Fading painted signs

Lettering

This elegant painted sign adorning the stonework above the entrance to 154 Bishopsgate, London EC2, is no more, recently replaced by mounted metal letters (see picture below). Although it isn’t what most would refer to as a ghostsign (see my chapter, What is a Ghost […]

RIP: 154 Bishopsgate EC2

This entry was posted in Sign Preservation and tagged Address Bishopsgate EC2 Lettering London RIP UK on May 27, 2016 by Sam Roberts

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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations and tagged 36 Lettering Porto Portugal Signs Tiles on March 16, 2016 by Sam Roberts

E.Mono Shop Front — Back in 2011 an old 1920s shop fascia was revealed on Kentish Town High Street. The nature of the E.Mono business remains a mystery but the new occupants, a kebab shop, decided the sign was worth keeping and named their shop after the historic proprietors. […]

E.Mono in North London

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Preservation Sign Stories Signs of Note and tagged 1920s E.Mono Fading Fascias Fascia Finsbury Park Kentish Town Lettering London North London Protection Reveal Station Place UK on February 28, 2015 by Sam Roberts

Joe Thompson emailed me these fascinating photos of lettering on unusual objects, namely a dead whale (1919) and a shipwrecked oil tanker (1926). They are from San Francisco, recently donated to the Western Neighbourhoods Project. Read more about the photos and the project on SF […]

Writing on the Whale and Other Novelties

This entry was posted in Signs of Note and tagged Archival Photos Graffiti History Joe Thompson Lettering Oil Tanker San Francisco USA Western Neighbourhoods Project Whale on February 4, 2015 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

Small plaque for Pickering & Mayell — 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

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Destinations and tagged Birmingham Geraldine Marshall Ghostsigns Jewellery Jewellery Quarter Lettering Mapping Public Lettering Sam Roberts Tours UK Walk on June 4, 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

Different letters found in Dalston assembled to make the phrase 'Club Labrynth' — 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 […]

Rediscovering Club Labrynth on a Type Safari

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Destinations and tagged Club Labrynth Dalston Four Aces Hackney Lettering London Sarah Hyndman Sype Safari Type Tasting UK on January 21, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Stencil and result of Sam Roberts' Beanfeast piece — This is my/Ghostsigns’ submission to an inspiring project from Type Tasting, part of this year’s London Design Festival. It will be displayed alongside works from myriad designers and artists, including Alan Kitching and Ralph Steadman (Wow!), at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 14-19 September. (Event details […]

Beanfeast: Ghostsigns at Type Tasting

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Stories and tagged Beanfeast Exhibition Hampstead Highgate Lettering London London Design Festival Sarah Hyndman Stencil Type Tasting UK V&A on September 1, 2013 by Sam Roberts

'O to the Priory Church — 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

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Sign Folk and tagged Catherine Dixon Event Farringdon Fleet Street Ghostsigns Lettering London Phil Baines Smithfield St Bride Tours UK Walk on May 24, 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

Cover of Hamburg Alphabet book by Chris Campe — Hamburg Alphabet by Chris Campe is a delightful expose of one German city’s signage and public lettering. Featuring 220 images it catalogues these examples in alphabetical order according to the word spelled on the sign. The pages are visually striking, offering both similarities and sharp […]

Hamburg Alphabet by Chris Campe

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Signs in Media and tagged Alphabet Books Chris Campe Germany Hamburg Lettering on August 29, 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

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

Jack Daniel's Declaration of Independence poster — Today is Independence Day in the USA. Last year, to celebrate, Jack Daniel’s worked with letter-press experts Yee-Haw Industries and the team at Colossal Media to first produce poster designs and then to scale these up into large scale pieces of hand painted advertising around […]

Declarations of Independence campaign from Jack Daniel’s

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Alcohol Calligraphy Colossal Media Craft Embroidery Golden West Sign Arts Helms Workshop Independence Day Jack Daniel's Jon Contino Letter-Press Lettering Signwriter Type USA Whisky Yee-Haw Industries on July 4, 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

Lead Lettering Nunhead Cemetery — Photo: Caroline Derry A fascinating new form of public lettering (at least for me) on this blog post from Caroline’s Miscellany.

Lead lettering from Caroline’s Miscellany (@CarolineLD)

This entry was posted in Off Piste and tagged Lead Lettering on June 26, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Novelties Typeface quiz from Typographic Hub — Find the quiz here… You might also be interested in this post from Typographic Hub about the old names for font sizes used before the advent of the point system, my favourite must be ‘minion’ for 7-point.

Typographic Hub challenges you to name that (type)face

This entry was posted in Off Piste and tagged Caroline Archer Lettering Quiz Type Typographic Hub Typography on June 22, 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

Characters by Stephen Banham book cover — Characters by Stephen Banham looks to be one of the must have new books on signage and public lettering. It is high on my want list after reading this review sent to me by Geraldine of Birmingham Graphic DNA and this review picked up by […]

Melbourne’s signage in beautiful book form

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Signs in Media and tagged Australia Books Ghostsigns Lettering Melbourne on May 12, 2012 by Sam Roberts

BBC article about a working type foundry and plans to turn it into a museum (found here via Typoretum).

Movable (Chinese) type alive and well in Taiwan

This entry was posted in Off Piste and tagged China Lettering Taiwan Type on May 5, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Jane tipped me off about this lovely work from Dana Tanamachi.

The inspirational chalk work of Dana Tanamachi (via @janeslondon)

This entry was posted in Off Piste and tagged Chalk Dana Tanamachi Lettering New York on May 2, 2012 by Sam Roberts