Sign Making

Painting and sign making techniques.

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

These pictorial panels depicting the products and services on what is now The Old Dairy on Stoud Green Road have always intrigued me, and ahead of next week’s talk at the North London Lettering Association I thought I should carry out a little research. The […]

Sgraffito and the Old Dairy at Crouch Hill

This entry was posted in Sign Making and tagged Barcelona Crouch Hill Dairy Friern Manor Dairy Company Hornsey London N4 Production Scraffito Sgraffito Spain Technique The Old Dairy UK on January 12, 2018 by Sam Roberts

Simon Memel sent me a link to this article on Dezeen by Owen Hatherley about an odd thing that has just happened on Walthamstow High Street. The council has funded the standardisation of shop front signage, leading to the loss of shops’ individual character. I […]

Cookie Cutter Shops on Walthamstow High Street

This entry was posted in Sign Making Sign Preservation Signs in Media and tagged Dezeen E17 Fascias Gentrification Harry Leeson London Owen Hatherley Redevelopment St James Street UK Walthamstow on November 9, 2017 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

Guests on my Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk in early 2015 were lucky to see a bonus fading fascia en route, advertising The Vacuum Shop. This was revealed by works to the Anglo Asian restaurant, which now straddles numbers 60 and 62 Stoke Newington Church Street. […]

The Vacuum Shop and George Braun

This entry was posted in Sign Making Sign Stories and tagged Ben Selig Catherine Shields Conservation Fading Fascias Fascia Fascias Geo Braun George Braun Ghost Signs Ghostsigns Hackney London N16 Protection Shop Fronts Signwriter Stoke Newington Stoke Newington Church Street The Vacuum Shop UK on April 15, 2017 by Sam Roberts

This ghostsign on Stoke Newington High Street comes at about the halfway point of my walking tour through the area. It is a palimpsest which has been well researched by Sébastien Ardouin. I recently took a couple of close-up photos, one of which has added […]

John Hawkins, Steeles & Chaney Signs

This entry was posted in Sign Making Sign Stories and tagged Chaney Chaney Advertising Dalston De Beauvoir Englefield Road Ghostsigns Walking Tour Hackney John Hawkings Kingsland Road London Palimpsest Sébastien Ardouin Signwriter Steeles Stoke Newington Stoke Newington High Street Tours UK William Chaney on February 25, 2017 by Sam Roberts

This beautiful gilded script once marked the home of Ambridge Signs. When they left the premises the sign didn’t come with them and, until last month, it provided a reminder of the area’s signwriting heritage. It was situated on this unassuming building at the end of […]

RIP: Signwriters – Gilding & Pictorial Artists

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Making Sign Preservation Sign Stories and tagged Ambridge Signs Fading Fascias Fascia Fascias Gilding Gold Leaf Hackney Islington London N1 RIP Script Signwriter Signwriting Southgate Road Ted Ambridge UK on March 21, 2015 by Sam Roberts

Ghostsigns for Coca-Cola are found all over the USA and other parts of the world, although I know of only one in the UK. However, there’s now a few inside the company’s London head quarters, although these are strictly in the ‘faux’ category. I was […]

Faux Ghostsigns for Coca-Cola’s London HQ

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Making and tagged Coca-Cola Coke Drink Faux Ghostsigns London Sign Painters Soft Drink UK on July 2, 2014 by Sam Roberts

In the course of my research into painted signs over the last eight years I have become increasingly aware of the brilliant work that is being done by contemporary signwriters (sign painters in the USA). This started with the early profiling of the Shop Local […]

Introducing Better Letters

This entry was posted in Sign Initiatives Sign Making and tagged Better Letters Lettering Sign Painters Signwriter on February 27, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Remains of painted Victorian lettering — While creating this beautiful new signage for Casa Blue, Ash Bishop of The Brilliant Sign Co. alerted me to an astonishing discovery inside the premises of this newly converted bar. It is a fragment of some Victorian painted lettering, which Ash proposes dates from the […]

History Repeating: A Stunning Reveal on Bethnal Green Road

This entry was posted in Sign Making Sign Stories Signs of Note and tagged Ash Bishop Bethnal Green Road Brick Lane Brilliant Sign Co. Casa Blue East End Fragment Indoors Interior Internal Lettering London Reveal UK Victorian on January 29, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Paris Hotel & Casino faux ghostsign by John Downer — John Downer is a master sign painter and typeface designer. He kindly shared the above faux ghostsign that he produced in 1999 for the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Those better versed in French will notice that the sign is incomplete and the […]

Défense D’Af: Faux Ghostsign from John Downer

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs of Note and tagged Faux French Ghostsigns John Downer Las Vegas Paris Hotel & Casino on December 22, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Layout of painted sign on paper for Cabury Bournville Cocoa — The Lewis & Skinner archive is a collection of materials relating to the work of a Melbourne signwriting company from the first half of the last century. These were fortuitously discovered by Dr Stefan Schutt last year and he has since been working to archive […]

Lewis & Skinner Exhibit Featuring Ghostsigns and Live Signwriting

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Initiatives Sign Making and tagged Archive Australia Bournville Cadbury Cocoa Drink Event Exhibition Finding the Radio Book Ghostsigns Lewis & Skinner Lisa Cianci Melbourne Signwriting Soft Drink Stefan Schutt Tony Mead Victoria University on September 29, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Hand-painted sign saying 'Sign painters do it in 1 shot' — The Sign Painter Movie is now on tour with dates booked in until November, including Scotland and New Zealand for those outside the film’s USA base. I was treated to a preview screening and also got my hands on the book that accompanies the film. […]

