Details of Christmas special Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk on Friday 28 December 2018.
Sign Destinations
I’ve never been to Singapore but have always believed it to be an ultra-modern city-state, and an unlikely place to find much in the way of historic signs. However, it turns out that this prejudice is unfounded, as this collection of photos from Mark De […]
Singapore’s Historic Signs
[This is a reposting of the original blog post on Better Letters.] Since 1996 Las Vegas’ Neon Museum has put the city’s decommissioned signage on display in its ‘bone yard’ exhibit. It was already a ‘must visit’ lettering location but has now been boosted by […]
Brilliant at Las Vegas’ Neon Museum
1 The following article is re-posted from the original on Better Letters. This August we’ll be opening a very special sign painting exhibition within the public-facing part of Letterheads 2018: London Calling. It is being curated by Meredith Kasabian of Best Dressed Signs and the Pre-Vinylite […]
The Grand Exhibition of the Society of Sign Painters
[This book review is reposted from the original on the Better Letters blog.] “Signwriters are entitled to their immortality just as are other artists and craftsmen” – Kevin Corrigan Kearns, Dublin’s Vanishing Craftsmen Signwriting is perhaps the least documented of the lettering disciplines; it’s nature […]
Karl Blaschke: The Sign Man of Munich
Following a series of discussions on Twitter myself and a handful of others have decided to run a scavenger hunt to locate, photograph and map the remaining street signs featuring the now-defunct NE London Postal District. It will take place 2-5pm on the afternoon of […]
NE Signs Scavenger Hunt
1 Following my talk to the Clapham Society last summer we are joining forces, with Roy Reed, to develop a walk exploring the many ghost signs visible on and around Clapham High Street. We are currently carrying out a mixture of archival and web-based research into […]
Ghostsigns of Clapham, a Forthcoming Walk
The list below of painted advertisements in Islington was compiled in the hope that some of those reading it might write in with additional locations not known to the compiler, and in the belief that painted advertisements in other parts of London would make a […]
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 4
The list below of painted advertisements in Islington was compiled in the hope that some of those reading it might write in with additional locations not known to the compiler, and in the belief that painted advertisements in other parts of London would make a […]
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 3
The list below of painted advertisements in Islington was compiled in the hope that some of those reading it might write in with additional locations not known to the compiler, and in the belief that painted advertisements in other parts of London would make a […]
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 2
Historia de la Publicidas is a wonderful archive documenting the advertising history of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Curated by Raul Manrupe the collection features a mixture of archival photography, contemporary images of ghost signs, and other artwork involved in the production and documentation of outdoor […]
Images of Buenos Aires’ Advertising Past
After much deliberation I have taken the decision to cease leading my public walking tours after the last one in May this year. That means there are just two dates left for each of my Stoke Newington (18 Feb and 15 Apr) and Bankside (18 […]
The Future of Ghostsigns’ Walking Tours
The Cat & Mutton pub on Broadway Market in East London has a remarkable array of Victorian glasswork on display in the main bar (see samples below). However, on a recent visit for a family Christmas meal, my uncle and I discovered the above two […]
Gardiner & Lacey at the Cat & Mutton
Over the years I’ve tried to seek out and review books about ghost signs here on the blog. Here is a set of recommendations drawn from these, focused on those in English. In a future blog post I’ll feature work published in other languages. 1 […]
Five of the Best: Books about Ghost Signs
4 I am conducting a small investigation into the ghostsigns of Islington and am appealing for help from readers of this blog. The map below (view full screen) will form the basis for this, in the context of the following notes. Recently while going through old […]
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 1
I’ve recently had the pleasure of meeting the Gentle Author, creator and driver of the incredible daily posts on Spitalfields Life. We explored the routes of my North and South London Ghostsigns Tours, which have been documented on the blog (here and here). As with […]
Ghostsigns with the Gentle Author on Spitalfields Life
The Ghostsigns Tours App, and the Bankside Ghostsigns Walk within it, are now available from iTunes and Google Play (for Android). The app brings the popular Ghostsigns Walking Tours to your mobile device, for enjoyment at street level, or from the comfort of your own […]
The Ghostsigns Tours App is Out Now
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, largely due to work on the book taking over for the last six months or so. Following a week in Amsterdam with Better Letters I enjoyed a long weekend in Porto, Portugal. Here is a slide show of […]
36 Porto Signs
3 Stuart Walsh got in touch from Mildura, on the edge of the Australian Outback, following the ghostsigns feature in the Guardian. What he sent me really caught my eye and he has kindly let me share some of his photos here on the blog. Here’s […]
Ghostsigns of Mildura, on the Edge of the Outback
This time last year I was setting out with my crash test dummies on the first ever Ghostsigns Walking Tour in Stoke Newington, London. It went well enough for me to continue running them and I’ve now taken the walk 24 times, with 220 people, […]
Ghostsigns Walking Tours: One Year On
11 This is the third and final post in a series documenting recent ghostsign restorations across the UK. It follows coverage of the Palladium Cinema restoration in Morecambe, and the repainting of the Larkspur Soft Drinks sign in Bradford. The focus this time is Cambridge and […]
Ghostsigns Restorations in Cambridge
1 On 21 May, before my Type Talk at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, I helped lead a walk through the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter. This was in collaboration with Geraldine Marshall of the Birmingham Graphic DNA Project, and focused on the ghostsigns and public […]
Ghostsigns and Public Lettering in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter
4 Ghostsigns are a truly global phenomenon and the latest installment on my virtual travels comes courtesy of Hanne Andersen from Copenhagen, Denmark. She says that it’s her ‘hobby to find them’ and the evidence here is that the Danish were no slouches when it came […]
Danish Ghostsigns in Copenhagen
3 This is my creation following Sunday’s Type Safari in Dalston with Type Tasting. It is a composite of various pieces of public lettering and signage that I photographed while on ‘safari’ with Type Tasting’s Sarah Hyndman. The brief was to bring a phrase that represents […]