Signwrite your own lorry

Create your own lorry by signwriting a special message and choosing the colours!

Lots of vans and lorries have words on them, but nowadays they are mostly designed on a computer, printed out and stuck on. Our vintage lorries are hand painted, because in the old days that was the only way to do it. Learning how to make the letters beautiful and readable is a special skill that takes practice and patience. The letters are usually planned on paper like this before being drawn by hand on the lorry, then painted with hardwearing paint so the words last for a long time in any weather. You can practice by drawing your letters in pencil and colouring them with pens, coloured pencils or paints.

Before you start, think about what you want your lorry to say and why. We write Carters Steam Fair on ours so that everyone knows who it belongs to, and people can recognise us when we drive by.

You also need to plan your colours carefully. Perhaps you have a favourite colour, or you feel there are colours that represent you or your interests. It’s important to remember to make sure the letters will stand out against the background colour, so people can read your lorry from a distance! We use dark red for the letters and yellow for the background because they are warm and cheerful colours.

Ask a grown up to help you download the activity and print it out. We’d love to see what you make, so when it’s finished you could ask your grown up to photograph your masterpiece and send it by email to [email protected]