The Nitty Gritty
You've got a wall, and I've got a paintbrush... let's make some magic!
To build on an existing portfolio of signage and mural projects and to establish a business network in the New England area, New Hampshire-based Letterly is offering a limited number of at-cost murals for 2024. “At cost” means that Letterly performs the service of designing and painting a mural for free, while the client pays only for materials and other ancillary costs, such as specialized equipment or significant travel. For a fraction of the normal price of a high quality art installation, you beautify your space and amplify your network, and I get to ride those snazzified coattails—and yes, Letterly is fully insured.
What the heck is Letterly?
I am! I’m Lorin Baeta, a part-time, one-woman show—artist, wife, mother, and recent(ish) CA-NH transplant. I’ve been producing signs, murals, and other custom type- and lettering-based art pieces for businesses and individuals since 2015, before which I was a Silicon Valley graphic designer with a passion for typography.
In the handful of years that Letterly was based in northern California, I produced over a dozen permanent, public artworks, with many more instances of temporary signage and seasonal window art. My clients and commissioners included small businesses such as clothing boutiques and eateries, entrepreneurs such as antique dealers and licensed aestheticians, and public entities like the City of Brentwood and its Downtown Association. I still take on graphic projects like logos and website design, but my focus is now in paint and I love to go BIG.
How do I know the potential cost?
To accurately estimate the cost of your mural we'll need a lot of details solidified, including the final design, but every mural requires paint and some other expenses can be predicted early.
Depending on your color palette, we may be able to share paint with other projects, or we may need dedicated buckets just for your wall. Uneven surfaces and those with very rough textures can require significantly more paint.
- For a smooth wall up to 250 square feet,
expect paint to start at $200
Almost every mural project needs masking, whether it be tape at the edges or paper/plastic to cover fixtures and windows.
- Tape and disposable masking materials
can range from $5 to $50
Whether your paint colors are common or custom, I'll do my best to leave touch-up paints behind just in case.
- Long-term paint storage containers
start at about $30 for several colors
Some fonts will need to be stenciled onto your wall using a paper template, while other fonts and freeform scripts use a grid method.
- Printing services for templates start around $40
Is your wall taller than about 8 ft? Is access obstructed by landscaping or other immovable fixtures? Is the ground next to it sloped?
- Scissor lift begins at $500/week
- Boom lift rental begins at $1,000/week
While I can't quote you a precise number until we've laid a little groundwork, these figures may help you decide whether "at-cost" is still in your price range. The mural won't be free, but it's likely to be a tax write-off as a marketing expense, and the project has the potential to pay for itself in increased revenue.
How is this going to work?
If your application is selected for the 2024 Woman Seeking Walls project, here's what you can expect:
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Site visit - I'll need to know what amenities are onsite or nearby, like WiFi, a bathroom, and a yummy lunch spot! Plus there's some planning to do that requires standing in front of your wall.
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Contract - this protects both of us and lays out the specifics of our relationship in an easily referenced document.
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Design - whether you've supplied your verbiage and preferred colors or chosen from my predesigned concepts, hammering out the final plan will go something like the below:
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Rough sketch
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Refined mockup
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Final approval
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Purchasing - you will be invoiced for the estimated cost of mural installation based on our site visit and final design, and when payment is received I'll purchase/secure supplies and materials.
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Installation - we'll have talked about an ideal timeline earlier, but until the design is approved and supplies are purchased we can't schedule the project. Once on the calendar, installation should go fairly quickly!
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Cross-promotion - talking each other up on social media should happen early and often, but once installed the fun really begins! If we've done everything right, your patrons will be selfie-ing, sharing, and showing everyone they know the slick new art in your space, and there's no foreseeable limit on how long you and Letterly continue to name-drop each other in posts, stories and reels.
