People

Was Walter Kershaw “Britain’s first graffiti artist”?

This question gets some coverage on the Guardian in this article about the Rochdale-born artist who rubbed councils up the wrong way in creating his artworks in the North of England. You can learn more about the man and his work, including various global assignments, on the Walter Kershaw website [Link expired]. There is also […]

26 Sep 2012
French ghostsigns blog: Les murs peints s’affichent

Les murs peints s’affichent is a blog written by Philippe Célérier on the topic of ghostsigns in France. He adds updates quite regularly and it is well worth following if you are interested in hand painted signs on buildings from this country which seems to have so many. The image above is taken from this post […]

29 Jul 2012
Vote Against Prohibition Ghostsign in Baltimore

This is the first ever example from the modern era that I’ve come across of hand painted advertising on buildings used for political purposes. There are the ancient ghostsigns of Pompeii which I’ve written about before and also the murals of places like Nicaragua and Northern Ireland. This photo from Samuel Adam Johnson caught my eye […]

23 Jul 2012
American Roadside sign art from Bill Martin

Bennie Frazier’s retro fashion store in Sweetwater, Texas, is an unlikely home for a collection of original artworks from Bill Martin, late resident of the same town. These depict the colourful roadside signs that once characterised American highways, often using neon and sometimes as big as the buildings they were positioned on. These were referred […]

22 Jul 2012
Melbourne’s Ghostsigns with Finding the Radio Book

Finding the Radio Book is a fascinating piece of work being undertaken by Dr Stefan Schutt of Victoria University. It all started with a piece of paper floating in the wind and has now evolved into a research project focussed on the archival records of the Lewis & Skinner signwriting company who ceased trading in the […]

20 Jul 2012
Derek McDonald film and interview

Another signpainter profiled on film, this time Derek McDonald of Golden West Sign Arts, one of the craftsman who worked on this year’s ‘Declaration of Independence’ campaign for Jack Daniel’s. More from Derek in this extended article from Oakland North. Is it just me or do there seem to be more and more of these […]

19 Jul 2012
Dusty Signs doing it the old way in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lovely video about Dusty Signs‘ Dan Madsen, picked up on Typedeck where there is more information and a gallery of Dan’s images. Dan also showcases his work on Flickr and there is a detailed interview with him on the Type Archive site [Link since expired].

14 Jul 2012
Dr Ken Jones’ mosaic technique for ghostsigns photography

Dr Ken Jones is a former NASA imaging expert whose work in the 1970s included digitally photographing the surface of Mars. This required the use of image ‘mosaics’, a technique which he is now applying to the more terrestrial subject of ghostsigns.Dr Jones’ work starts from a fairly simple concept of what he wants from the […]

18 Apr 2012
Graphic DNA documents the visual language of the street

I’ve recently been in regular contact with Geraldine Marshall whose project, Graphic DNA, caught my attention. It is the topic of her PhD thesis, under the supervision of Dr Caroline Archer. I took the opportunity, before she gets too busy, to ask Geraldine some questions at her base in the Midlands, from mine in South […]

25 Mar 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
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
Peter Hardwicke and Tracy Emin International

Videos of Peter Hardwicke painting the letters ‘N’ and ‘A’ from the Tracy Emin International shop in Spitalfields, London. Steady hand!

10 Dec 2011
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
Signpainters Don’t Read Signs

Via their Facebook page, The Sign Painter Movie project alerted me to this rare, out of print book by Syl Ehr. Signpainters Don’t Read Signs is a great read and recounts umpteen anecdotes from Syl’s life as a jobbing signpainter in the USA (signwriter to those in the UK). These include incidents directly relating to […]

25 Aug 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
Anchor

Photo: Creative Review Photo: Creative Review Creative Review and a few others have spotted this new outdoor campaign for Anchor Butter. When I first saw the photos I assumed they were genuine hand painted ads but they are actually printed billboards which, in the case of the press shots, are cleverly cropped to suggest otherwise. […]

5 Aug 2010
Annette Smith

On the back of my post about the interview in Bath for BBC Radio 4’s Making History program I have been contacted by Bath artist and photographer Annette Smith. By pure coincidence she currently has an exhibition running until this weekend at the Octagon in Bath as part of the ‘Fringe Arts Bath’ festival. She […]

9 Jun 2010
The archive launches

Thank you to everyone who came along to the launch event last night, photos below. The archive is now available so make a visit and have a browse. I’m really happy with the way this has all come together and as I said last night it would simply not have been possible without the generous support […]

19 Mar 2010
Tom Bland

In the course of researching and documenting ghostsigns from across the country I have come across many distinctive ways of interpreting the signs, via photographic means or in broader media such as paint and sculpture/models (see Martin Thompson, Stuart Free and Emmanuel Nouaillier for example). Recently I have discovered the work of photographer Tom Bland […]

19 Feb 2010
Martin Wilson

Fascinating work from Martin Wilson discovered in Ultrabold (see previous pieces on ghostsigns here and here). Ultrabold is the quarterly journal of the St Bride Library which is just off Fleet Street. I discovered the library a couple of years ago and it really is one of London’s hidden treasures, especially for those interested in […]

4 Feb 2010
Liverpool Ghost Signs on TV

This was broadcast on ITV Granada on Sunday, 31st January and featured Caroline & Phil Bunford who have added their collection of signs from Liverpool to the archive. This follows up the piece on the BBC Liverpool website. Well done Caroline, look out for more coverage of the project in the coming months. [Update: Liverpool […]

2 Feb 2010
Stuart Free Interview

The Independent on Sunday have an interview with Stuart Free, the artist who created this painting of the Donovan Bros sign in Spitalfields before it was repainted. (My original post about Stuart has more commentary and he is also mentioned in the ‘Interpretations’ segment of my recent talk at Middlesex University.) Read the full interview […]

17 Jan 2010
Project press (BBC Liverpool)

Caroline has secured the first press coverage for the archive and her work capturing signs in Liverpool. Read the full story on the BBC Liverpool website. If anyone else has any contacts that would be interested in covering the 18th March launch then get in touch. [Update: Liverpool Ghost Signs book now published.]

15 Jan 2010
Charlton Signwriting

Some photos and film from a visit to Charlton to see Chris of Northern Star Creative at work on a sign for a garage. It was great to see him in action and to hear some of his stories from when he used to run a signwriting shop on the Woolwich Road. He’s writing these […]

4 Dec 2009