One of the things I most enjoy about my work on ghostsigns is getting involved with student projects using the signs as a springboard into other creative processes. I’ve helped on a number of these, most recently the work of Gloria Soria at London College of Communication. She has now completed her studies and took …
Ghosting with Ghost Signs: An Experiment in Risography Read More »
A new magazine, The Simple Things, features a great article about Ghostsigns. Written by Kirsten Elliott of Akeman Press in Bath, there are also a couple of wise words and a bunch of photos from yours truly. Regular readers may recall a couple of fascinating photos that Kirsten recently provided to this blog and there is …
This photo by John Vince features in a short piece he’s written on ghostsigns for the Countryman. The sign, from Leicestershire, also features in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive and has the wonderful ‘act local’ line of “Carefully blended to suit the water of the district”. It also has a remarkably diverse set of …
Ghostsigns and Smiths Grand Teas in the Countryman Read More »
I’ve just come across this article in ProDesign magazine which profiles Mark Spurgeon of the Preserve project in New Zealand. I’ve written about Mark’s work before and how there are parallels with my own interest in ghostsigns. This article reinforces those similarities. You can visit Mark’s site at www.preserve.co.nz, it is a real treasure trove …
Yorkshire is the focus for this three page spread on ghostsigns in Down Your Way magazine from earlier this year. Thank you to Mark Whitley of Country Publications for allowing me to republish this piece here.
Before (2006/7) After News in this week is that a restoration effort has been undertaken in the heart of London’s Belgravia. It has been directed at what was once a very faded sign for a horse infirmary (see two more of my pictures from c.2006/7 below). It was instigated by Belgravia Garage, as the infirmary sign …
Press coverage for the project sometimes throws up surprises and I was delighted to see that the October 2011 edition of The Biochemist labelled my site as among the ‘Best of the Web’. Katy’s photo once again caught the editor’s eyes in this very nice write up. Thank you to Executive Editor Mark Burgess at …
The Summer 2010 issue of Ultrabold, the journal of the St Bride Library, features an article by me on the launch of the HAT Ghostsigns Archive. You can view a pdf here, or subscribe to the journal by becoming a friend of St Bride here. My previous Ultrabold article can be found here with other …
A nice feature in this Sunday’s Telegraph documents many jobs that are gradually disappearing, including that of the advertising signwriter alongside rag and bone men, matchgirls and airbrush artists (pre-photoshop) among others. Written by Peter Lyle the signwriting piece focuses on Wayne Tanswell, contemporary signwriter, and a brief quote from me about the habit that …
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. …