A man of letters

In the past three years, business has been brisk despite Zhao not spending money on promoting his studio. Most painting orders have come from friends who are fascinated with the craftsmanship. Among the friends-turned customers is Tian Zuowei, owner of three coffee shops in Shanghai. He met Zhao in 2020 when he was planning the redecoration of his first cafe, Griffin Coffee.

"Humans created the world with their bare hands. This is also the most accurate way to present creativity. So, every hand-painted signboard is expressing human vitality with letterings, lines and colors," says Tian, who is a fan of vintage culture and traditional craftsmanship.

"Zhao is the only sign painter who can express my ideas on the signboard," says Tian. "He seems to be calm but full of energy. He has a vast universe in his mind that is full of fantastic thoughts."

Zhao shares a similar point of view when it comes to recognizing each sign as "a unique piece of artwork that should not be replicated".

"It's a natural trend that shop owners choose to paint signs in a creative way to catch public attention. Unfortunately, some shops are over-decorated purely to follow the trend. Therefore, I've tried to avoid painting signs with the same style for two different shops," he says.

Zhao says one of the best compliments he has received is that "his work is indistinguishable from machine-generated prints".

"I think the claim that hand-painted signs should be rough in nature and have obvious defects is an excuse for the lack of practice and skills," says Zhao.

Earlier this year, the artist held his first exhibition in Shanghai to showcase all the signs and other works he has created over the past three years.

Looking ahead, Zhao is eager to incorporate more Chinese characters into his sign painting.

"My ideas originate from instances in my life, the books I've read, the photos I've seen and the signboards I've come across," says Zhao, adding that the beauty of Chinese characters can be found in the book Shanghai Typography.

His main focus now is to paint Chinese characters on shop signs in a modern manner.