LETTERHEADS 2016 - GREETINGS FROM AMSTERDAM
Last year my team from the Amsterdam Signpainters and me hosted the 41st edition of the Letterheads meet that originated in the USA, but has since been held in different locations all over the world. We organized the first edition in our hometown Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The event took place from Friday the 26th until Sunday the 28th of August. During these three days the event took place in various locations: Volkshotel (main location), The Student Hotel, The Heineken Experience, Roest, Krux and in our own little studio. From all over the world, a wonderful and fun group of almost 200 passionate sign painters, pinstripers, calligraphers and pictorial artists shared their knowledge and skills with each other. Skills varied from highly experienced to student level, traveling all the way to Amsterdam, giving and taking classes. The aim of this meet was to exchange knowledge, to connect with like minded visual artists, and to have this almost forgotten trade known by the public again. Here you can find some more history about the Letterheads. Be sure to check out this movie to see what the sign painting trade is all about. The main poster image above was hand painted for our event by Pierre Tardif.
On the program were two days packed with 21 workshops, a big mural at the Heineken brewery, a big auction for charity (Lars), a group exhibition for the public with some live action paintings on old timer cars, a boat trip through Amsterdam for our foreign friends, a 'ghost sign' tour by Ed Simons, a showcase of the special type collection from the University of Amsterdam by Mathieu Lommen, two free parties and a few hangovers…
Check out the website that we had made for the event here
On the program were two days packed with 21 workshops, a big mural at the Heineken brewery, a big auction for charity (Lars), a group exhibition for the public with some live action paintings on old timer cars, a boat trip through Amsterdam for our foreign friends, a 'ghost sign' tour by Ed Simons, a showcase of the special type collection from the University of Amsterdam by Mathieu Lommen, two free parties and a few hangovers…
Check out the website that we had made for the event here
These images I designed for the various Facebook event headers we used during the event.
Some impressions of the hotel and a nice hand painted poster that John Downer made for us!
The event started off on Thursday night, the 25th of August in the Heineken Brewery with some kind words from the infamous Ramiro Espinoza, Piet Schreuders, Claire Parker (Design Bridge), Mick Pollard, Demelza van der Maas from the Heineken Collection Foundation and a lot of beer!
After the welcome night the various workshops followed, below a list of the teaching artists:
Brilliant Signs: Ash Bishop & Sarah Bishop - Uk, Best Dressed Signs - Josh Luke - Usa
Brody Neuenschwander - Belgium, Cheryl Mclean - Australia, Colin Dundas - Uk
David Kynaston - Uk, Elaine Wallis & Noella Cotnam - Canada, Gustavo Ferrari - Argentina
High on Type (Ivo Brouwer, Hans Schuttenbeld, Vincent & Guido de Boer)- Netherlands, Janno Hahn - Netherlands, Jeff Devey - Usa, Jeff Marshall - Australia, Jeroen 'Shamrock' Klaver - Netherlands, Mick Pollard - Uk, Mike Meyer - Usa, New Bohemian Signs - Damon Styer Usa, Pekka Mannermaa - Finland, Pierre Tardif - Canada, Rick Janzen - Canada
Timber Signs - Manfred Didier & Marcus Goebbels - Germany
Brody Neuenschwander - Belgium, Cheryl Mclean - Australia, Colin Dundas - Uk
David Kynaston - Uk, Elaine Wallis & Noella Cotnam - Canada, Gustavo Ferrari - Argentina
High on Type (Ivo Brouwer, Hans Schuttenbeld, Vincent & Guido de Boer)- Netherlands, Janno Hahn - Netherlands, Jeff Devey - Usa, Jeff Marshall - Australia, Jeroen 'Shamrock' Klaver - Netherlands, Mick Pollard - Uk, Mike Meyer - Usa, New Bohemian Signs - Damon Styer Usa, Pekka Mannermaa - Finland, Pierre Tardif - Canada, Rick Janzen - Canada
Timber Signs - Manfred Didier & Marcus Goebbels - Germany
Impressions of the event, Photo credits: GDandP
Meanwhile we painted a large mural for The Heineken Brewery
Lead: Nancy Bennett (Walldogs) Design: Amsterdam Signpainters: Sander Pappot - Zender, Christiaan Dros & Jasper Andries
Painters: Alex Klerk, Andrew Patrick Henry USA, Ash Bishop UK, Cheryl McLean Australia
Christiaan Dros, Colin Dundas, Dan Luckin UK, Elaine Wallis Canada, Franky Carty Scotland
Sander Pappot / zender, Jeff Marshall Australia, Jeroen Koning, Josh Luke USA, Matt Gunning UK,
Christiaan Dros, Colin Dundas, Dan Luckin UK, Elaine Wallis Canada, Franky Carty Scotland
Sander Pappot / zender, Jeff Marshall Australia, Jeroen Koning, Josh Luke USA, Matt Gunning UK,
Meredith Kasabian USA, Mike Meyer USA, Miranda Ensink, Nancy Bennett USA, Noella Cotnam Australia, Richie Chlaszczak Norway, Teunis Spits, Ruben Ooms, Sander Pappot - Zender, Shon Price.
The approved sketch for the wall
