Getting Into It: New Bohemia's Modern Twist

Man looking through a window with photo taken from the outside. Above is part of a gilded letter K.

Shinya Nakahara after a window gilding project with New Bohemia Signs.

This is the first in what is intended to become a series of posts looking at the paths taken by different sign painters into the trade.

But, before we get into that...

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In 2019, I met Shinya Nakahara (aka Modern Twist Signs, @moderntwistsigns) at Tokyo Letterheads. He had a studio in the same building as the meet, and was one of the team working with Peter Liedberg (@letter_boy) to host the event.

Two people looking at a paper cup with red paint in it, with a table of sign painting paint tins in the background.

Shinya Nakahara (left) getting the paint flowing at Tokyo Letterheads. Photo: RIO.

In BLAG 02, Peter wrote a piece introducing the sign painting scene in Japan, and profiling some of the painters active across the country. This mentioned Shinya's relationship with New Bohemia Signs (@nbsigns), and that he was once again in San Francisco working there with Damon Styer.

The story of this relationship, and the tenacity that led to it, has now been told in this short film by Grant Thompson. It's the latest in his SOMASAPIENS series (@somasapienssf), profiling people from San Francisco's South of Market district.

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