Fading painted signs

Sign Initiatives

Ghost sign projects and events.

The Grand Exhibition of the Pre-Vinylite Society is now showing for four days at the Bargehouse, behind the OXO Tower on London’s South Bank. Visitors can take in the c.30 pieces from an international cast of contemporary sign and lettering artists, each inspired by entries […]

Now Open: The Grand Exhibition of the Pre-Vinylite Society

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Collections Sign Initiatives Sign Stories and tagged 1762 Bargehouse Exhibition Grand Exhibition Letterheads 2018 London Calling London Letterheads Meredith Kasabian Pre-Vinylite Society on August 16, 2018 by Sam Roberts

Digital artist Andrei Lacatusu has created Social Decay, a series of images depicting a possible future of washed-up digital companies and their derelict signs. They are ‘faux’, although in a different sense to those that I’ve documented in the past. An article on Digital Arts […]

Social Decay from Andrei Lacatusu

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Collections Sign Initiatives and tagged Andrei Lacatusu Art Digital Art Facebook Faux Google Illuminated Instagram Neon Pinterest Tinder Twitter on August 10, 2018 by Sam Roberts

[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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation and tagged Brilliant Conservation Craig Winslow Las Vegas Neon Museum Projection Mapping Restoration USA on August 3, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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 entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Making Sign Stories and tagged 18th Century Better Letters Exhibition Grand Exhibition Letterheads 2018 London Calling Meredith Kasabian Pre-Vinylite Society Signs on June 22, 2018 by Sam Roberts

The restoration of ghost signs seems to be becoming more prevalent in the UK, or perhaps I’m just more conscious of them taking place. While I don’t document every instance, I thought that this one had an interesting back story, as shared by Stefan Lewis […]

Evans, Jones & Ricketts Restoration in Talgarth, Mid Wales

This entry was posted in Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation Sign Stories Signs of Note and tagged Conservation Evans Garage Jones MId Wales Restoration Reveal Ricketts Talgarth UK Wales World War 2 WW2 on June 15, 2018 by Sam Roberts

Roy Reed is a prolific collector and researcher of ghost signs, and uses his skills as a designer to decipher them. I’ve featured his work previously, on the almost illegible William Walker & Sons sign in Bermondsey. Roy is also a co-collaborator on the forthcoming […]

Roy Reed’s Reconstructions

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Collections Sign Folk Sign Initiatives and tagged Deciphering Reconstruction Roy Reed on April 27, 2018 by Sam Roberts

Michelle Heron is a London-based painter with a paticular fascination for old shops and shop fronts. Her paintings depict iconic fascias, many of which have been lost since she turned her attention to them, and some that survive in a state of perpetual uncertainty. As […]

Michelle Heron’s Fantastic Fascias

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Collections Sign Initiatives and tagged Art Blustons Cooke Egg Stores Jones Dairy London Michelle Heron Peter Hardwicke UK Zodiac on April 20, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Signs of Note and tagged Hackney London NE Postal Districts Postcodes Street Signs UK on April 13, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Batten & Davies Clapham Clapham Society Deane & Co Gillette H.G. Benwell London Music Roll Exchange Research Ribbans Engineering Roy Reed Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Tours UK United Dairies on March 23, 2018 by Sam Roberts

Alistair Hall of We Made This has spent the last couple of years documenting and researching the various forms taken by London’s Street Signs. He is set to present his findings in a lecture at St Bride on 31 May, so of course I’ve bought […]

London Street Signs with Alistair Hall

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Initiatives and tagged Alistair Hall Event Lecture London London Street Signs Name Plates St Bride Street Signs UK We Made This on March 9, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation Signs in Media and tagged A. D. Harvey Islington London Painted Advertisements in Islington Research Reveal RIP UK on March 2, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation Signs in Media and tagged A. D. Harvey Islington London Painted Advertisements in Islington Research Reveal RIP UK on February 23, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation Signs in Media and tagged A. D. Harvey Islington London Painted Advertisements in Islington Research Reveal RIP UK on February 16, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Bankside Bankside Ghostsigns Walk Ghostsigns Ghostsigns Tours App Ghostsigns Walking Tour Sam Roberts Stoke Newington Tours on February 2, 2018 by Sam Roberts

