USA

Living St Louis

This video from Jim Kirchherr from the Living St Louis series is a nice introduction to some of the signs from that city and touches on a number of the key aspect of the signs, their history and preservation. It also features a brief interview with William Stage, the athor of the most definitive book […]

19 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

Philadelphia Press

Lawrence O’Toole who has been documenting Ghost Signs in Philadelphia, USA got some press on his project recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Read the full piece here [Jan 2012: Link no longer available] and visit Lawrence’s blog here for some great pictures. This adds to the growing levels of press.

18 Nov 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 World Record

This photo taken by Rick Lee in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA features the most ghost signs I’ve ever seen on a single wall, a world record perhaps? I’m now wondering if there are any other contenders out there? The building pictured on page four of Ben Passikoff’s book comes close and I think it is most […]

4 Aug 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

Ghost Signs Live (Dewars)

Just came across this on Erniesmallz blog. It’s the team from Colossal Media at work on a creation for Dewars It’s great to see the painting live at such close range, someone has to film this next time! They are using very fine brushes to create a really detailed brickad, I wonder what the finished […]

17 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs Live

Browsing Frank Jump‘s blog from USA I came across this great photo by Frank of some sign writer’s (Wall Dogs in USA) putting the finishing touches to a massive brickad. This is clearly for a current business (there’s a web address featured) and is part of the revival happening across the pond. There was also […]

16 Jul 2007

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

Ghost Signs Film

I came across this film that someone made with a nice music track to go with it.  It looks to be mainly USA signs but I spotted a couple in there from the Kentish Town/Highgate area, including the one for KM Larn and also the one advertising a place that used to offer Beanfeats. From […]

29 Jun 2007

Production Process

Click here for some interesting notes on the production of Ghost Signs from the USA Museum of Beer Brewing. It implies that the sign writers (or Wall Dogs in USA) used sheets of paper to create a dotted chalk outline on the wall which they could then use to guide the application of paint. I […]

27 Jun 2007

Panasonic (New York)

Lena found this one some time ago lurking on the Wikipedia entry for Panasonic [Update: It no longer appears there]. It’s a fantastically simple design and a really nice photo from Uris. See the full size image here [Update: Link no longer active]. The information on Wikipedia says that the company stopped selling bikes in USA […]

25 Jun 2007

Dewars (New York)

Colossal Media I came across an old email from Faris that he sent me after he got back from New York. It had this picture attached with has been painted onto a concrete blocked out window. It was on North 6th, Williamsburg, New York City but I wonder if it’ll have the staying power of […]

23 Jun 2007

Frank Jump

Frank Jump is a leading photographer of Ghost Signs in USA with quite a unique story as to how and why he got started.  I was in touch with him last year and he mentioned a visit to London where he saw one of the classic Gillette signs and also one for a tailor in […]

22 Jun 2007

Colossal Media

The art of large scale sign writing lives on in New York, USA through the work of Colossal Media  A full gallery of their work is available on their site but here are a couple of highlights, one more old school and one much more modern in terms of both product and design. These ads […]

20 Jun 2007

Happy Feet

I came across this on another Ghost Sign blog from USA.  I wonder if the music notes imply that there was some sort of jingle to go with the slogan ‘happy feet for all the family’, perhaps from a local radio commercial? Also, was this store run by a distant relative of mine? Visit the […]

20 Jun 2007