Signs in Media

Books, articles and video relating to ghost signs.

Project press (BBC Liverpool)

Caroline has secured the first press coverage for the archive and her work capturing signs in Liverpool. Read the full story on the BBC Liverpool website. If anyone else has any contacts that would be interested in covering the 18th March launch then get in touch. [Update: Liverpool Ghost Signs book now published.]

15 Jan 2010
Chatting with the Ritual Project

I did an interview with the New York project as it reaches its climax. Read it in full here and find out more about their work here.

1 Dec 2009
Londonist

I was interviewed by Jaz over at the Londonist blog a couple of weeks back and this was published on Monday. It’s always nice to get some profile for the project, even nicer that this came as a result of other bloggers citing it in their earlier interviews for Londonist. Anyway, check it out here.

18 Nov 2009
Ghostsigns on Facebook

I’ve created a page on Facebook for the project which contains videos, photos, links and more. If you use Facebook then you can become a ‘fan’ which will add updates from the page into your news feed. Have a look at what’s going on and join. Ghostsigns on Facebook

15 Nov 2009
Surrey Mirror

The appearance of this sign in Redhill, Surrey acted as a catalyst for an article on the subject of ghostsigns in the Surrey Mirror. This was kindly sent to me by David Griffiths as it wasn’t published on their website. Some pictures of the other signs that get referenced can be seen here. Click on […]

14 Nov 2009
My Merton

Yelfy over at Faded London has just had a nice piece published by local magazine ‘My Merton’ which includes a picture of the full sign above with the covering billboard removed. Also read Yelfy’s post about the article. Nice work Yelfy!

6 Jul 2009
Time Out Blog

I wrote a piece for the Time Out blog which covers a little of the personal journey I’ve been on over the last three years on the project. Its interesting to reflect on how far things have come in such a short space of time, especially considering that I’ve also moved house, completed a masters […]

1 Jun 2009
Shoes & Clothing

Slightly less material in the Shoes & Clothing category. See more images in the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive. Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep them coming! If you have any interesting ghost signs from the UK or Ireland then please get […]

21 May 2009
Food & Drink

So the Food & Drink category was a popular one with plenty of material submitted to the Flickr group being used to set up the Ghost Signs Archive. Here’s a little montage featuring some of the most interesting signs, adding to last week’s on Booze & Fags. Thanks again to everyone contributing their images, keep […]

16 May 2009
Booze & Fags

So the archive is going well, there are now over 130 members who have collectively contributed over 850 pictures. Thank you all, keep up the good work. If you not involved yet then get on board and find out more before adding your pictures. The approach I’m going to take from now on is to […]

10 May 2009
Oxford Times

Owen alerted me to a recent feature in the Oxford Times and kindly sent through these clippings which I’ve scanned. While Oxford wasn’t an industrial centre like London or Leeds it still has its fair share of old painted signage. This is more evidence of the ubiquity of Ghost Signs and another organisation (Fat […]

24 Feb 2009
Exhibition & Press (USA)

Letitia Street at Market Street in Olde City, by Lawrence O’Toole Lawrence O’Toole from the The Philadelphia Ghost Sign Project has secured a month long exhibition at the PRIMER Microstudio. For those readers who live anywhere near this it would be worth getting along, above is one example from Lawrence’s collection. In addition to this […]

7 Feb 2009
Ultrabold (Part 2)

Following the earlier mini-feature in the Ultrabold journal a longer photo feature has now made its way into the latest edition. Thank you to Simon for doing a fantastic job on the layout, do grab yourself a copy. Or, if you’re too lazy, you can read a lower quality version with the scans below. [Update: […]

1 Jan 2009
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
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
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
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
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
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
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