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 […]
Event
1 [Update: Read a review of the screenings here] I’m very excited to announce that The Sign Painter Movie is coming to London and will be screened alongside Horn Please on Wednesday, 5 February 2014 [Update: Sold Out, tickets now added for Thursday, 6 February and […]
Sign Painter Movie / Horn Please Double Bill
[If you can’t view to show above, visit it here on the MyPlick site.] Judging by the ‘tweetback’ (see below), last month’s illustrated talk, ‘Ghostsigns at St Bride‘, was well received. Zoë Chan of überbaby also posted a review following previews in Creative Review and […]
Highlights from Ghostsigns at St Bride
1 I’m pleased to announce to regular readers of the Ghostsigns blog that I have some events coming up that should be of interest. Ghostsigns at St Bride: An illustrated talk on 20 November, previewed on Creative Review Ghostsigns walking tours: Join me in admiring some […]
Talks and Tours from Ghostsigns
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
1 Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon on their latest Public Lettering walk, organised through the excellent St Bride Library events programme. As with my earlier walking tour in this part of London (Type Tour West) it started at the library but […]
Public lettering walk with Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon
2 I am very excited to announce a forthcoming seminar in which I will be speaking alongside Stephen Banham, author of Characters and something of a typographic legend, and Stefan Schutt, curator of the Lewis and Skinner archive and author of the Finding the Radio Book […]
Ghost Sign Hunting: Melbourne Seminar
This collage, ‘Ghost Signs of Kidderminster’, by Laurie Abraham scooped first prize in a competition to depict the heritage of Kidderminster in the Midlands. It puts together a number of signs of different types from around the central market area, including those painted by hand, […]
Ghost Signs of Kidderminster by Laurie Abraham
1 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
2 A couple of treats next week for those residing in, or visiting, New York from Frank Jump, author of the excellent ‘Fading Ads of New York City’: 1. An Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing on the evening of Wednesday, 3rd October at the New York Society for […]
Walking tours and talks with Frank Jump
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
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
Leading figures in design and typography will be raiding the St Bride collections later this month (28th June) so get tickets soon as it’s likely to sell out. Full event details here, please forward me any write ups and I’ll try to post here. (Also […]
‘Desert Island Discs’ for graphic design, an event at the ...
Via this review of the East End shopfronts exhibition happening now in Tower Hamlets, I came across this incredible site which is the work of Lady Lamo and her colleague Alabama. It retraces the steps that Alan Dein took in 1988 and documents what has […]
Then and now: shopfronts 1988 revisited
This talk at the Sign Design Society on 7th June looks fascinating, check out some of the projects from United Creatives, home of the speaker Chris Edmunds, below. Pictured is part of The Larkin Trail. (The trail itself is on its own website.) Download the […]
‘Graphic design for cities’, where design meets craft and more ...
Photo: Alan Dein Interview with Alan Dein and more preview images of this exhibition on the Spitalfiends Life blog.
East End shop fronts exhibition profiled on Spitalfields Life
My friends at the London Mural Preservation Society have successfully obtained lottery funding to restore the Brixton Windmill Mural. The fun part is that members of the public can get involved this weekend (19th and 20th), next weekend (26th) and the Tuesday and Thursday (22nd […]
An opportunity to grab a brush or spray can and ...
This event looks to be inspiring and there are free slots available all week 23rd to 27th April so make sure you get along. (I’ve booked to attend at 2pm on Wednesday, 25th April, so if you do the same then let me know.) Thanks […]
‘Beauty in the making’, a free insight into type design ...
HAT archive contributor Mike Ashworth is giving an illustrated talk about the London Underground Johnston typeface next week on Tuesday, 3rd April. More details in the pdf below and on the Sign Design Society website. Followers of this site are eligible for a small discount, […]
The history of the Johnston typeface: Sign Design Society event
I’ve just backed this project from the Vernacular Typography site on Kickstarter… More funding is still needed so go here to pledge anything from $1-1,000 and get project-related gifts in return.
Vernacular Typography on Kickstarter
4 [Update: Now published.] Caroline & Phil Bunford have just released this preview of the cover of their forthcoming book Liverpool Ghostsigns. If you look very closely you’ll notice in the lower portion that the foreword is written by me, so I’m doubly excited about the […]
Book News: Liverpool Ghostsigns
1 Perhaps being in Cambodia has sensitised me to the world of Ghostsigns beyond my home shores. Or maybe awareness of the project has encouraged those from around the world to make contact. Whatever it is, I thought it was time for a round-up of what’s […]
Ghostsigns World Tour
Photo: Creative Review Photo: Creative Review Creative Review and a few others have spotted this new outdoor campaign for Anchor Butter. When I first saw the photos I assumed they were genuine hand painted ads but they are actually printed billboards which, in the case […]
Anchor
1 Thank you to everyone who came along to the launch event last night, photos below. The archive is now available so make a visit and have a browse. I’m really happy with the way this has all come together and as I said last night it […]