Southborough Butchers

Driving back to London from a wedding this weekend I pulled over in Southborough to take a picture of this sign. It's obviously been maintained and I like the effect used on the corners.

John Brown's Whiskies

Yesterday I hopped on the bike and went out to follow up some leads given to me by friends. On my way to the first sign, the great Spitalfields Gillette, I went past three or four in the same area that I hadn't expected to see.

Literary London

Today Sebastian Groes and I presented a session on Ghost Signs to c.40 international delegates at the Literary London conference.

Guinness & John Gilroy

One way in which brickads are revealed is when an adjoining building is demolished. The standard of preservation in these cases is often emaculate, as the sign has been protected from the elements and sandblasters.

Ghost Signs Live (India?)

Painting Wall-Ads
Originally uploaded by .Hessam

In a flurry of discoveries on the painting of Modern Brickads I came across this from .Hessam.

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.

Pepsi Brickad (Mumbai)

Brickads are truly a global phenomenon. Here's one for Pepsi, probably not that old, from Mumbai in India. It's a slightly budget effort compared to some other modern signs.

Fading Signs

This sign on Sidmouth Street in Central London is an excellent example of palimpsest and also featured in Time Out's original article on disappearing London.

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 a recent production in UK.

Brymay Palimpsest

I went to meet Sebastian Groes today as we're doing a presentation at the University of Westminster next week. On my way there I passed this sign in Haringey, designed to be clearly visible from the train tracks.

MOT Tyres (RIP)

This old landmark at the Regent's Park end of Parkway in Camden has recently been pulled down to make way for a couple of new illuminated poster sites.

Ghost Signs Society/Club/Group

[Update: This idea has taken life in the various online locations for Ghostsigns.]

Boots (Past & Present)

Boots - Camden High Street.

While browsing some of the excellent Ghost Signs on Flickr I came across this picture by 2WArmy. I think it's great compared to my photo so wanted to share it.

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 and the strategies employed by companies to ensure effectiveness and secure the best locations.

Peterkin Mystery

This classic sign for Peterkin's Custard, Self-Raising Flour and Corn Flour can be seen on St John's Hill near Clapham Junction Station. See a bigger picture here. The sign was first brought to my attention by Nicola via the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising.

Ghost Signs UK Video

Inspired by JDProductions' Ghost Signs video I had to have a go myself.

Gillette Palimpsest 2

Here's another example from the Gillette campaign where there are three signs revealed on one site (palimpsest) in Dalston: Gillette across the middle; Cafe vertically on the right; Sunday... on the diagonal in the top left. There are probably even more but these are the most prominent.

Gillette Palimpsest

Following the previous post on Gillette Razors I was looking again at this sign which I had always referred to as 'Westminster Criterion Matches'. It is a rare example of two signs on different walls of the same building, sharing its home with my original post.

Gillette Razors

Frank Jump just posted this London sign (left) he photographed while visiting in Spring 2001. It's a classic Gillette ad with the characteristic blue background colour.