Beefcakes recalls childhood memories of Jim Ford’s first “brush” with letters. “I remember going to local shops with my mom, as a kid,” he recalls. “They would have big hand-painted signs in the window, often in neon paint – you couldn’t miss them. Long before I was aware of type, the craft of making these signs intrigued me. Seeing them up close, I realized that a someone had to paint all those words and numbers.”