BRISTOL LIVES
“A digitally produced sign isn’t so special – it feels like it lacks heart” the techniques and materials used today are exactly the same. I evolved my lettering style accidentally. I keep thinking I
should show that I can be a little ore refined and ele an en I check back at my Instagram and think, ah well, obnoxiously loud and bright will do (again). I’m in love with letters that look like they have some depth, so I use a lot of s ade e ec s in le erin .
TOZER
Meet the artist behind some of the most colourful, distinctive signs to be found in the city
W
hen we put our recent BS3 issue together, there was only one real choice for the cover: we knew we wanted to focus on that big ‘Welcome to East Street, Bedminster’ sign, with its red and yellow lettering. We knew the piece was by Tozer – but who or what, exactly, was a Tozer, and how did they come to paint it in e firs place nswers elow...
My name’s Tozer (my surname, though nobody calls me by my firs na e and r n o er i ns a traditional signwriting studio based out of Bedminster. I always painted and drew, even
as a child. I’ve got fond memories of begging my parents to bring huge sheets of paper down from the loft all of the time so I could scribble all over them.
I studied illustration at UWE.
I was interested in taxidermy, and had been following a few signpainters for a couple of years, so I studied signwriting
and created a few signs for a fake taxidermist shop where you could e o r loved ones s ed ended up being so fascinated by it that I never gave it up. I’d sit at home all day and paint practice strokes, ignoring the briefs my tutors sent. With illustration, I never found my style. As it’s so subjective, the
perfectionist part of me could never e sa isfied. i si nwri in w ile ere s defini el crea ive freedom, you can see mistakes, glaringly obviously, the more you practice and learn. It does mean you can’t take me anywhere and expect me to not moan about the quality of the chalkboards, though.
The amount of skill and hard work that goes into traditional signwriting is so powerful. Once
you recognise that, a digitally produced sign just doesn’t feel so special – it feels like it lacks heart. With a handpainted sign, you can see and feel that somebody was there, painstakingly creating it wi passion and e or s as e did hundreds of years ago. A lot of
122 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
In 2015 I began taking on some chalkboard work, just
with Posca pens, and trading it for beer and food. After a while I realised I was also going to need some cash (though an extra beer or three doesn’t go amiss, even to this day). Word of mouth came in very handy back then, and still does.
My work is hugely mixed
– fascias, menus, gilded commissions, cars, motorbike helmets, banners, big murals, A-Boards… it’s part of the reason I love what I do. In September 2020, I saw a wall down the road from my studio on West Street calling out
for some paint. I asked the fellas at Upfest if I could be let loose on it (for free; I just had a bit of spare time and wanted to have some fun). They said yes, and handed over some leftover exterior paint from their stash. I ended up creating the Come Together piece, and Bedminster BID and Upfest liked it so much they commissioned the Welcome to Bedminster wall, and the Love Local one on North Street a few months later. I’ve got almost 100 Bristolbased clients now. A few of my
favourites are Black Sheep Tattoos
signage, VX, Glass Designs on North Street, Sweatbox Yard’s huge mural, Poco Deli and Live Ink’s lovely large window gilds. I was born and raised in Nottingham, but Bristol called
to me for University – even after one of the worst possible interview days (rain, broken luggage, missing coach, etc). I love travelling, but I’m always called back to Bristol, and it’s home now. My partner just moved down from Birmingham, and I’m showing him the ropes.
I’ve lived in Bedminster for four years now, and I love it. It’s got
just enough going on for me. I’m a bit of an introvert in many ways, so it’s the right mix of quiet, with a bunch of great local options for places to eat, drink, etc, and some lovely parks and woods close by.
Secret skills? I can eat obscene portions of food, and I can do backbend kickovers. I used to be very bendy and athletic, running, climbing, yoga-ing, but then Covid hit and I just made banana bread and ate it all day, so a lot of that skill’s gone. Most regrettable habit: said
banana bread-eating.
In a parallel universe, I’d liked
o ave een a fil direc or a mix between Tarantino, Kubrick, Lynch, and 1980s horror B-Movies.
Immediately after answering these questions I’m gonna
eat pancakes, go to the Tobacco Factory market, then ride my Suzuki VanVan to a little painting job for East St Emporium. Seeya! For more tozersigns.com