Sam Roberts

Its All Art

‘Goods in the City’ by Keith J. Hampton Keith Hampton over at It’s All Art kindly sent me this example of some work he has produced inspired by the ghost signs found in Indianapolis, USA. When I first saw this one (there’s another called ‘Miami Alley’) I assumed it was a collage, either digital or […]

9 Mar 2008

Jerry Johnson

© Sign painted and photo taken by Jerry Johnson Frank Jump over in NYC has just posted a collection of ten outstanding images from the work of experience signwriter (or “wall dog” in USA) Jerry Johnson.  Some of these are genuine pieces of advertising and some, like the one pictured, are spoofs. The craftsmanship, or […]

23 Feb 2008

Faded London

If you like the sort of stuff found on this blog you will certainly also be interested in the work of Yelfy over at Faded London.  This features some excellent examples of Ghost Signs, many from South London which is clearly my weak spot along with West London (funny that, living in North East!). The […]

4 Feb 2008

Restoration Debate in USA

The National Trust of Historic Preservation over in the USA features an article on their site discussing the debate over the preservation of Ghost Signs.  This is particularly focussed on the question of whether there is a need to restore or repaint the signs to bring them some way back to their original form. Nothing […]

1 Feb 2008

Dewars by Frank Jump

© Frank H. Jump Those guys over at Colossal Media go from strength to strength, this their latest creation in the Dewars campaign, photographed by Frank Jump. See the short film about the campaign here.

27 Jan 2008

Save this sign…

  Ross sent me this photo which is of an old metallic sign that is currently free to take for anyone who has the necessary tools. His message follows: “It’s within plastic barriers for an excavation in the pavement but I pulled it out of a pile of rubble so I think it’ll get thrown […]

24 Jan 2008

Living St Louis

This video from Jim Kirchherr from the Living St Louis series is a nice introduction to some of the signs from that city and touches on a number of the key aspect of the signs, their history and preservation. It also features a brief interview with William Stage, the athor of the most definitive book […]

19 Jan 2008

Jack Daniel’s

Some time ago now my uncle sent me two photos he took while visiting Newcastle (see below). These show Jack Daniel’s reviving the hand painted advertising medium by using a stencil to replicate the label design on walls across the city.  Comparing the two signs reveals that they are stencilled, most probably they did a […]

18 Jan 2008

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