Signwriting

Back in May, Marco Bazelmans contacted me about a project he was working on as part of his communication design studies in Aachen, Germany. The brief was to create a guide of some sort, and he had selected signwriting as his theme. In particular, he […]

‘London Sign by Sign’ by Marco Bazelmans

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Collections Sign Folk Signs in Media and tagged Book London Marco Bazelmans Signwriter Signwriting Tours UK on October 4, 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

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

Hand-painted wall mural 'Greetings from Bradock, Pennsylvania' — After finding this fantastic collection of Pittsburgh ghostsigns on the Steeltown Anthem blog I dug a little deeper and came across another great set of photos. These, including my favourite above, celebrate the hand-painted murals and signs of Anthony Purcell. He also has his own […]

The signpainting of Anthony Purcell

This entry was posted in Photo Essays and tagged Anthony Purcell Braddock Murals Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Signwriter Signwriting Steeltown Anthem USA on September 15, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Painted sign on a wall for Colt showing a cowboy on a horse — In 2009 the Colorado Gambler published an article by Cathleen Norman called ‘Walldogs, Ghost Signs and Slappy Hooper’. It packs a surprisingly large quantity of material about the history of painting signs on walls in the USA into a very short piece. However, the opening […]

Walldogs, Ghost Signs and Slappy Hooper

This entry was posted in Signs in Media Signs of Note and tagged Cathleen Norman Chicago Colorado Gambler Colt Firearms Pullman School of Lettering Signwriting Slappy Hooper The Sign Painter USA Walldogs on August 10, 2012 by Sam Roberts

A Khmer letter painted in different ways — Here are some sample pages from my forthcoming book, ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’. It is a study of the hand painted form in a small provincial capital in North East Cambodia, currently my home. (Read more blog posts about hand painted signs in Cambodia.) […]

Sample pages from ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’ book

This entry was posted in Sign Collections Sign Initiatives Signs in Media and tagged Books Cambodia Kratie Sam Roberts Signwriting on August 4, 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

Screen shot from signpainting film Keepers of the Craft — This short film by new director Nathaniel Day from the Art Institute of Dallas profiles the work of Starr Studios in Dallas. It is another great addition to a growing body of documentary material including: Danny Cooke’s profiling of David Smith; JJ from LA; the […]

Keepers of the Craft film profiles Starr Studios in Dallas

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Dalls Film Guilding Keepers of the Craft Nathaniel Day Signwriter Signwriting Starr Studios USA Video on June 18, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hovis Van Painting Directions — Also on my visit to HAT I found this nice example of how big companies got the consistency of style across the country. It is some directions issued by Hovis as to how the back of a bread van should be painted. In a 1952 […]

Hovis Process

This entry was posted in Sign Making and tagged Bread Food HAT Hovis Painters guide Production Research Signwriting on June 18, 2007 by Sam Roberts