Above Bar Church, Southampton. Carved and gilded Welsh Slate. The design of the title is legible, as all building titles should be, but also shows freedom and spirit in execution as is appropriate for a religious building. The letterform is condensed to form a horizontal band helping to integrate the words into the architecture.

It is possible, while designing general signage, to use commercially availably fonts. With careful work it is still possible to achieve very handsome and functional results. The signage for Southwell Minster replaced an earlier, ad hoc, signage system with something consistent, generous in its design, and also attractive without being intrusive.

Cushion carved and stained brick. This elegant title lettering makes a virtue of the limited space to prevent the lettering appearing to vanish in the shadow behind the porch. Italics are ideal for this purpose due to their relatively narrow proportions and close spacing.

Lettering deeply carved into Portland ashlar. The coolly rational style of the lettering integrates very successfully with the tempered modernism of the architecture.

Cast bronze Coat of Arms designed to be ‘stretched’ around three sides of a cast bronze cube. This example demonstrates how heraldry is not a fixed form but can be reinterpreted to fit and respond to different materials, scale and the building onto which it is placed.

Winning competition design for lift lobby numbers. The panels are a single repetitive bronze casting with the appropriate floor level painted in red. This is an example of how something as prosaic as a lift lobby number can be transformed with a creative graphic object while still retaining its function.

Carved and stained brick. Good title lettering should not simply provide information, but also be an attractive addition to a building. This generously proportioned lettering becomes even more visible due to the relatively low and broad proportions of the wall. The light grey staining of the brick picks up on the colour of the mortar…

Cast concrete monument announcing the motorway bridge over the River Thames east of London. The surface is cast with exposed Cornish Granite aggregate. The shape of the monument reflects the support structures beneath the roadway as one approaches the bridge. The letters are also cast concrete with a dished profile to let in the light, softening…