Ghostsigns

The Swear: ‘Ghost Signs’

My web crawlers sometimes throw up completely unexpected references to ghostsigns, this one being a song by gothic rockers, The Swear.  I contacted singer/songwriter Elizabeth Elkins to ask if there was any connection to Ghostsigns of the painted form and sure enough there was… “Ghost Signs takes the idea of physical ghost signs and turns […]

5 Mar 2012

Danville City Council defines rules for restoration of ghostsigns

Interesting piece of legislation reported here [Link expired, mention on p.41 here) from Danville City, California, including that “building owners…cannot recreate signs that have been painted over with other signs”,  This must give preference to newer signs, assuming it is clear which came last… More on restoration and protection on the main blog.

3 Mar 2012

Now you see me, now you don’t: London’s elusive shop signs

Nice article here about the brief reveal, and more extended cover up, of some of London’s beautiful hand painted shop signs.  In some ways they are being preserved, but they could be equally be showcased.  They represent the skills of signwiters such as the contemporary Peter Hardwicke.  Jane also covered a closely related topic in her account […]

29 Feb 2012

More Vancouver Ghostsigns and related article

Following this post on the main blog I stumbled across this small collection of Vancouver ghostsigns and a link to this article [Link expired] where some of the local heritage and conservation issues are discussed.  The situation in that respect is very similar to that in the UK.  (A variety of blog post related to […]

28 Feb 2012

Article charting the history and early photography of advertising painted on walls

Daniel Lohmann posted an article he’s written to the ghostsigns Facebook group. It is in german and the original can be found here [Link expired] with links to full size copies of the diverse set of images referenced. The pdf of the original as it appeared in published form is also available here. I’ve run the […]

26 Feb 2012

Can new Brickads Generate Income for Denver’s LoDo District? Discuss.

This popped up on twitter, considering the leasing of wall space as a means of generating income, community exposure and maintaining artistic heritage in LoDo, Denver.  Lots of Collosal Media featured in addition to some lovely archive photography.  I wonder if, with every new brickad that gets painted, something of the impact and novelty of […]

25 Feb 2012

c.Eight storey painted signage from Oslo

This just turned up in the ghostsigns Flickr group and I had to share, fantastic scale from Oslo by holloway steve.

23 Feb 2012

Ghostsigns from Elkhorn, Montana…

…this one particularly caught my eye, more here. Photo: Off the Beaten Path.

20 Feb 2012

Mid-20th Century photos of King’s Cross featuring some painted ads

This set of photos shows what King’s Cross was like 60 years ago with the odd painted ad caught inadvertently by what appears to have been a bus enthusiast.  The one above features a shop sign for Freeman, Hardy & Willis, and there’s this one too.  The full set here.

19 Feb 2012

Sunderland Echo at the Beamish Museum (via @Beamish_Museum)

A nice photo of this sign, produced for the ‘living’ Beamish Museum, which reminds me that I must visit at some point when I’m back in the UK. Here it is in the archive: http://www.hatads.org.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=9446

18 Feb 2012

Posters coming to life in 1906

A funny little film depicting an increasingly aggressive poster coming to life in Paris.  Made by George Melies, sent to me by Joe Thompson.

11 Feb 2012

How-to guide for large scale hand painted advertising

Nice 11-part photo essay from Business Insider documenting the production of a 10-storey hand painted sign in New York. Text here, photos here, sign produced by Sky Tag.

9 Feb 2012

Faygo: Detroit Ghostsign Revealed by Destruction

Nice photo of the sign in its former glory also available (click here).  Looks like it has been painted at least twice because of the different layout in each image.

7 Feb 2012

Barcelona Ghostsign, great photo from Sebastien

Posada Nueva del Progreso, Barcelona via Painted signs and mosaics by Sebastien Ardouin.

7 Feb 2012

‘It hasta be SHASTA’: Great slogan and preservation debate from San Francisco

Great collection of signs and a write up on the Perception Filter blog about this soft drink campaign in San Francisco.  More here.

15 Jan 2012

Destruction Awaits for Bull Durham in Plainfield, New Jersey…

…as the host building is about to be knocked down…

15 Jan 2012

Ghost Signs Book (Stage)

Ghost Signs – Brick Wall Signs in America W.M. Stage I bought this book last year and was reading through it again today. Not only does it feature some great photos from around USA but it also has a superb level of depth of research into the production of signs, the people who painted them […]

9 Jul 2007