New York

Five of the Best: Books about Ghost Signs

Over the years I’ve tried to seek out and review books about ghost signs here on the blog. Here is a set of recommendations drawn from these, focused on those in English. In a future blog post I’ll feature work published in other languages. 1 Ghost Signs: Brick Wall Signs in America by Wm. Stage […]

19 Oct 2017

Walking tours and talks with Frank Jump

A couple of treats next week for those residing in, or visiting, New York from Frank Jump, author of the excellent ‘Fading Ads of New York City’: 1. An Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing on the evening of Wednesday, 3rd October at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. 2. Two walking tours of New York’s fading […]

29 Sep 2012

Jim Power’s mosaics, a piece of New York history

‘Mosaic Man’ Jim Power profiled in this film showing his work on the Mosaic Trail, a Lower Manhattan art exhibit depicting the people and the history of the area and the city. Sadly many of his works were destroyed but he’s now on a mission to reinstate them. A bit off piste for this blog […]

6 Aug 2012

Childrens Hairdressers revealed in Greenwich Village

This sign was discovered here on the Greenwich Village Daily Photo blog.  It is a recent reveal soon to be covered up again, fittingly described by Ken Mac as “reverting to its time capsule status”.  This development has also been picked up on Frank Jump’s Fading Ad blog and Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York blog.

23 Jun 2012

Stella Artois vs Newcastle Brown Ale

Nice fun poking in New York (via Sell Sell).  In Stella’s defence they did do one of the more impressive pieces of modern hand painted work in that city.  That said, chalice does seem a little poncy and I’ll stick to calling a glass a glass.

1 May 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

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

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

Frank Jump on 90.7 WFUD

Great radio interview with Frank talking about his work, his book and the topic in general.  (A brief mention of this blog shortly after 12 minutes – thanks Frank!)

19 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

RIP: Pressman’s Army & Navy Store

The Hoxsie blog reports the loss of this great sign from Troy, New York. This photo from carljohnson in particular adds a lot of character to the sign which still remains in part following structural work to the building.  An ‘after’ photo is available here. See more ‘RIPs’ from this blog.

20 Jan 2012

On Air: Colossal Media Radio Interview

Following Frank’s more recent appearance I came across this radio interview with Colossal Media which I missed in February last year. The slideshow above accompanies the full story and audio download on the WNYC website.  More posts from the Ghostsigns blog about Colossal Media here, it’s great to see them going from strength to strength.

15 Jan 2012

Frank Jump on the Leonard Lopate Show

Listen to Fading Ads on the Leonard Lopate Show by Wnyc, New York Public Radio.  A 15 minute interview discussing the ‘Fading Ads of New York City’.

11 Jan 2012

Fading Ads of New York City

The eagerly awaited release of Frank Jump’s ‘Fading Ads of New York City’ book is almost upon us. I was fortunate enough to be offered a sneak preview by Frank himself so here are some reflections on the book to whet your appetite and hopefully encourage you to get a copy as soon as it’s […]

4 Nov 2011

Ghostsigns World Tour

Perhaps being in Cambodia has sensitised me to the world of Ghostsigns beyond my home shores. Or maybe awareness of the project has encouraged those from around the world to make contact. Whatever it is, I thought it was time for a round-up of what’s landed in my inbox and surfaced on my internet radar […]

21 Jul 2011

Ritual Project Update

The project is into its final few days and there are some interesting snippets of the painters at work, both close up and in time lapse. Here are a few highlights, more here and here. I’d personally like to see some longer clips with perhaps some discussion from the painters about the techniques employed. I […]

26 Nov 2009

The Ritual Project

Stella Artois and Colossal Media are collaborating in New York to use hand painted advertising over 21 days to demonstrate the ‘ritual’ of pouring a glass of Stella.  This ritual involves nine steps and by day 11 they’re on step three, mainly due to adverse weather conditions. It’s going to be a busy ten days […]

18 Nov 2009

Frank Jump Interview

Just came across this on youtube, an interview with Frank Jump about his work in New York. Great to see some of his pictures full size and to hear some of the background to his fascination with the Ghost Signs or Fading Ads. I still need to schedule my trip over there, everyone who comes […]

2 Jun 2008

Dewars by Frank Jump

© Frank H. Jump Those guys over at Colossal Media go from strength to strength, this their latest creation in the Dewars campaign, photographed by Frank Jump. See the short film about the campaign here.

27 Jan 2008

Landmarks Commission Hearing

Debate over this site for a new painted wall advertisement Frank Jump over in NYC, USA recently presented the case, on behalf of Colossal Media, for the ‘overwriting’ of an old fading ghost sign with a new Colossal production.  Presumably an application to do so is under consideration and the Landmarks Commission are deciding whether […]

25 Dec 2007

Colossal Media Press

While looking again at the Colossal Media site I came across this really nice spread they got in the New York Times back in October 2006.  I think they’re onto a great thing and the fact that big name clients such as Absolut, H&M and Stella Artois are buying in implies that others would agree.

16 Oct 2007

Brickads Live (GTA)

nicknormal has taken a great series of shots in New York of Colossal Media producing their latest creation for the new Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game. A few are below but you can see them all in a slideshow giving a real sense of the progress between 6th and 15th October. The guys are hooked […]

16 Oct 2007

NYC Brickads 2007

Oli just got back from New York where he said that there are ghost signs everywhere. However, in addition to the old signs, they are still producing modern brickads over there.  This one is for Jodie Foster’s new film which has just been released in the UK. You can see, towards the bottom of the […]

30 Sep 2007

Ghost Signs Book (Passikoff)

Ben Passikoff has written a great book on the signs of Manhattan, New York, called “The Writing on the Wall“. He describes walking the streets in order to compile an almost comprehensive survey of the area. This is probably more straight forward in New York with it’s grid-like street layout but, also in contrast to […]

1 Aug 2007