Pen & Surface: Ornamental Conifer

“I’ve never tried to be a traditionalist,” declares British artist Ornamental Conifer when asked about his work in sign writing. Although Nicolai Sclater uses an age-old art form to convey his ideas, he’s committed to adapting his comic book-inspired passion to the 21st century. Inside his Venice Beach studio, you can barely see the white of the walls — the space is thoroughly covered by both his works in progress and his inspiration which ranges from music, to streetwear, to television cartoons. Using his expert abilities in typography and sign making, the now LA resident has built his career on wordplay carefully scrawled across the facades of buildings, the tanks of motorcycles, and the backs of leather jackets.

Having worked with Ornamental Conifer before on a more analog project, we decided it would be fun to try something completely different. So, taking our Pen & Paper series digital for the first time, HYPEBEAST & Microsoft present the first edition of Pen & Surface. Conifer works primarily in three styles of lettering that he’s developed over the years: a one-stroke letter, a script style, and a block letter. For his rendition of the HYPEBEAST logo, Nico uses his personal favorite, the block letter, to design a piece for us in his signature style.

Watch the video above to hear more from the artist and see his art in action, then take a trip over to the Microsoft Surface website to learn more about the tablet.