This is a reposting of the article that originally appeared here on the Better Letters blog. On 4th July 2016 I received the following email in response to a book I was working on at the time: I care for an elderly gentleman in Bristol, […]

When Better Letters Met Cliff Headford

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Better Letters Bristol Cliff Headford Film Humber Raleigh Signwriter Warmley on July 1, 2017 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation Sign Stories Signs in Media and tagged 1999 A. D. Harvey Black Cat Islington Listing Local Listing London London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Mapping Painted Advertisements in Islington Peter Powell Protection Research Transactions UK on February 4, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Dr Ken Jones has been doing an incredible job documenting the ghostsigns of America via his American Ghosts project. Not only does this involve detailed photographic documentation (see previous post on his process), but also pinning ghostsigns onto an ever-growing map. This now pinpoints thousands […]

Ken Jones’ Butte Palimpsests

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Stories Signs of Note and tagged American Ghosts Block Bros Butte Craig Winslow Elgin Watch Highlander Beer Ken Jones Mail Pouch Montana Palimpsest Sweet's Chocolate USA World Record Wrigley on January 28, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Advertising & Public Memory is the first scholarly book focused on ghostsigns. It was a labour of love across much of 2015, work that included editing others’ work, as well as contributing to some of the writing inside, notably an attempt to answer the question […]

Advertising & Public Memory: Social, Cultural and Historical Perspectives on ...

This entry was posted in Sign Initiatives Signs in Media and tagged Academic Advertising AdvertisingPublicMemory Book Ghostsigns Leanne White Public Memory Research Routledge Sam Roberts Stefan Schutt Taylor & Francis on December 27, 2016 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Bankside Ghostsigns Walk Ghostsigns Ghostsigns Tours App Ghostsigns Walking Tour LDF16 Light Capsules London London Design Festival N16 SE1 Tours UK on September 16, 2016 by Sam Roberts

Craig Winslow is an experiential designer who has recently turned his gaze towards ghostsigns, and the creative possibilities offered by applying his expertise in light projection mapping. The idea first came to him during a trip across America and has grown since. In essence it […]

Light Capsules from Craig Winslow

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation and tagged Adobe Barlow & Roberts Cakebread Robey Cockle & Co Craig Winslow Creative Residency Ghostsigns Gillette LDF16 Light Capsules London London Design Festival N16 Palimpsest Projection Mapping Projections Restoration SE1 Take Courage Tours UK Westminster Gazette Wire Works on September 7, 2016 by Sam Roberts

Ghost Letters of Vienna is a project to photographically document the wide range of fading fascias, and other forms of redundant lettering, on buildings in the Austrian capital. I met with the project leader, Tom Koch, during his recent visit to London, and have offered […]

Ghost Letters of Vienna

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Initiatives Signs in Media and tagged Austria Book Fading Fascias Ghost Letters Ghostsigns Tom Koch Vienna Wien Museum on May 18, 2016 by Sam Roberts

Large piece of painted advertising fading on a wall — 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

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives and tagged Ghostsigns London N16 Sam Roberts Stoke Newington Tours on October 20, 2014 by Sam Roberts

I’ve recently subscribed to Shopfrontelegy, a post-per-day blog from Vici MacDonald, the photographer and publisher behind Formerly. Given my recent interest in ‘fading fascias‘ the blog has been compulsive reading/viewing, with a collection of shopfront photography going back many years. It should probably come with […]

The Fantastic World of Shopfrontelegy

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Initiatives and tagged Blog Fading Fascias Fascia Ghostsigns Shop Fronts Shop Signs Shopfrontelegy Vici MacDonald on July 30, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Before and after of repainting of Stoakley & Son sign — 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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations Sign Initiatives Sign Preservation and tagged Ben Attenborough Cambridge Council Restoration Stoakley & Son UK on July 23, 2014 by Sam Roberts