Before we had cheap digital printers and everybody started setting their little shop notices in Arial, there were dedicated systems for displaying messages in shops, bars and cafés. One of these were black boards with holes in them and letters with the appropriate pegs. You took them from a box, stuck them into the holes and had fairly neat rows of words and numbers. A shop in London rediscovered this old way of making type, making art out of necessity: If you don’t have enough type in one size or colour, take another one, but do it deliberately.

This sign showing the brands available was “art-directed” by Richie Crago at The Three Threads in Charlotte Road, Shoreditch.