Sign Initiatives
Ghost sign projects and events.
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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
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Ghostsigns Research from Laura Carletti Scoops Award
Congratulations to Laura Carletti who took home an award for her presentation of the most recent paper on the Ghostsigns Project at the Digital Engagement conference in Newcastle. The paper is available for download here, with the following note regarding copyright: “Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work […]
20 Nov 2011
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Laura Carletti Abstract
Following the recent survey which is part of a larger research project, Laura Carletti has kindly given permission to publish the abstract of a paper she presented to the Digital Resources in the Humanities and Arts conference held back in September. The full title is: “Enhancement of niche cultural and social resources through crowd-contribution: the […]
12 Nov 2011
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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
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Ghostsigns Survey
[THIS SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED, see the results here] Just over a year ago we launched the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive. From start to finish the project took exactly one year and this was made possible largely due to the use of online tools such as Flickr, Youtube and Facebook. I always meant […]
8 Jul 2011
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Adzookie
The History of Advertising Trust Twitter stream recently brought this initiative to my attention from mobile advertising firm Adzookie. Essentially they will pay your mortgage if you agree to have this garish design slapped onto the external walls of your home. However, in the current downturn, and with people struggling to avoid repossessions, they may […]
4 Jun 2011
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Geoslideshow
I’ve been slowly pursuing the Ghostsigns Worldwide idea and, in the process, came across a new web application being developed. It’s called Geoslideshow and, in response to my suggestion, they’ve cracked the code to generate a map of all geotagged photos in a Flickr group. Click here for the application of this to the Ghostsigns […]
9 Apr 2011
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Ultrabold, Summer 2010
The Summer 2010 issue of Ultrabold, the journal of the St Bride Library, features an article by me on the launch of the HAT Ghostsigns Archive. You can view a pdf here, or subscribe to the journal by becoming a friend of St Bride here. My previous Ultrabold article can be found here with other […]
8 Oct 2010
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Summer 2010
Bile Beans: Balm Road, Leeds Photographer: Richard Turner In my speech at the HAT archive launch I said that I felt it would be just the start of an ongoing documentation of hand painted advertising of old. Sure enough, the archive and associated publicity surrounding its opening have led to many new contributors getting in […]
13 Sep 2010
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London Mural Preservation Society
At last week’s Sign Design Society talk I met Ruth who has started an initiative aimed at raising awareness, researching, restoring and protecting the many hand painted murals that can be found dotted across the capital. These were generally initiated as community arts projects and Ruth has been tracking down the artists who once produced […]
10 Sep 2010
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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
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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
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ARC Magazine
> The latest issue of ARC magazine from the Society of Archivists features this two page article on the Ghostsigns Project.
8 Jul 2010
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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
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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
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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
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Type Tour
A few weeks ago I went on a walking tour organised by type which was led by the very knowledgable, ex-compositor, John Voller. It took in the area around Fleet Street and St Pauls where the print industry grew up alongside the many associated disciplines/crafts, not least typography. This tour was the ‘West’ route, there […]
6 Jun 2010
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Preserve
Fischer Strube, Luzern Switzerland (Photo: Erik Wallace) While mine and the History of Advertising Trust’s efforts have focused on hand painted advertising from the UK and Ireland it’s always worth remembering that Ghostsigns are a global phenomenon. In fact there are others around the world attempting to capture them for posterity in much the same […]
1 May 2010
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Archive Press
Me with our sponsors from Rank Hovis and Roy Jeans of IPMPhoto: Trevor Liberson More event photos in this Flickr Set. Following last week’s launchI’ve had a busy time with follow up activity. Some of this has been from press interested in writing up the story and I’ll give some more updates soon, especially after […]
26 Mar 2010
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The archive launches
Thank you to everyone who came along to the launch event last night, photos below. The archive is now available so make a visit and have a browse. I’m really happy with the way this has all come together and as I said last night it would simply not have been possible without the generous support […]
19 Mar 2010
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Archive launches tomorrow…
The final video and image highlight as we count down to tomorrow’s launch of the archive. The picture is from the new Hotels & Restaurants gallery while the video features an assortment of different categories which previously didn’t have a home (they now do!). Finally, below, is another video from much earlier in the project […]
18 Mar 2010
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Two days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Media & Entertainment gallery, although the video was made before the slight adjustment to the categories and has some for shops and retailers that have been split across a number of the new […]
17 Mar 2010
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Three Days to Launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Tradesmen & DIY gallery, although the video was made before the slight adjustment to the categories and has some that now feature in the Hotels & Restaurants gallery. More tomorrow.
16 Mar 2010
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Four days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Medical & Health gallery. More tomorrow.
15 Mar 2010
