Ghostsigns

London’s Lonely Ampersand

Today I visited D&AD’s New Blood exhibit and got chatting to Craig Palmer who had created a ‘zine’ all about the humble ampersand. It was a little lesson in the history of type with Craig telling me that the word is a conjunction (or ‘mondegreen‘ to give it its technical name) of four words. These […]

3 Jul 2014

Faux Ghostsigns for Coca-Cola’s London HQ

Ghostsigns for Coca-Cola are found all over the USA and other parts of the world, although I know of only one in the UK. However, there’s now a few inside the company’s London head quarters, although these are strictly in the ‘faux’ category. I was involved in advising on its creation and finding the team […]

2 Jul 2014

Ghost Signs and Public Lettering in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter

On 21 May, before my Type Talk at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, I helped lead a walk through the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter. This was in collaboration with Geraldine Marshall of the Birmingham Graphic DNA Project, and focused on the ghostsigns and public lettering that can be found in the quarter. It was […]

4 Jun 2014

I Love It: Marmite Ghostsign Revealed

John Hunter, one of Australia’s prolific prolific collectors of ghostsigns, sent me these images of a recent reveal in Caulfield, Victoria. They were captured by Tony Mead, local signwriter, and are for a brand that I’ve never seen advertised in this form before. Tony and Stefan have added some research to the discovery which dates […]

28 May 2014

Sign Painters’ Online Release

After touring the world, including the London run hosted by Ghostsigns, Sign Painters is now available to watch online and as an HD download. You can save $1.00 on the list price by using the code GHOSTSIGNS when you order it from www.signpaintersfilm.com.

13 May 2014

F.C. Osborn and the Fading Fascias

This beautiful shop fascia was recently revealed on Dalston Lane, Hackney, London, as part of renovations to the shop by a new tenant. (Thanks Bryce for tipping me off!). The following photos show some of the detail of this sign for F.C.Osborn, Bookseller, who occupied the premises from the mid-1920s to at least 1950. Prior […]

2 May 2014

A Book About Ghost Signs

I am on the editorial panel for a book due for publication next year. Although it will be too late to find a place on the shelf at Bath’s Circulating Library (above), the topic for the book is ghost signs with the working title of ‘Ghost Signs: Historical, Social and Cultural Perspectives on Fading Advertising’. […]

22 Apr 2014

Fading Ads of St. Louis by Wm. Stage

This stunning photograph is from the cover of Wm. Stage‘s latest addition to the ghostsigns literature, ‘Fading Ads of St. Louis‘. Stage’s first book, ‘Ghost Signs‘, remains the definitive text on the topic and so it is no surprise to find his latest work full of fantastic photography and meticulous research. In this case Stage […]

3 Apr 2014

Scotland in Detail: Vintage Signs from Dave Cowan

This fabulous montage of Scottish ghostsigns was created by Dave Cowan of Scotland in Detail. It is available as a print from his store and he says the following of his work and this creation [Links expired]. I’ve been fascinated by these old signs for a few years now. They’re glimpses into the past and […]

26 Mar 2014

Moving Walls to Save a Ghost Sign

In an effort to save this fading and rusting shop front, Beth and Tony Walls moved the entire building 150ft to allow for a highway widening project. Martin Garfinkel of Roadside Gallery has captured it beautifully in this fine art print, available to buy here. Martin tells the story as follows. RE Ringer General Merchandise, […]

14 Mar 2014

Photos and Reactions from the Sign Painters & Horn Please Double Bill

Click the picture below for a review of the London screenings of Sign Painters and Horn Please, February 2014.

