Signing Pots

I recently read a blog entry on potteryblog.com about signing pots and thought the topic was interesting enough to take a few minutes and document my own approach for the sake of posterity...

Upper case initials one side of the foot, lower case initials on the opposite side of the foot.

The signature is created using the three corresponding keys from an old typewriter that I picked up at a thrift store during my college days. Those three keys have survived somewhere between 13 and 15 years (many of which they sat dormant) and, if all goes according to plan, they'll be around for quite some time to come.



Why this approach? I'd say I've got about 5 reasons:

• Visual symmetry - I find it pleasing to have the caps offset with their lowercase counterparts.
• Limited size - regardless of the size of the piece, the signature is ultimately small and unobtrusive - it's ultimately about the pot, not my signature.
• Same but different - I'm a hybrid business analyst/consultant and potter/maker - it's a relatively extreme dichotomy, but one that exists in each of us at some level. Everybody has uppercase and lowercase parts of themselves - I love the subtlety that goes with using both in my mark.
• Throwback - I'm a self-professed geek when it comes to gadgets and technology, so the concept of using typewriter and letterpress text from a bygone era is pert-near poetic to me.
• Unique - I may have been suckered in by an Arby's slogan from a few years back, but this is one area that, as far as I'm concerned, Different is Good...

So, while future folks may need to depend on the Internet Archive to find out what the "pba" means on the bottom of their antique piece of pottery, you can rest easy with a full understanding of said signature. Thanks for reading & take care. pba.