Year: 2007

Landmarks Commission Hearing

Debate over this site for a new painted wall advertisement Frank Jump over in NYC, USA recently presented the case, on behalf of Colossal Media, for the ‘overwriting’ of an old fading ghost sign with a new Colossal production.  Presumably an application to do so is under consideration and the Landmarks Commission are deciding whether […]

25 Dec 2007

Pulse of the Planet

A while ago I submitted some photos and general information to a competition run by USA science website Pulse of the Planet. And I won (!) with this picture of one of my personal favourites from Stoke Newington Church Street, N16. Interestingly one of the two runners up prizes went to another Stoke Newington sign […]

2 Dec 2007

Boyd Pianos

Charlie, sarflondondunc and Ross all told me about this great sign for Boyd Pianos that has recently been revealed on Shacklewell Lane in Hackney, presumably by the removal of a billboard. It is interesting on a number of levels, not least the quality of preservation 1. It is advertising pianos which is something you would […]

23 Nov 2007

Philadelphia Press

Lawrence O’Toole who has been documenting Ghost Signs in Philadelphia, USA got some press on his project recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Read the full piece here [Jan 2012: Link no longer available] and visit Lawrence’s blog here for some great pictures. This adds to the growing levels of press.

18 Nov 2007

Literary London Article (Part One)

Sebastian Groes and I have been working on a Ghost Signs article in response to the presentation we gave at the annual Literary London Festival.  This looks broadly at the signs in the context of London and discusses what they symbolise and represent for the city. There are also some practical discussions about the techniques […]

14 Nov 2007

The Post (18th October)

Kathryn passed me this, which appears to have come as a follow up to the recent piece in the South London Press.  The article talks about the Streatham Society trying to get this great Portogram sign protected and also features the question to Mayor Ken again. I’ve tried to get in touch wth John Brown […]

10 Nov 2007

Sweet Caporal (Canada)

George from Alberta, Canada, sent me this great sign from a town called Medicine Hat and a bit of a story to go with it. It is an example of ‘privelege’ advertising as the wall probably belonged to Pingle’s Drug & Book Store who would have given it over to Sweet Caporal in return for […]

8 Nov 2007

Bovril & Greys

Andy sent me this great double sign from Bedford in response to my appeal for world record contenders.  Although it isn’t a multitude of signs, the quality of preservation is exceptional. Either they’ve been retouched or they have been preserved by a billboard/adjacent building. redgrittybrick says of the Greys signs: ” I believe the “Greys” […]

19 Oct 2007

Colossal Media Live

This is a great short film made by the team at Colossal Media and gives a real insight into some of the techniques used to produce brickads in particular it includes footage of the ‘pouncebag’ method of transferring the outline design onto the wall. The campaign highlighted here is for Dewar’s and the work has that […]

18 Oct 2007

Society of Operative Printers & Assistants (RIP)

Some time ago Nick sent me this picture of an old ‘shop’ front on Blackfriars Road. The building is quite clearly not used any more but the signage had survived until very recently.  I cycled past it today and the two sides visible here have fallen off or been destroyed. However, a third side (to […]

16 Oct 2007

Colossal Media Press

While looking again at the Colossal Media site I came across this really nice spread they got in the New York Times back in October 2006.  I think they’re onto a great thing and the fact that big name clients such as Absolut, H&M and Stella Artois are buying in implies that others would agree.

16 Oct 2007

Brickads Live (GTA)

nicknormal has taken a great series of shots in New York of Colossal Media producing their latest creation for the new Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game. A few are below but you can see them all in a slideshow giving a real sense of the progress between 6th and 15th October. The guys are hooked […]

16 Oct 2007

Auckland Billboards

Dean wrote to me following the ban in Sao Paulo to let me know that it is now the politicians in Auckland, New Zealand, that are looking to outlaw billboards. However, they didn’t expect the advertising industry to fight back with a bit of characteristic creativity and develop a campaign to highlight what lies beneath […]

12 Oct 2007

Hackney Gazette

Yesterday (11th October) the Hackney Gazette did a nice spread on the project.  I had a few photos taken for this, some of them very cheesy, so I was quite pleased with their eventual selection. It was great to see some more of my pictures in print, especially those that are most local to me. […]

12 Oct 2007

Hackney Council

In preparing an article for the Hackney Gazette a response came from the council as to what they’re doing to preserve old ads.  In principal this is very positive, especially given the large number of signs in the borough (a rare double pictured). The following message came from Emma Britton, Media Officer, Hackney Council: Please […]

8 Oct 2007

Rise and Fall of Billboards

In response to my post on SmartWrap, Faris warned me to ‘beware the backlash’ and sent me a link to his blog which shows the following TV ad. It’s for Sky Movies, promoting the fact that their films are uninterupted by advertising and is inspired by the Brazilian billboard ban. An interesting construct which Faris […]

6 Oct 2007

Lambeth Council

Following the recent painting over of the Clapham North ‘Music Rolls‘ sign, Ocky got in touch with Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall to ask her what Lambeth Council are doing to preserve this signs. The response from Michael Copeman, via Councillor Peck, was as follows: Dear Kate   Keith put exactly the same enquiry about […]

4 Oct 2007

NYC Brickads 2007

Oli just got back from New York where he said that there are ghost signs everywhere. However, in addition to the old signs, they are still producing modern brickads over there.  This one is for Jodie Foster’s new film which has just been released in the UK. You can see, towards the bottom of the […]

30 Sep 2007

London Tonight

Last night (27th September) there was a feature on London Tonight all about Ghost Signs in London and how they should be protected. I was interviewed for the piece and Alistair Stewart commented that it was a “masterpiece”. High praise indeed!

27 Sep 2007

South London Press

Today there was a feature in the South London Press about protecting ghost signs.  This came on the back of the question to Mayor Ken. Although not credited, the Picture Post photo is one of mine and Robert has added some research to this. I get a mention with a couple of quotes on the […]

25 Sep 2007

Ariel Bikes

This sign from Kennington in south London was spotted by Steve and I photographed it soon after. It’s right beside a library which makes it difficult to get a square shot. It is a mystery why it says “Writers” across the bottom and also interesting that the top left of the sign has completely gone.Ariel […]

21 Sep 2007

ARUP Presentation

Last week I was kindly invited by Rebecca to come in and give a talk to some of her colleagues at ARUP. The particular division I spoke to are focussed on building facades and so there was some interest in this old way of using wall space. Again there were some interesting questions at the […]

19 Sep 2007

Ken Livingstone

Jose recently helped to pose a question, via Murad Qureshi, on Ghost Signs to London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone. His question and Ken’s response are below. The Mayor makes reference to the ‘London Plan‘ and this would seem to be his suggestion in terms of protecting signs via local councils. `Ghost Signs’ in London, Question No: […]

18 Sep 2007

Redfern’s Rubber Heels

Renovations on Islington property reveal a ghost sign for Redfern’s Rubber Heels after stripping back the paint of another ghost sign and partial whitewash.

14 Sep 2007