Apparently the overall direction the design world is taking is towards a revindication of old school crafts, such as handmade furniture, hand-printed cards/posters (i.e. letterpress) and pretty much everything traditional. Personally I think it's an appropriate decision to go down that route, specially because it focuses more on the quality of the product more than the mass production of it; it has more of a personal relationship with what's being made, a more thoughtful way to think about how things are done and the skills that are behind them.
This time I came across the work of Danny Cooke, a british filmmaker that has been recording the work of these craftsmen, in this case the hand-drawn glass signs by David A. Smith, a true glass artist. In his website you can find lots of his work, which considering they're all made by hand is absolutely amazing. The short documentary by Cooke gives a quick look at the production process, which is executed with impressive skills by Smith. Taking in mind that all these signs are hand-drawn (NO computers are involved in the process, which is..wow) the results are even more outstanding. This is a great example of good inspiration for graphic designers, who sometimes forget the importance of having an old school process -that is, pencil and paper- being a crucial stage for any kind of design.
David A Smith - Sign Artist from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.