14 Feb 2014

Danish Ghostsigns in Copenhagen

Ghostsigns are a truly global phenomenon and the latest installment on my virtual travels comes courtesy of Hanne Andersen from Copenhagen, Denmark. She says that it’s her ‘hobby to find them’ and the evidence here is that the Danish were no slouches when it came to producing large-scale painted wall advertisements. As in the UK, […]

5 Feb 2014

Défense D’Af: Faux Ghostsign from John Downer

John Downer is a master sign painter and typeface designer. He kindly shared the above faux ghostsign that he produced in 1999 for the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Those better versed in French will notice that the sign is incomplete and the full text should read, ‘Défense D’Afficher’. John shared the following […]

22 Dec 2013

Mirrored Ghostsign from Portland, Oregon

Following the talk at St Bride, a chain of events led to Ash at Brilliant Signs, via Stewart at McLaren Signs, sending me a copy of Letterheads Magazine from 1998. I’d expressed an interest because of the big centre spread showing lots of ghostsigns. However, on page 10 was something even better, namely this amazing […]

1 Dec 2013

My first Ghostsign, from Nicaragua

While preparing for Wednesday’s talk at St Bride I rediscovered this in an old photo album from my 1998 travels in Central America. It is from Nicaragua, celebrating 1 May, International Workers’ Day. I believe this may be my first ever ghostsign photo, predating the fountain pens one in Stoke Newington by about eight years. ‘The Revolutionary […]

17 Nov 2013

Global Ghostsigns for the 2014 Calendar

The 2014 Ghostsigns Calendar has had some amazing material submitted, all of which is now available to view and like (i.e. vote for) on the Ghostsigns Facebook Page. There are 103 photos in all, from 11 different countries, proof that ghostsigns are a global phenomenon. Browsing through them I am struggling to decide on my […]

10 Nov 2013

Talks and Tours from Ghostsigns

I’m pleased to announce to regular readers of the Ghostsigns blog that I have some events coming up that should be of interest. Ghostsigns at St Bride: An illustrated talk on 20 November, previewed on Creative Review Ghostsigns walking tours: Join me in admiring some of ghostsigns that started my interest (including the one above), […]

3 Nov 2013

Melbourne’s Ghostsigns and their Hunters

Back in March I was in Melbourne where I checked out some of the ghostsigns the city has to offer in addition to giving a talk alongside Stephen Banham at the University. Some of this was thanks to a chauffeur-driven tour by Stefan Schutt (Finding the Radio Book and Lewis & Skinner) and some of […]

13 Oct 2013

Lewis & Skinner Exhibit Featuring Ghostsigns and Live Signwriting

The Lewis & Skinner archive is a collection of materials relating to the work of a Melbourne signwriting company from the first half of the last century. These were fortuitously discovered by Dr Stefan Schutt last year and he has since been working to archive them. The result is this fabulous online display which includes […]

29 Sep 2013

S Errington and some other South London Ghostsigns

This is a detail from one of my all-time favourite ghostsigns. It’s on Dulwich Road in South London and already features in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive. I had never actually seen it ‘in the flesh’ so it was a great surprise addition to a trip down south to meet Mari Boman and […]

22 Sep 2013

The Mick McTiernan ‘Wall Paintings’ Collection

Mick McTiernan has sent me his collection of archival ghostsigns photography, and what a collection it is. (More in his Ghost Signs set.) Proving that fading advertising painted on walls has held people in fascination for many years, Mick dates some of his images to the mid 1980s. Lots of them I recognise from submissions […]

15 Sep 2013

‘Sur Les Murs’: Montréal’s Bilingual Ghostsigns

‘Sur les murs‘ (‘on the walls’) is the first book about ghostsigns to come out of Canada. It is a French language publication, as it is set in Montréal, but contains many English language signs. This reflects the bilingual history of the city and the country, which continues to this day. In fact, through the […]

8 Sep 2013

Liminal Space: past/presence by Mari Boman

Mari Boman, a photographer, took ghostsigns as the subject matter for her project titled ‘Liminal Space: past/presence’. The result is this series of nine beautiful images of some of London’s most well known ghostsigns. Not only that but the titles offer cryptic clues as to the stories these signs tell us about London’s history and […]

25 Aug 2013

Ghost of the British Legion in Ypres, Belgium

This intriguing English-language ghostsigns is found in Ypres, Belgium, and has been identified for protection given its historical significance. I was alerted to it by regular correspondent, Daniel Lohmann, who has also done a bit of digging into this unusual ghostsign specimen. Firstly is the ghostsign itself and an explanation for it’s language, location and […]

18 Aug 2013