Phil Sans (Philip Surey)

What a pleasure are handsome letters. These were painted by Philip Surey, a 1996 graduate of the City & Guilds of London Art School who later assisted Richard Kindersley and Ralph Beyer in their shops before going out on own as a sculptor and letter carver. This piece was a trial for a piece now held at the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin, and it shows his ruled pencil lines and minor notes to himself about spacing and changes that needed to be made before the final. It’s a total beauty. And (incidentally) this alphabet served as the model for our own alphabet stone which sits above our desk. We look up at it whenever we need a break from the world (or, more accurately, email). A lovely thing.