Sign Destinations

Places to visit for ghost signs.

Fort Collins and Watertown Ghostsigns

Building on the various tours and trails already published on this site, here are some more: Download a pdf of the Fort Collins Ghost Signs Tour (1) Download a pdf of the Fort Collins Ghost Signs Tour (2) Download a pdf of the Watertown Murals and Ghost Signs Tour Besides the two walking tours above, […]

17 Jul 2012
What signs say in Cambodia, a selection from Kratie

I’m planning a book to profile a collection of photos of hand painted signs that I’ve taken in my current hometown of Kratie in Cambodia. As part of this I’m working with a local called Chhay to translate the text from the signs from Khmer to English. It is proving a worthwhile exercise, both for […]

21 Jun 2012
Ukrainian Ghostsigns: Shadows of a Forgotten Past

Areta Kovalska just added a link to this post about ghostsigns from Lviv in Ukraine to the Ghostsigns Facebook page. It not only has some fascinating images but also some insightful observations on the meaning of these pieces of painted advertising from the former Soviet Union. See more from Areta on the Shadows from a […]

14 Jun 2012
Hand-Painted Gambia (and Jamaican Bonus)

A recent trip to a wedding in The Gambia, West Africa, was another piece of delight for a hand painted signage enthusiast like me. In a similar fashion to my February visit to Bangladesh I was often distracted by the variety of forms found in the small part of the country we visited. Also like […]

27 May 2012
Guided tour of hand painted advertising on walls in Utrecht, 11th May

It may be too late to book but for those in the Utrecht area this (pdf flyer) looks to be an informative tour of the city’s historic wall advertising. (Organised by Writing on the Wall.)

10 May 2012
Two signs from The Hague sent to me by Martin Percival

Martin kindly sent me these that he took in The Hague. They are restoration jobs, details of the black and white one here [Link expired] and more on another organisation working on preservation in the Netherlands here.

9 May 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
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
Chicago Ghostsigns mapped online and photographed for thesis

This website [Link expired] allows you to browse locations in Chicago and find the neighbourhood ghostsigns there. It was created by Nicole Donohoe for her thesis and has some great examples from this city which I haven’t previously seen many signs from. I’m not sure if the project is still active but there is a […]

17 Mar 2012
More Vancouver Ghostsigns and related article

Following this post on the main blog I stumbled across this small collection of Vancouver ghostsigns and a link to this article [Link expired] where some of the local heritage and conservation issues are discussed. The situation in that respect is very similar to that in the UK. (A variety of blog post related to […]

28 Feb 2012
Hand Painted Bangladesh

As part of my work with VSO I recently attended a study tour to Bangladesh, a country with many similarities to Cambodia but also many differences. The study was great but I have to admit that I was perpetually distracted by the sheer quantity and (often) quality of hand painted signage, decoration and other forms […]

2 Feb 2012
Stoke Newington Ghostsigns: History Pin Tour

After discovering the ‘Ghost Signs of Louisville’ Tour on History Pin I couldn’t resist having a go myself. The preliminary result is my first tour, ‘Stoke Newington Ghostsigns’. I reckon the walk would take a couple of hours depending on how long you stop to photograph the 18 featured signs and former locations of signs. […]

18 Dec 2011
Ghost Signs of Louisville

Following last week’s post about Phil Baines’ London lettering tour I came across this ‘Ghost Signs of Louisville’ tour. It has been created by the University of Louisville Photographic Archive (in particular their Ghostsigns collection) using History Pin. I’m keeping a list of all the tours and trails I discover and these are listed in the […]

16 Dec 2011
Public Lettering in Central London: Phil Baines’ Walking Tour

This well know Kings Cross palimpsest features in Phil Baines‘ updated walking tour of public lettering in London (thanks to Geraldine Marshall for the link on the Facebook page). He’s now created this as a ‘Map Tale’ which can be viewed below or in full screen here [Links since expired]. This adds to a handful […]

10 Dec 2011
Signs of Cambodia

Over a year since I first wrote about hand painted signs in Cambodia I thought it was time for a brief update. First are some examples from my travels around the country, followed by some other pieces of signage that amused me in one way or another. First to Kep, a nice use of the […]

25 Nov 2011
Love Local Landmarks and the Hackney Society

To protect or not to protect? As I’ve discussed before, my interest in Ghostsigns started in my home borough of Hackney in London. The concentration of specimens in Stoke Newington intrigued me and I had to learn more about them. I was soon finding and photographing great examples not only in Hackney but across the […]

29 Oct 2011
Ghostsigns World Tour

Perhaps being in Cambodia has sensitised me to the world of Ghostsigns beyond my home shores. Or maybe awareness of the project has encouraged those from around the world to make contact. Whatever it is, I thought it was time for a round-up of what’s landed in my inbox and surfaced on my internet radar […]

21 Jul 2011
Cambodia

As you may have seen from my post last month I’m now based in Cambodia for the next two years. While I haven’t yet come across many hand painted signs on walls the hand painted form is alive and well here. They are everywhere I go, offering simple illustrations for those who can’t read and […]

4 Oct 2010
Thumbnails Map

This is pretty cool (inspired from the comments on here), pulling the geotagged Creative Commons images out of the Ghostsigns Pool on Flickr. Thoughts, feedback, comments and suggestions welcomed (sam@ghostsigns.co.uk). Click the picture for the dynamic version (may take a few seconds to load) and find a Ghostsign near you…

9 Sep 2010
Trails

Ghostsigns have recently popped up a couple of times in trails I’ve come across. These build on my recent type tour and a post about Jo Tomkins’ Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk. First up are the Battersea Heritage Trails, a neat little 64-page A6 booklet detailing a series of seven trails around the area. This has […]

12 Jul 2010
Mapping Ghostsigns

This free application offers some of what I’m looking for, allowing my own geotagged Flickr photos to be easily plotted on a map. When you click on any image in the bar at the bottom or pin in the map you get a direct link to the Flickr photo and any information given in the […]

29 Jun 2010
Ghostsigns Worldwide, Part 2

I’ve added this sketch diagram to the initial brief and also built a mockup of a page format that could be used.

28 Jun 2010
Ghostsigns Worldwide

Imagine a map like this plotting examples of hand painted advertising from across the world… (Image from Panoramio) I’ve been doing some thinking about the project and how we can move it to have global reach in a quick and collaborative way. This is new territory for me and I’m looking for ideas, help, advice […]

26 Jun 2010