About
WHO WE ARE
New York City: a massive canvas. An urban landscape of lackluster gray walls and crumbling concrete facades. We at Overall Murals Inc. represent a new generation of sign painters and muralists, driven by today’s visual culture and graphic design, graffiti, and street art, yet inspired by the ages-old, intimate craft of hand painting.
Established by two young entrepreneurs; the founders are the perfect pair, an artist and a former media professional. Through their other on-going project, okMitch Studio, they have been prolifically designing and painting signs and murals for a variety of local NYC establishments. Branching out beyond advertising local businesses and in efforts to sustain this rooted craft, the two have gathered a talented team of artists composed of various backgrounds, from graffiti to fine art.
Through artistic murals like Artists Work and the production of hand-painted advertising projects throughout New York City, Overall Murals’ goal is to stimulate the market through an artistically created medium. Equally important is the mission to create interesting and aesthetic pieces in the public realm, where the artwork can connect with a broad audience, either through the nostalgia of hand painting or the fact that they’ve never seen it done before.
Overall Murals, Inc. is a registered NYC Outdoor Advertising Company and fully insured.
HISTORY OF SIGN PAINTING
Sign painting is defined as a learned craft, which uses a brush and paint to apply to a 2 or 3 dimensional surface forming various letters and shapes.
Although the oldest known billboard ad was posted in Egypt over 3,000 years ago, offering a reward for a runaway slave, it wasn’t until the 1950′s that large hand painted advertising billboards became prevalent in America. In the ad industry, sign painters were affectionately known as “wall dogs”. Once they set up their scaffolds and mixed their paints, they would animate a drab brick wall into icy cold bottles of beer or the new family caravan. These signs were landmarks for locals and visitors alike, they were physically a part of the neighborhood and like trusted members of the family.
Today, vinyl printed billboards or posters have become the chosen medium for outdoor advertising, however, murals and painted signs are gradually being reinstated in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Compared to modern day billboards, painted signs presence are less ubiquitous making them all the more impressionable and appealing (with a hint of nostalgia).
PAINTED SIGNS IN NEW YORK CITY
Some may consider sign painting a dying trade, yet the wall dog continues to persevere in New York City. America itself is one of the few places in the world that may still give some value to him. It has been said that New York City surpasses all other cities in the world by its number and array of signs. Since its earliest days, this cosmopolitan has been a city of signs and capital of modern day advertising.