When Belfast City Council asked us to design new street signs for the Cathedral, Linen and Queen's quarters of the city, as a source of inspiration we looked to the last remaining 19th century porcelain signs. With creamy white lettering reversed from the dark glazed porcelain, each sign consisted of a series of individual tiles mortar set into an iron tray, the whole assembly surrounded by an ornate component-built porcelain border.

Many of these signs were in bad repair, and although apparently unique to Belfast, our client’s first instinct was to have them replaced with something more modern. We suggested instead creating a modern version of these wonderful old signs, also in porcelain and using the same typeface, but utilising modern water-jet manufacturing techniques.