Year: 2012

Restoration Project for Ghost Signs in Salisbury, North Carolina

Details of the process for a specific restoration project, with a facebook page to accompany it.  More posts on restoration projects and issues here.

18 Apr 2012

Penge Fashion House Considers Hand-Painted Signage Options

Anyone know if this and/or this have been followed through to execution?

17 Apr 2012

Conservation guidelines for ghostsigns in Australia

This report, Conserving Historic Signs, was written in 2002 and published by the Heritage Office, Department of Planning, State of New South Wales in 2006. I was alerted to it by Jos Peeters and it is a detailed and fascinating account of some of the considerations when conserving ghostsigns. The work on the HAT archive seems […]

16 Apr 2012

Ghostsigns of Winnippeg, Manitoba

Rick kindly sent me this collection of Canadian ghostsigns, including one that appears to be painted on the side of a lorry.  He gives some background: “Here are some photos I took while working on a movie call ‘The Assasination of Jesse James’ in the City of Winnippeg, Manitoba.  The City is full of these […]

15 Apr 2012

An RIP and a half from Surrey and Wimbledon

Photo: Ewan Munro This sign in Oxted, Surrey, is no more, while this one (pictured) is subject to the whims of ourdoor advertising company primesight.  Credit to Sebastien for picking these up. The True Form one reminds me of the Kings Cross Road BP sign before its eventual demise, and the ongoing updating of the billboards at […]

14 Apr 2012

When letter-press meets hand painted advertising on walls: San Miguel Fresca posters

I’m briefly back in London and it is hard not to notice this poster campaign for San Miguel’s new summer beer, Fresca.  (That might have something to do with the fact that 10,000 locations feature the work.) Created by the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi it has involved a collaboration with letter-press artist Alan Kitching to give a distinctive […]

13 Apr 2012

Walls by Deidi von Schaewen

Deidi von Schaewen’s ‘Walls’ is a lovely hardback book that documents hand painted advertising on walls in the 1960s and 1970s.  It’s geographical coverage is noteworthy with examples from Berlin, London, New York, Paris and elsewhere in France.  Most of the photography is in black and white with a handful of colour images, all of […]

11 Apr 2012

Is this the easiest hand lettering technique possible?

Geraldine discovered this lovely little film from British Pathe, a ‘how to’ guide for a simple block lettering form.  It even doubles as a secret code…

10 Apr 2012

Vancouver Arts Profile the Grandma’s Boy Reveal

This sign continues to win affections, and now there is this new material and analysis from Vancouver Arts.   See the story so far on this post and this one.

9 Apr 2012

A Clever Twist on Hand-Made/Painted Lettering

This fascinating project explores the relationships between upper and lower case letters, and the transitions between them, using hands and paint.  (Found via Creative Review.)

8 Apr 2012

Overall Murals, a New NYC Sign Painting Company

I’ve just discovered this company producing hand painted wall advertising in New York via the film below. More signwriters here.

7 Apr 2012

Digital Engagement & the Ghostsigns Archive: History Workshop Article

Laura Carletti and I have written a short paper for History Workshop Online.  This builds on the survey and offers some reflections on the development of the archive in 2009-10.

4 Apr 2012

Hand painted propaganda from Chairman Mao and the cultural revolution

Collection of seven images here.  Apparently these large handpainted and wall mounted posters were called ‘dazibao’ which means big character poster.

4 Apr 2012

April and the fascinating world of fresco

A headline that started “Where there’s a wall” led me to this page (fittingly for today’s date the image is called ‘April’) and subsequently to the wikipedia entry for fresco. This is clearly an area that I will have to do more research into, especially given the global nature of the art form and the […]

1 Apr 2012

The joy of writing copy for butchers (with @Desightation)

Photo: Nick Garrett Not one, but two bits of playful copy on this sign by London-based signwriter Nick Garrett.  Reminded me of the line on this ghostsign, also found on this one: “Pleased to meet you, meat to please you.” Do you know of any other choice cuts from the realm of butchers’ copywriting?

31 Mar 2012

Brilliant new website: Traditional Sign Maker Magazine

Via the Signpainter Movie I came across this facinating site which profiles signwriters and has already introduced me to the beautiful world of Filete Porteño in Argentina.  Lots more good stuff to come from them no doubt…

30 Mar 2012

To paint or not to paint: preservation debate over Tempe ‘eyesore’

The ghostsigns on this flour mill have sparked debate over the desirability of a whitewashing as part of planned developments.  In this article [Link expired], local architect Robert Graham makes the case for the ghostsigns: “To paint over these features would be like refinishing a treasured piece of antique furniture — it may make it look […]

29 Mar 2012

The history of the Johnston typeface: Sign Design Society event

HAT archive contributor Mike Ashworth is giving an illustrated talk about the London Underground Johnston typeface next week on Tuesday, 3rd April.  More details in the pdf below and on the Sign Design Society website.  Followers of this site are eligible for a small discount, just make sure you quote ‘ghostsigns’ when you email enquiries@signdesignsociety.co.uk […]

28 Mar 2012

The beauty of cracking paint on Paris’ trompes l’oeil

Adam at Invisible Paris has written this blog post about the changing state of the city’s trompes l’oeil.  This example in partticular caught my eye, the craking and peeling of the paint creating something new from something old.  It is similar to the way that some ghostsigns deteriorate, with the paint sitting on the surface of […]

27 Mar 2012

Graphic DNA documents the visual language of the street

I’ve recently been in regular contact with Geraldine Marshall whose project, Graphic DNA, caught my attention.  It is the topic of her PhD thesis, under the supervision of Dr Caroline Archer.  I took the opportunity, before she gets too busy, to ask Geraldine some questions at her base in the Midlands, from mine in South […]

25 Mar 2012

Mapping San Francisco’s Ghostsigns

This project [Link expired] is seeking to create a comprehensive google map of ghostsigns in San Francisco.  It is run by Kasey Smith of the Perception Filter blog (recommended) and has already made significant progress. Many of the stories surrounding the documented signs are published on the blog, including the reveal of the one pictured […]

25 Mar 2012

Frank Jump leads a guided tour of Greenpoint, New York

Frank Jump led this tour last week to raise awareness of the ‘fading ads’ in this part of New York.  I was a bit slow off the mark to preview it but fortunately Jeremiah at Fading New York did just that and used the opportunity to ask Frank a few questions about his passion for […]

24 Mar 2012

Parkinsons Pills signs from across the UK: ‘They will buck you up’!

This is a great set of photos for the Parkinsons Pills brand from a site dedicated to the company.  A couple of these appear in the archive but the others are new to me, including one where the photographer claims to have got bored part way through restoring it.  A follow up post reveals this […]

23 Mar 2012

Before the secret lemonade drinker there was this Willesden Ghostsign

Another great discovery and background research from Sebastien here for a brand whose most memorable advertising was probably this:

22 Mar 2012