Lettering

RIP: 154 Bishopsgate EC2

This elegant painted sign adorning the stonework above the entrance to 154 Bishopsgate, London EC2, is no more, recently replaced by mounted metal letters (see picture below). Although it isn’t what most would refer to as a ghostsign (see my chapter, What is a Ghost Sign?, in this forthcoming book), it was a striking and […]

27 May 2016

36 Porto Signs

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, largely due to work on the book taking over for the last six months or so. Following a week in Amsterdam with Better Letters I enjoyed a long weekend in Porto, Portugal. Here is a slide show of some of the signs (‘ghost’ and otherwise) that I found […]

16 Mar 2016

E.Mono in North London

Back in 2011 an old 1920s shop fascia was revealed on Kentish Town High Street. The nature of the E.Mono business remains a mystery but the new occupants, a kebab shop, decided the sign was worth keeping and named their shop after the historic proprietors. (Andrew Whitehead has written detailed pieces on the reveal on […]

28 Feb 2015

Writing on the Whale and Other Novelties

Joe Thompson emailed me these fascinating photos of lettering on unusual objects, namely a dead whale (1919) and a shipwrecked oil tanker (1926). They are from San Francisco, recently donated to the Western Neighbourhoods Project. Read more about the photos and the project on SF Weekly News. As a bonus, an exploding whale video below. […]

4 Feb 2015

Fairground Lettering at Carters Steam Fair

Not ghostsigns, but I thought that readers of this blog would also appreciate some of the fantastic lettering at Carters Steam Fair that was recently posted to the Better Letters site. Staggering work and a wonderful example of traditional styles and techniques thriving in the modern era.

27 Jun 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