reduces the strain on your neck. The mural was completed just before the pandemic which resulted in a delay to the events space opening. However, it is now up and running, and helping to inspire those at Innova 109 to make their ideas reality, just as Cami and Damiano did with their rollers and brushes on the ceiling. This article is adapted from the version that first appeared in Issue 01 of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine). Camila and Damiano can be found on Instagram via @camitype and @damianodamianovich respectively. Websites: www.bl.ag and www.ghostsigns.co.uk Social Media: @betterletters (instagram) @ghostsigns (twitter) @mrghostsigns (instagram) ▲ Damiano Damianovich and Camila Borrero found that working above oneself requires various adjustments to manage dripping paint and avoid excessive neck strain
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