VietNamNet Bridge – A house covering nearly 20 square meters at 603A An Duong Vuong Street in Binh Tan District, HCMC is one of the few places left in the city where signs are hand-painted.

Nguyen The Minh

The shop owner, Nguyen The Minh, is a 67-year-old painter who has had great passion for this job over the past 30 years.

Minh said his customers in the past were big companies while his current orders are mostly from small food and coffee shops.

Despite the advent of new advertising technology, Minh says he will stick with the job until his very last breath to bring simple artworks to his loyal customers.

Minh is also known as a poet with his penname of Hoai Minh Phuong.

A sign is priced from VND300,000 to VND500,000       According to Nguyen The Minh, hand-mixing paints is the most important step to make a perfect sign       Minh shows an old notebook with typefaces which he has used for 30 years     Minh also makes iron frames and aluminum signs by himself to cut cost – Photos: An Nguyen

SGT