Year: 2008

James Ashby & Sons (Rose Brand Fine Teas)

James Ashby & Sons, Union Street, SE1 Rachel at Jerwood Space recently told me that the building at 195-205 Union Street is currently awaiting final confirmation of its demolition and development. It may not be long before the building and its little piece of ghost sign history is lost forever so I got down there […]

12 Dec 2008

Emmanuel Nouaillier

One of the best things that has happened since setting up this blog is people sending me ghost sign related materials from around the world. The most interesting of these are when the signs have been used as a springboard for artistic and other creative activities. Most recently I got a series of emails from […]

8 Dec 2008

Colossal Media Update

I’ve written lots about Colossal Media in the past but a visit to their website today revealed a whole load of new content including lots of videos, mainly time-lapses of their work being painted but also this new promotional trailer. Although it features some of their most recent work I still think the old one is […]

1 Dec 2008

The Return of Boyd Pianos

I saw the above headline come through on my RSS feed from Flickr and I was very excited to see the news from Fin Fahey that the classic Boyd Pianos sign has returned after being covered for some time. Perhaps something similar might happen to the old Redferns double-bill in Wandsworth one day… Good spot […]

20 Nov 2008

Window Painting

Shop window name painter Originally uploaded by Apotheker Nice picture here from a set of Apotheker in Amsterdam showing a window painter at work. Notice how he has masked off the letter heights. The full text is going to be ‘Bevlogen’ so I don’t know what the two little bits of masking at the end […]

25 Oct 2008

Stuart Free

For my birthday earlier this week my girlfriend bought me a limited edition print from north London artist Stuart Free. It is a painting depicting the distinctive Donovan Bros. shopfront in Spitalfields which has always been one of my favourite sites in London. [Update here.] Stuart clearly produced this painting before the sign was recently […]

11 Sep 2008

Hovis Update

Some time ago Rosemary tipped me off about this well preserved Hovis sign just off Green Lanes in Harringey which I’ve now got round to photographing. It is an excellent example, well preserved, and strikingly similar to the one in Islington (see below) in terms of the logo and design.  However, the slogans differ, this […]

10 Sep 2008

Landmarks Commission Update

Looks like the hearing was a success…depending on your stance regarding protection…

10 Sep 2008

French Connection

I’ve just recently returned from five weeks in the south of France, hence the lack of Ghost Sign news since late June.  It looks like Frank Jump was also doing something similar recently and details of my trip last year are here. Just before I left Caroline tipped me off about a Ghost Signs ‘convention’ […]

10 Sep 2008

Ghost Signs on Radio

Listen here. If you’re not familiar with the show it features lots of good music but also has a regular slot where you can call in with something ‘mysterious’ you’ve spotted around London and other listeners then phone in to help unravel the mystery. A couple of weeks ago they were talking about the Herbrand […]

27 Jun 2008

Bomb Shelter

Shelter, Lord North Street (photo by Pryere) John AKA Pryere sent me this great photo of an old sign on Lord North Street in London. It is a relic from the war and points directly at the front door of number 16 (see below), although refers to vaults under the pavement. Given the proximity of […]

24 Jun 2008

Ultrabold

Simon got in touch a while back asking if I could write a short piece for the Ultrabold magazine, the quarterly journal of St Bride Library. This is a specialist library and archive of print, graphic design, typography and more in Fleet Street. (Which reminds me that my visit is now well overdue!) The outcome […]

17 Jun 2008

One Year On (www.ghostsigns.co.uk)

It has now been a year since I started writing this blog and making posts relating to research and other areas of interest. My first ever post showed the sign that first inspired me and, as fate would have it, has been selected by youtube for the still to introduce my latest Ghost Signs video/slideshow […]

16 Jun 2008

Frank Jump Interview

Just came across this on youtube, an interview with Frank Jump about his work in New York. Great to see some of his pictures full size and to hear some of the background to his fascination with the Ghost Signs or Fading Ads. I still need to schedule my trip over there, everyone who comes […]

2 Jun 2008

Derelict London Part 2

Since my post last year on Pall Talling’s Derelict London site he has had his work published in a book.  It makes for fascinating reading and is truly inclusive of the whole city. The book is divided into sections along the lines of those featured on his site such as ‘Houses & Flats’, ‘Pubs & […]

31 May 2008

Bile Beans Part 2

Although I’ve been aware of this Bile Beans sign for some time I was struck by Andy Johnson‘s picture seen here as it really highlights the brightness of the sign versus the surrounding area.It has been tinkered with slightly but provides an insight into how much the original signs must have stood out against an […]

30 May 2008

Herbrand Street ‘Mural’

Biking home along the now congested cycle lanes in Bloomsbury I couldn’t help noticing this huge mural on the side of the terrace at the corner of Herbrand Street and Tavistock Place. I went back to it the next day with my camera and took these pictures. At the same time I went up to […]

25 May 2008

Diesel Wall

The fashion brand Diesel have picked up on the outdoor, big wall format with a creatively focussed competition, Diesel Wall, to fill the spaces they’ve booked on prominent locations in Manchester, New York, Zurich and Barcelona. The underlying premise is a revolt against the ‘pollution’ of public space with commercial messages by providing a canvass […]

28 Apr 2008

University College Falmouth

Last week I went to give a talk to the future copy writers and art directors on the University College Falmouth MA Creative Advertising.  This is a well respected course with graduates typically getting recruited into the creative departments of some of the best advertising agencies in the world. Thank you to Carolyn and Chris […]

26 Apr 2008

Bovril Update

Alex sent me this photo of the remnants of a Bovril sign in the Redhill area. In much the same way as the Ekco sign that Duncan sent me, this sign appears to have been revealed during some recent construction work involving the demolition of the adjacent building or extension. This is a huge factor […]

26 Apr 2008

Leicester Ghost Signs

Browsing some of the vast and ever growing collection of photos in the Flickr Ghost Signs pool I came across a nice collection taken by Amy Jane Barnes in Leicester. Here are three of my favourites. Thank you to Amy for letting me feature them on the site and do visit her ongoing photo-a-day project […]

4 Apr 2008

John Henstock

I got in touch with John Henstock recently as he’d started uploading some of his pictures on Flickr. Here’s one example from Brixton for Our Sons Menswear (funny, I’d always read it as Dursons Menswear!). They interested me because of their very distinctive look and so I asked how he had achieved the effect. He […]

27 Mar 2008

Jack Daniel’s (Brighton)

Following my uncle’s discoveries in Newcastle I spotted two more Jack Daniel’s faux Ghost Signs on my Bank holiday visit to Brighton. The one on the white background is right there as soon as you come out of the station and the one on the red background is on the road that goes to Hove. […]

25 Mar 2008

London Street Scenes

Bob just told me about his site London Street Scenes [update: website no longer available] where a good collection of mainly London ghost signs can be seen. There’s a good spread from North and South London and it looks like there are more being added all the time. In addition to this section there are other galleries […]

16 Mar 2008