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Chasing Ghosts for the Coca-Cola Company

I was recently invited by the Coca-Cola Company to write a piece about ghost signs for their website. It turned into something of a summary of my journey over the last 11 years since noticing my first ever fading painted advertisement. Read it here [Link expired], and see more of my writing on signs and […]

19 Jan 2018

What is a Ghost Sign?

‘What is a Ghost Sign?‘ is the title of the second chapter of our book, Advertising and Public Memory. It is an attempt to provide a logical approach to formulating a definition, and a formal response to the many times I’ve been asked, ‘Does this count?’. The article started life a few years ago as […]

11 Feb 2017

Restoration Period in the Monotype Recorder

Last year I was invited to contribute an article on ghostsigns to the reincarnation of the Monotype Recorder periodical. It focused on issues of protection and restoration which I have covered regularly on this blog and continue to maintain an active interest in. A couple of weeks ago I brought these issues to my first […]

23 Jan 2015

Dr King: The Story of a Melbourne Ghostsign by Nick Gadd

This Melbourne ghostsign is a recent reveal and was captured by Nick Gadd, the writer behind Melbourne Circle. Nick’s research into the sign was recently published in an anthology of papers titled ‘Melbourne Subjective‘. He investigates the sign and creates a tentative hypothesis about who Dr King was with reference to a fictitious, but plausible, […]

17 Sep 2014

Anarchy on the Walls: Ghostsigns, Street Art & Graffiti

Kasey Smith’s ‘Perception Filter‘ blog is well worth a follow for all ghostsigns enthusiasts. Her dispatches from San Francisco have been a big influence on me, as evidenced by the number of times I’ve decided to highlight her observations, insights, investigations and mapping efforts here on Ghostsigns. Her latest post concerns the work above by artist Augustine […]

27 Oct 2013

Faux ghostsigns, authenticity and the passage of time: Guest post from Best Dressed Signs

‘Faux’ ghostsigns are a relatively new phenomenon but are appearing with increasing frequency around the world. I invited Meredith Kasabian, of Boston’s Best Dressed Signs and The Pre-Vinylite Society, to share her thoughts given her and Josh Luke’s recent work on the example above. Several months ago, Josh and I received a request to paint […]

21 Jul 2013