By signcraft
Posted on Monday, August 26th, 2024
Beautiful hand-painted signs—like good food—are uniquely appealing because they’re handmade. There’s something that just “feels good” about them that connects with those who see them. It’s true of things like handmade furniture, jewelry and art—and hand-painted signs and graphics. It’s especially true today when most signs and graphics are done with type and computers.
Bob Behounek has always maintained that the human touch of hand lettering, combined with effective layout, connects naturally with the viewer. He’s talked about it in many articles in SignCraft for over 40 years.
Over the past few years, Bob has helped a restaurant use that appeal both inside and out at several of their locations in the Chicago area. In 2007, Bob helped create the Chicago Brushmasters, a loose organization of sign painters and pinstripers who do charity auctions and demonstrations, primarily at major auto shows. They’ve raised over 1.5 million dollars for Ronald McDonald House, which helps families of seriously ill children.
Among the supporters of these events are Pete and Julie Fejzuloski, who own Paisans Pizzaria along with their sons Jimmy, Peter and Dominick. It all started in 1985, when Pete Sr. started working alongside his father, Luigi, at his neighborhood store. They made pizza in the store, and it grew into a popular Chicago pizza shop.
“Pete loves hand lettering and pinstriping,” says Bob. “He goes to a lot of car shows and has been a supporter of the Chicago Brushmasters mission for years.
“Late one evening after an open house at a nearby sign shop several of us stopped at Paisans to eat. Pete and his sons came over to our table to chat. After that conversation, we ended up lettering and striping two of their antique trucks at one of our Brushmaster events at the Chicago World of Wheels show.
“A few years ago they decided to open a couple new restaurants, and asked me to design and paint the interior graphics—the brick walls, windows and small signs. They wanted hand lettering and pinstriping to be the interior décor.
“The Paisans owners and staff see their food as art. Quality is very important to them, as is the customers’ experience. They also understand hand-lettered signs as art and realize the natural appeal that well done hand-lettered signs have. We’ve talked a lot about the customers’ connection with the graphics—everything from the sign out front to the interior graphics to the menu to the logo. There aren’t a lot of businesspeople who understand that.”
The first Paisans project featured a large wall graphic on a brick wall. It was a big job, so Bob asked his longtime friend, the late Pat Finley, if he would help out. It was featured in “Painting wall graphics the old school way” on SignCraft.com.
They gave Bob a list of words they wanted on the wall and Bob handled the rest. The goal was to use hand-drawn lettering, just like it would have been done back in the sixties. No type was used and the computer wasn’t involved. Bob did a scaled sketch that was projected on the wall, drew the layout on the brick and they started painting.
Since then, Paisans has opened five restaurants in the Chicagoland area and Bob, Pat and a few other sign painters did the interior signs—including a big wall sign—for them all. Four were Paisans Italian restaurants, and one was a taco restaurant called Rock It Tacos. Bob designed the logo for that one, along with the main electric sign, too. It was fabricated by VanBruggen Signs, Orland Park, Illinois, where Bob had worked for much of his career.
“It’s the only freestanding design that I’ve ever designed that’s along Route 66,” says Bob, “the classic American highway that goes from Chicago to Los Angeles. There are a lot of books about the highway’s history, and they always include photos of the classic signage of the ’50s and ’60s that were so popular along the highway during its heyday.
“I designed the logo and sign with that look of signs from that era in mind, complete with that big red arrow. It makes me laugh to think that someone might photograph the Rock It Tacos sign someday, thinking it was made during the fifties!”
Bob has done many other design projects for the restaurants, including sketches that were scanned and used for printed menus and package labels. It’s not signage, but that look has become part of their brand.
“Hand-lettered signs are made by humans, not machines,” says Bob. “They’re unique. They tap into that human-to-human connection like anything that is made by hand. It can be a very powerful marketing tool. A visit to any of these restaurants show that—and the food is great, too!”
