Fading painted signs

Related Work

Posts about other projects and initiatives in areas related to ghostsigns such as new hand painted signs, lettering, typography and text on buildings.

Earlier this year I came across this project to restore a photo album of painted Coca-Cola signs, dating from 1913-14. The album is a fascinating survey of signs that were painted across New England over 100 years ago, some of which survive today as ghost […]

Photo Album of Painted Coca-Cola Signs (1914)

This entry was posted in Off Piste Photo Essays Related Work and tagged Archival Photos Coca-Cola NEDCC New England Restoration USA on November 24, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Thanks to Derek for alerting me to this video which explores some of the earliest known forms of graphic communications and symbolism, building on previous posts here on the blog. Here is the TED blurb, and the speaker has a book, The First Signs: Unlocking […]

Early Graphic Communications in Cave Paintings

This entry was posted in Off Piste Related Work and tagged Ancient Cave Painting Genevieve von Petzinger Graphic Communication TED Video on December 6, 2016 by Sam Roberts

Here is the latest discovery relating to the ancient history of paint on walls around the world. This time the image above and others depicting human features and animals have been found in Indonesia and dated to 35,000 to 39,000 years old. This is comparable […]

Ancient Indonesian Cave Paintings

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Ancient Handpainted History Indonesia on December 10, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Not ghostsigns, but I thought that readers of this blog would also appreciate some of the fantastic lettering at Carters Steam Fair that was recently posted to the Better Letters site. Staggering work and a wonderful example of traditional styles and techniques thriving in the […]

Fairground Lettering at Carters Steam Fair

This entry was posted in Painted Lettering Photo Essays Related Work and tagged Art Carters Steam Fair Fairground Joby Carter Lettering on June 27, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Raja Painter Horn Please by Shantanu Suman — Horn Please is a short film by directors Shantanu Suman and Istling Mirche, all about the bright and colourful hand-painted trucks that fuel India‘s massive goods transportation system. It is an insightful and captivating expose of this fascinating cultural phenomenon, touching on the history of truck […]

Horn Please and the wonderful world of India’s hand-painted trucks

This entry was posted in Painted Lettering Related Work and tagged Art Asia Craft Documentary Film Horn Please India Shantanu Suman Truck Painting Video on May 16, 2013 by Sam Roberts

No.2 Sign Painting shop from Greatest Wonder of the World Exhibition — While on my recent travels I was lucky enough to stumble upon The Greatest Wonder of the World exhibition at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The banner outside in big gold letters of various scripts obviously attracted my attention, and […]

The Greatest Wonder of the World

This entry was posted in Off Piste Painted Lettering Photo Essays Related Work and tagged 1870s Australia Exhibition History Holtermann New South Wales Photography Sydney on May 5, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Queen Elizabeth 2nd mural above windows at front of house — Here is John Shaw in Burton scraping the final bit of paint off the front of his house which revealed this home-made mural from 1953 celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A bit more about the discovery in this article from the Burton Mail.

Housefront Coronation mural uncovered

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Off Piste Related Work and tagged Burton Coronation Housefront John Shaw Murals Staffordshire UK on December 12, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Before and after photos showing fading of graffiti on wall in Glasgow — The captions say it all really, note that the graffiti and the building it is on have both lasted longer than the enormous block of flats in the background. Found via Robert Lambie on uksignboards.com.

Ghost graffiti

This entry was posted in Off Piste Painted Lettering Related Work and tagged Film Glasgow Graffiti Robert Lambie Scotland Small Faces Tongland UK on December 8, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Film still showing a man's hand painting with a brush — This was new to me today, the first film from Colossal Media and a tribute to the team at Sky High Murals who execute their huge hand-painted advertising murals in the USA. Nice. (Read more Colossal Media posts.) Another tribute comes in book with the […]

Sign painter tributes from Colossal Media and the Sign Painter ...

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Colossal Media Faythe Levine Sam Macon Sign Painter Movie Sign Painters Signwriter Sky High Murals Tribute USA Video on October 31, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hand-painted sign advertising a Jamaican dancehall event — Gabriel Heatwave sent me a treat of a link to this article about a new book and exhibition celebrating the hand-painted signs used to advertise dancehall events in Jamaica. A copy of the book is on order and will be reviewed at a later date. […]

Jamaican Dancehall Signs by Maxine Walters

This entry was posted in Interviews Painted Lettering Related Work and tagged Books Event Heatwave Jamaica Jamaican Dancehall Signs Maxine Walters Miss Lily's Music on October 6, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Oversized pansies painted on a wall with people standing in front of it — 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, […]

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

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged 1970s Art Graffiti Murals People Rochdale Street Art UK Walter Kershaw on September 26, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hand painted welcome sign for Small London in Nigeria — I didn’t think I’d end up writing about the major sporting event beginning with ‘O’ in my home town of London. That was until I came across this TV spot from Nike. It features many of the other ‘Londons’ found in the world, including, at […]

