Ghostsigns

Restoration Project for Ghost Signs in Salisbury, North Carolina

Details of the process for a specific restoration project, with a facebook page to accompany it.  More posts on restoration projects and issues here.

18 Apr 2012

Penge Fashion House Considers Hand-Painted Signage Options

Anyone know if this and/or this have been followed through to execution?

17 Apr 2012

Conservation guidelines for ghostsigns in Australia

This report, Conserving Historic Signs, was written in 2002 and published by the Heritage Office, Department of Planning, State of New South Wales in 2006. I was alerted to it by Jos Peeters and it is a detailed and fascinating account of some of the considerations when conserving ghostsigns. The work on the HAT archive seems […]

16 Apr 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

An RIP and a half from Surrey and Wimbledon

Photo: Ewan Munro This sign in Oxted, Surrey, is no more, while this one (pictured) is subject to the whims of ourdoor advertising company primesight.  Credit to Sebastien for picking these up. The True Form one reminds me of the Kings Cross Road BP sign before its eventual demise, and the ongoing updating of the billboards at […]

14 Apr 2012

Vancouver Arts Profile the Grandma’s Boy Reveal

This sign continues to win affections, and now there is this new material and analysis from Vancouver Arts.   See the story so far on this post and this one.

9 Apr 2012

Overall Murals, a New NYC Sign Painting Company

I’ve just discovered this company producing hand painted wall advertising in New York via the film below. More signwriters here.

7 Apr 2012

The joy of writing copy for butchers (with @Desightation)

Photo: Nick Garrett Not one, but two bits of playful copy on this sign by London-based signwriter Nick Garrett.  Reminded me of the line on this ghostsign, also found on this one: “Pleased to meet you, meat to please you.” Do you know of any other choice cuts from the realm of butchers’ copywriting?

31 Mar 2012

Brilliant new website: Traditional Sign Maker Magazine

Via the Signpainter Movie I came across this facinating site which profiles signwriters and has already introduced me to the beautiful world of Filete Porteño in Argentina.  Lots more good stuff to come from them no doubt…

30 Mar 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

Parkinsons Pills signs from across the UK: ‘They will buck you up’!

This is a great set of photos for the Parkinsons Pills brand from a site dedicated to the company.  A couple of these appear in the archive but the others are new to me, including one where the photographer claims to have got bored part way through restoring it.  A follow up post reveals this […]

23 Mar 2012

Before the secret lemonade drinker there was this Willesden Ghostsign

Another great discovery and background research from Sebastien here for a brand whose most memorable advertising was probably this:

22 Mar 2012

Lovely painted wall in Sydney absinthe bar

Spotted on the BBC.

21 Mar 2012

Four layers of Dubonnet palimpsest

Great discovery here from Sebastien in which he has identified four signs for the same brand vying for position on the same wall.  There’s a great gallery of French ghost signs here (Dubonnet here) and my posts on the country are here with additional photos in this Flickr set.

20 Mar 2012

Sebastien Ardouin discovers another RIP in Sheen Lane, Richmond

Another one bites the dust here.

18 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

Flag Makers sign in San Francisco faces uncertain future

Photo: Joe Thompson This blog post signals a likely future RIP for this ghostsign in San Francisco.

15 Mar 2012

Woody Guthrie’s less well known vocation as a signwriter

Frank Jump has alerted me to this interesting insight into the folk singer’s first occupation.  Is this another way in which he has influenced Bob Dylan is his line of work as a visual artist?

14 Mar 2012

Spokane Students Hunt for Ghost Signs in ‘An Experiment in Public History Pedagogy’

The Public History students of Spokane have been set this brief which will get them out into the town to photograph the various ghost signs there. They’ll also have to use various historical sources to uncover the stories of the companies advertised by the signs and the people who painted them. It looks set to […]

13 Mar 2012

Vernacular Typography interviewed by Vanishing New York

Photo: Molly Woodward, Vernacular Typography Read the interview here.  Further good news is that this project is now fully funded so expect more news in the coming months…

12 Mar 2012

Rick Janzen of Streamline Studios creates a ‘ghostsign’ from scratch

Photos: Rick Janzen This photo essay shows the various stages in recreating the effect of a ghostsign using water-based paints (the rest of the blog is worth checking out too, especially this post and this one).  This appears to be a different technique to that employed by Colossal Media at the end of this video. […]

11 Mar 2012

Grandma’s Boy sign in Vancouver is no more, RIP

This is the scene at the central Vancouver intersection where this sign enjoyed an unexpected two weeks’ of fame following the destruction of the adjacent building. A nice collection of photos documenting the brief rise, and rapid fall, of the sign in this Vancouver Sun photo collection

8 Mar 2012

1996 fire reveals two ghostsigns in Columbus, Ohio

Photo: udhcmh Documentation of the exposure resulting from fire on Ohio State University land in 1996.

7 Mar 2012