Surveying the abundance of beautiful documentation and images from the Bombay Talkies collection, we thought it would be appropriate to dress the Gallery 2 entrance as a billboard frontage. To give this billboard credibility, it needed to be a proper hand painted sign, onto wooden panels.
Our designer firstly developed a collage using the original fliers and publicity images scanned in at super high-resolution and chosen for their rich colour and content. The collage was then built up around the entrance, ensuring the title would sit above the doors and including several characters with a focus on Devika, as well as some script and film titles.
We then engaged a very talented signwriter, Darren Montague from LUKESIGNS who we knew had incredible hand written and painting skills. Traditional sign writing is still an integral part of the industry although most signs are vinyl decals these days. We felt that implementing Darren’s craft would complement the Bombay Talkies style and nod to the deco period more so than a decal skin.
Darren took our file and printed it out, projecting it in black and white onto his full scale primed wooden panels. He then sketched out all key outlines before mixing a colour palette to match the original artwork. The entire process took over a week to create, but the end result is stunning to behold.
When you venture to our Bombay Talkies exhibition, be sure to gaze upon the beautifully handcrafted panels installed upon the gallery entrance.