
About Seraina
20 Years of precision lettering design.
Painting Beautiful London, Victorian Gold House Numbers.
Traditional signs and more…
THE BIG PAGE
Seraina Baumgartner is a contemporary Swiss graphic designer and letterform artist known for her refined use of a wide range of popular type. She has a love for classical Roman lettering traditions within modern design contexts of her current lettering and signage projects.
A serious lettering artist, her work frequently draws on historical typefaces such as Johnston, Gill, Bodoni, Caslon, Baskerville, Helvetica and Trajan, revering their structural beauty as a grail foundation rather than decorative gloss.
Her Style and Origins
Baumgartner’s approach reflects a kinship understanding of inscriptional Roman capitals and early print book typography. Typefaces like Caslon and Baskerville populate her work through their balance of calligraphic stroke contrast and elegant forms, while Trajan’s influence is evident in her use of monumental capitals, classical spacing, and stone-carved strength.
Her design agility references her work with a sense of classicism, authority, and legibility. The core qualities closely associated with Roman letterforms and her Italian/Swiss origins.
The Difference – Clarity meets Beauty
What distinguishes Baumgartner’s use of these styles is her restraint and controlled scaling. Rather than falling into the common trap of many young graphic designers of overt, overdressed graphic-glam historicism she build in finctionality and head turning power.
”I aim to retain their essential principles — of proportion, rhythm, and spacing hierarchy...
— and apply them to contemporary commercial worlds of retail layouts, wayfinding, private house titles and numerals”.
This aligns her unique design heritage with a constant review of broader evolving design trends with a new humanist modernist tradition.
Embracing classical ‘Roman’ typography via the lens of Swiss graphic design precision.
CRAFTED
CLASSIC CONTEMPORARY
SIGNWRITING
FOR FINE HOMES & BUSINESES
Seraina Baumgartner Signs is all about design precision

A Contemporary Traditional Sign writer.
London’s leading Painter of hundreds of Gold House Numbers.
Seraina uses traditional hand-painted techniques. Graduating from a Swiss print-making apprenticeship, has an incredibly sharp eye for detail.
Each project has been designed uniquely for each bespoke client preference… no other house in the world has the same signature or finishing touch.
Heritage-driven typographic design for truly crafted homes

Part 2: Inside the studio
These letters come straight out of my personal archive (of 25 years) of deeply traditional signwriting styles — the kind of ‘type’ you ocassionally spot on vintage shopfronts, tiled thresholds, and forgotten architectural side treets. No ordinary type indeed.
Every letter is traced with obsessive detail from my archives and my restoration projects, and from the rare examples of typography I discover working across London city (and actually, across the planet).
I’m an avid, compulsive collector — I log in my growing collections, photos of ghost signs, engravings, and rare lettering styles that deserve to be saved, preserved and brought back to life. You cannot create this rich intensity without being a dedicated collector.
These finds get re-drawn by hand until they’re absolutely true in essense to the originals, then vectorised and archived into my growing library of over 80 unique, custom alphabets. Each glyph is carefully plotted, spaced, and fine-tuned to line up perfectly with the new architecture it will soon adjoin.
This process is outrageously detailed work — it is what goes unseen inside these characters that makes the final letters breethe and form a powerful pervading atmosphere. It’s disiduous, slightly nerdy work, but all those invisible details stack up into something full of intoxicating qualities
The client sees this history revived into new life, and together, we’ve kept a little gem of the old world alive for everyone to love and enjoy.
Career Timeline
2002-2005 – Apprenticeship completed: Printing and graphics Zurich
2005-2016 – Working in field of screen printing for Print Haus Zurich
2018 – 2019 – Working in field of sign design and application
Today – Working independently and with NGS as sign painter and designer
A leading London, specialist Traditional Sign Painter
Creator of memorable Gold House Numbers and truly gorgeous Shop Signs.
Part 3: Examples around town


A selection of her work below – feel free to ask Seraina for details and pricing.


Seraina paints All Signs: A London Sign painter.
Period & Modern styling – Heritage correct in every detail.

CASE: Creating a unique Heritage Victorian Letter Style.
A Gold leaf specialisT

Melbourne House letter architecture above, was derived from Italian ‘Bodoni’ elongated type/font and re crafted with 1930s era features. Wanting to never add the obvious, that many tend to do, overcooking is not something found in the greatest of any classical design.
It’s often what is paired down that offers so much. The simplification of the central ‘E’ character horizontal bar and the gentle rounding of various serif extenders, adds romance and rhythm to the arc format and whole. Tiny decisions on detailing that create such a difference and add a perfect sprinkle of mindful, memorable flavours, voice and lasting quality.
It’s what we call quality in short… but requires extra explanation as to how we measure and place the gemstones in the final piece. Always aware of the need to never overdress such beauty. These letters embody a purity of enduring style rather than the splashes of effects found in fashion or ‘fad’ graphic design. That’s the gulf of the difference and divide.
It’s why we are here and making these beautiful things for your home.
TODAY
Ideas and mantra

I’m lucky that my sign-painting work includes specialist gilding, developing new ideas as a letter designer, typographic designer and traditional sign Painter combined.
Most of my clients know me as a meticulous signwriter, glass gilder and specialist graphic artist from the work they have seen here.

I aim for distinct and unique: specialise in making hand painted Retail signwriting, gold house numbers, Gold leaf windows, Feature walls, Office missions, Wayfinding signs and House numbers… my other skills include interior mural schemes and full design project management.
Every sign I paint is a reflection of my personal journey as an artist.



Starting up is made easy
If something here has caught your eye, however early along the process — you are most welcome..
GALLERY OF LETTERING PRECISION AND BEAUTY

Soho, Fitzrovia
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FAQ
Who is Seraina Baumgartner and what is her background in signwriting?
Seraina Baumgartner is a contemporary Swiss graphic designer and letterform artist renowned for her refined use of classical Roman lettering traditions within modern design contexts. She has a strong background in traditional signwriting, arts and crafts, and graphic design, with over 20 years of experience in the industry.
What distinguishes Seraina’s style in signwriting and lettering design?
Seraina’s style is distinguished by her restraint and controlled scaling of classical Roman typefaces like Caslon, Baskerville, and Trajan, applying their principles of proportion, rhythm, and spacing to modern commercial projects. She combines classical accuracy with contemporary functionality, emphasizing clarity and beauty.
What types of projects does Seraina Baumgartner typically work on?
Seraina works on a wide range of projects including retail layouts, wayfinding signs, private house numerals, heritage-inspired signwriting, gold leaf lettering, interior murals, and full design project management, tailored to both commercial and private clients.
How does Seraina preserve and restore traditional signwriting styles?
Seraina’s process involves extensive research and obsessive detail in tracing letters from her personal archives, which span 25 years. She re-draws these characters by hand, vectorises, and archives them into over 80 unique alphabets, ensuring each sign retains historical accuracy while meeting modern aesthetic standards.
What is Seraina’s approach to combining heritage and modern design in her signwriting work?
Seraina’s approach is to respect and embody the core principles of traditional Roman inscriptions while integrating them into contemporary commercial and residential contexts. She emphasizes timeless quality, functionality, and a humanist modernist tradition rooted in Swiss graphic design precision, creating signs that are both historically respectful and visually striking.
London Sign painter Seraina,
Main House Numbering services






