Amateur signs. I love these almost as much as old style professional sign-writer work (and those are getting so scarce I feel like a jubilant David Attenbrough when I find a good one.) Here are two obviously amateur signs which almost border on folk art in their naivete.

First one for a Chinese Buffet was found in Bishop Auckland. This takes a highly painterly approach with liberal splashes of (gloss?) colour. Unashamed dripping is a feature as are quickly dabbed flower motifs. Every inch of space is filled, note the arbitrary repetition of the word "buffet".

The second amateur piece is from Horden, Co. Durham. The approach is entirely different, highly tentative, with no evident artistic "flair". There is no understanding of centre-ing the letters. These are applied using a stencil, but the maker couldn't resist dotting the i's (but on capitals?) In the end the sign was abandoned but remains fixed to the shop exterior in its full illiterate beauty!