Alex May Hughes

🎶 Twenty-three karat magic in the air 🎶 Alex May Hughes is one of Instagram’s most redeeming qualities, serving up a daily mix of eye candy. I was thrilled when a letter from this tongue-in-cheek treasure across the pond made it’s way to my mailbox. I’ve long admired the skill and mastery required of a sign painter and love to see more females embracing the trade. Her work weaves through fine art, fan art, sign painting, glitter bombing, and glass gilding to build a modern style that is truly unique.

As a skeptic of formal higher art education, I was pleasantly surprised to discover her interest was fueled while working on a final project at The London College of Communication. She won first place for her wall of curated quotes from the H.G. Wells 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. An unwavering passion for tangible mediums like screen printing, and signage from the book’s Victorian era, inspired her project. At this point, she hadn’t taken on hand lettering and actually screen printed directly on the glass.

After graduating University, she started to explore hand lettering and signwriting by taking classes and joining seminars around London. After building a network that way, she began hanging around with heavy hitters like Mike Meyer of the Agency Better Letters. (If you’re not already familiar with the agency, I recommend checking out their blog.) She also had lots of hands-on training with Pete Hardwicke. Practice. Practice. Practice. Fast forward. Today the bulk of her work comes from commercial jobs and personal commissions. I’ve been drooooooling over these images of the CANVAS live painting event for Bombay Sapphire.

Kudos to companies like Bacardi, Penguin and Stylist Magazine who support the art community by investing in handmade marketing. It’s rarely the cheaper or faster option. During University, Alex would often begin digital projects by screen printing and then scanning the piece for manipulation. Sure, a professional could recreate these covers digitally, but I would agree that it diminishes the joy of creativity and reduces the chances of serendipitous mistakes.

I stepped up my shelfie game by ordering AMH’s rendition of The Help for Penguin Essentials Series. It’s a collection of classics with re-imagined covers created by a wide variety of international artists. Here are a few more gems from the series:

Outside the complexities of signage and lettering, Alex chooses to keep things simple. She shares her work on free platforms like Tumblr and Instagram. You won’t be able to buy her work online, but you can reach out to her directly to commission something personal.

Many of you may better recognize The Simpsons fan art she makes for funzies and experimentation on the side. She’s a fan of the earlier seasons, when schools were banning Bart Simpson shirts and their style was looser than it is today.

Hear more about the Alex’s daily grind, in her own words, by listening to her F24 Podcast interview.

The Alex May Hughes Starter Pack

(1) Motivating inspiration from other artists like Lili Arnold and Hedi Xandt. (2) Some real cute Simpsons gear to low key flag other fans. (3) Bits of nature for color inspiration and butterfly wings for material. (4) All the screen printing gear you can lay your sticky paws on. (5) An arsenal of local pubs like The Old Blue Last, which inspire you to open your own one day. Sketch by Nick Richards available on Society 6 (6) Podcasts for the studio like My Favorite Murder. Stay sexy and don’t get murdered! (7) 500 pairs of Vans in various colors. (8) A penchant for obscene and obscure vanity plates. (9) Gold everywhere. Plus a little extra gold for kids on public transit to casually pick off you. (10) Inspiration from visually stimulating films like The Fifth Element. Leelou will forever be the cutest Halloween costume. (11) Talented mentors and a community of off-color sign painters. (12) Lovely day for a Guinness! (13) Silky smooth line work.

Like what you see? Follow Alex May Hughes on Instagram for daily updates.