Kelsey & Andrew McClellan

In the summer of 2022 a small group of Chicago sign painters worked to preserve two large wood panel signs that were painted on a building slated for demolition. The uncovering of these 1920s and 1930s signs lead to a discovery that one the signs was painted by Jack Briggs of Chicago, IL. Jack Briggs went on to start Beverly Sign Co on the Southside of Chicago. This revelation led the painters to a large collection of Beverly Sign Co drawings saved by a young union sign painter in the 70s, who had held onto them for the past 50 plus years. With the drawings the team published a book about the Beverly Sign Co titled; The Golden Era of Sign Design : The Rediscovered Drawings of Chicago’s Beverly Sign Co. This collection of drawings are a look into the development of modernist sign design and exemplify the work of some of Chicago’s best lettering artists and designers. Beverly Sign Co was renowned for developing the design method of “Panelization” and what was ultimately termed the “Chicago Look”, which utilizes bold shapes and colors to break up text and catch the viewers attention. This design approach along with the studied and snappy lettering styles went on to influence an entire generation of sign makers from the mid-century onward to today. Much of modernist sign design is based on the design principles developed by the designers at Beverly Sign Co, including Ken Millar, Clyde Sellars, and Mike Borda, who’s original drawings are now compiled in the book.

Kelsey Dalton McClellan is a sign painter based in Chicago, IL. Along with her husband Andrew they own Heart & Bone Signs which specializes in hand painted signage and gold leaf. Kelsey is passionate about the preservation of signs and has worked with institutions like the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati to preserve historic signage. She is a graduate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a MA in Art Administration and Policy. She was awarded the Women in Signs award for 2023 by Signs of the Times Magazine and received the Emerging Fellow grant from the Academic Advisory Council for Signage Research and Education.

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