Sign Painters: The movie, the book and the resurgence

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Book Books Craft Faythe Levine Film Ira Coyne Keith Knecht Norma Jeanne Maloney Review Sam Macon Sign Painter Movie Sign Painters Signwriter Signwriting USA Video on July 28, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Faux ghostsign for Cinquecento cafe — ‘Faux’ ghostsigns are a relatively new phenomenon but are appearing with increasing frequency around the world. I invited Meredith Kasabian, of Boston’s Best Dressed Signs and The Pre-Vinylite Society, to share her thoughts given her and Josh Luke’s recent work on the example above. Several […]

Faux ghostsigns, authenticity and the passage of time: Guest post ...

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Folk Sign Making and tagged Article Authenticity Best Dressed Signs Boston Cinquecento Faux Ghostsigns Guest Josh Luke Meredith Kasabian Nostalgia Pre-Vinylite Society Restoration Sign Painters Signpainter Signwriter USA on July 21, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Born and Raised by David A Smith and John Mayer — This has left me speechless. Sublime. Ridiculous. Unbelievable. Thank you to David, John and Danny for bringing the story of this piece of work to life through film. An incredible follow up to the last one.

Born and Raised from David A Smith, John Mayer and ...

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Born and Raised Craft Danny Cooke David A. Smith Film Gilding John Mayer Lettering Production Signwriter UK Video on May 19, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Ken Davis – It’s Alive from Taylor Morgan on Vimeo. Hope you enjoy this short film about the gilder Ken Davis and his piece on glass for Empire 7 Studios in San Jose, California. Find more video content on Ghostsigns.

It’s Alive: Gilding with Ken Davis

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged California Empire 7 Studios Gilding Gold Leaf Ken Davis Lettering San Jose Taylor Morgan USA Video on November 28, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hand-painted Chautauqua mural — This is one of 17 murals produced during a Walldogs ‘meet’ in Pontiac, Illinois, in the summer of 2009. These events bring together sign artists from around the world to decorate towns and cities with colourful murals. In this case it was the home of the […]

Walldogs: Murals on Main Street DVD

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Diaz Sign Art DVD Event Film Illinois McCoy Studios Murals Pontiac Review USA Walldogs on September 22, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hand painted cover for 'Hand Painted Signs of Kratie' book — Here is a preview of the hand painted cover for the ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’ book. You can also see some photos and video of the work in progress on this. Sadly when I went back to see some more painting in action I […]

Cover for ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Books Cambodia Chouk Rachana Design Khmer Kratie on August 10, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Khmer lettering on the cover of Hand Painted Signs of Kratie — Today, after three weeks of checking back on an almost daily basis, I caught Kratie signpainter Chouk Rachana at work on the cover for my forthcoming book, ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’. It has taken a bit of back and forth to get towards a […]

Creating the cover for Hand Painted Signs of Kratie

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Books Cambodia Chouk Rachana Craft Khmer Kratie Lettering Signwriter Video on August 7, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hand painted counter with the words, "Who let the dogs in...who...who...who?" — Walldog is the nickname given to those that once roamed the USA painting signs and slogans on brick walls, roadside barns and any other surface capable of providing a canvass for their advertising art. The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum is a celebration of […]

The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Murals Museum Pontiac Route 66 Signwriter Signwriting Tours USA Video Walldogs on July 31, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Signpainter applying red paint to coca cola sign on a white wall — The Salisbury Ghost Sign Restoration Project is an initiative of three enthusiasts in North Carolina. They have recently unveiled their first two restorations, both for Coca-Cola signs, so I thought it was time to catch up with one of the trio, Justin Dionne to find […]

Salisbury Ghost Sign Restoration Project

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Making Sign Preservation and tagged Andy Thompson Coca-Cola Coke Justin Dionne Michael Alexander Nassar Mufdi North Carolina Restoration Salisbury Signwriter USA Wrigley on July 21, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Screen shot of hand painted sign by Derek McDonald of Golden West Sign Arts — Another signpainter profiled on film, this time Derek McDonald of Golden West Sign Arts, one of the craftsman who worked on this year’s ‘Declaration of Independence’ campaign for Jack Daniel’s. More from Derek in this extended article from Oakland North. Is it just me or […]

Derek McDonald film and interview

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Berkeley California Craft Derek McDonald Golden West Sign Arts Oakland People Signpainter USA Video on July 19, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Horse heads cave painting from the Chauvet cave Ardèche — I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the origins of painting on walls, and the evolution of the form over time, up to the current vogue for street art. While the walls of caves were not made of brick, they did nonetheless provide people with an early […]

The origins of painting on walls

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Aboriginal Ancient Ardèche Art Australia France Handpainted History Neanderthal Pre-History South Africa Spain Wales on July 11, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Still from a film by Marco Puccini — In a slight departure from painted lettering here is a film by Marco Puccini showcasing some flamboyant examples of inked lettering using a variety of calligraphy tools. While on the subject, it is also worth checking out this film profiling master calligrapher Paul Antonio on […]

Flamboyant calligraphy from Luca Barcellona & Francesca Biasetton

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Calligraphy Craft Francesca Biasetton Lettering Luca Barcellona Marco Puccini Paul Antonio Video on July 6, 2012 by Sam Roberts