TV commercial features hand painted sign for Small London, Nigeria

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Off Piste Related Work and tagged Africa Ambush Find Your Greatness London London 2012 Nigeria Nike Olympics Small London TV on August 8, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Mosaic depicting a New York gangster from the prohibition era — ‘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 […]

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

This entry was posted in Off Piste Related Work and tagged Art Jim Power Mosaic Mosaic Man Mosaic Trail New York Tours USA on August 6, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Mural depicting men hanging out on the steps of a house — Daniel Lohmann kindly shared the link to this archive of Los Angeles mural photography from Ernest A. Long. There is an introductory article on the Getty education blog and the collection contains 200 images, all taken between 1973 and 1883. Like London it seems that Los […]

Los Angeles murals photographed by Ernest A. Long

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged 1970s 1980s Archive Art Daniel Lohmann Ernest A. Long Getty la Los Angeles Murals Photographer USA Wayne Healy on July 28, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Google streetview capture of a Hong Kong corner building — This image of a Hong Kong corner building and many others from the galleries of Michael Wolf are edited from his trawling of the material on google streetview. This interpreting and editing of google’s content has come in for some criticism which Geoff Dyer expands […]

Street photography using google streetview

This entry was posted in Off Piste Related Work and tagged China Google Hong Kong Michael Wolf Photographer Streetview on July 26, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Writing on Hong Kong wall in 1972 — This photo essay on Business Insider shows photos of Hong Kong as it was in 1972, including many street scenes and various forms of signage. The photos are all by Nick DeWolf and more can be found in his corresponding Flickr set. The one above […]

Signs and street scenes from Hong Kong in 1972

This entry was posted in Photo Essays Related Work and tagged 1970s China Hong Kong Nick DeWolf on July 18, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Sign Painters book cover by Ira Coyne — The Signpainter Movie project have just released this cover design for the book to accompany the film. Hand painted by Ira Coyne (featured previously here) it has certainly whetted my appetite for the planned October launch date. Visit the project blog to read more about […]

Sign Painters book cover painted by Ira Coyne

This entry was posted in Painted Lettering Related Work and tagged Books Ed Ruscha Faythe Levine Ira Coyne Sam Macon Sign Painters Signwriter USA on July 12, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Brixton Windmill by London Mural Preservation Society — Check out this photo essay from the London Mural Preservation Society documenting their project to repaint Brixton’s Windmill mural. It is a fantastic achievement and a vibrant and colourful result at the end of this undertaking which involved many people from the community and beyond. […]

The restoration of the Brixton Windmill mural

This entry was posted in Photo Essays Related Work and tagged Brixton Illustration London London Mural Preservation Society Murals Restoration Windmill on July 9, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Suppliers to Hovis ghostsign in TV commercial — This new TV commercial features a ghostsign at around 00:56. It is unusual because it is advertising the farm as a supplier to Hovis, rather than the well know bakers being supplied by Hovis. To what extent this is authentic I can’t say. It seems […]

Unusual Hovis ghostsign in new TV commercial

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Related Work and tagged Bread Commercial Farm Farmer's Lad Food Hovis Video on July 5, 2012 by Sam Roberts

White script on black in Arabic and Roman script — Another intriguing looking talk from the Sign Design Society, followed by their summer party on the evening of Friday, 20th July. The topic this time is ‘Arabic in multi-script signage and wayfinding’, with the talk being given by Julia Petretta. Download the pdf with full information […]

Arabic in multi-script signage and wayfinding: Sign Design Society talk

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Arabic Event Julia Petretta Lettering Sign Design Society Wayfinding on July 2, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Close up of portion of Hackney Peace Mural in Dalston, London — The London Mural Preservation Society has organised two walking tours showcasing some of London’s most iconic murals. Check the PDFs below for full details and contact information for the society. East London Line Mural Walk, Saturday 30th June (download PDF with details of East London […]

Mural walks in Brixton and East London

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Brixton Dalston East London Line LMPS London London Mural Preservation Society Murals Tours Walk on June 25, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Ira Coyne Handpainted Spirit Board — This is one of a collection of brightly coloured Ouija boards from Ira Coyne on Faythe Levine’s blog. It appears that even spirits can swear when they want to… Hand painted Ouija board bonus from Squared Away Signs.

Spirit (Ouija) Board lettering from Ira Coyne

This entry was posted in Painted Lettering Related Work and tagged Alphabet Faythe Levine Ira Coyne Lettering Ouija Related and Random Signwriter Spirit Board on June 20, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Screen shot of short film about student art project — This technique of using light to create a layout is actually nothing new. There is a reference to the ‘lantern method’ in a 1929 book called Poster Design by W.G. Raffe. The method, offered up in contrast to the pounce method, is described as: “The […]

Student art project uses light projection technique to layout design ...

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Art Contemporary Issues USA Video on June 15, 2012 by Sam Roberts