Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #signpainting, aggregated by home.social.
New at bl.ag online (aka @sam), ‘Chatting with Morgane Côme, Author of La Peinture en Lettres’, a fabulous new book celebrating French sign painting, past and present.
https://bl.ag/chatting-with-morgane-come-author-of-la-peinture-en-lettres/
Pictured is Morgane sharing her book with Bernard Caiveau, a sign painter from Vannes, Brittany, at the official launch event in Paris on 19 September. This is part of the ongoing ‘Festival’ across the country:
“We respond to it because it was so obviously done by a human being, with human weaknesses. The street feels a human place because of it. Lettering which is smoothly anonymous, without wit, imagination, personality or sensitivity, gives the impression of having been designed as well as made by machines. A street of such lettering is a hostile place.”
— Alan Bartram commenting on the final shopfront in his wonderful book, Fascia Lettering in the British Isles (1978)
Gold lettering on the TM studio door, demonstrated by Rocco Barbaro. Design by Benji Knopper. Magnificent work! (Gilding is not part of our course, though we all got to see the process close up and even tried applying a sheet) #SignPainting
On last week’s trip to LA we stayed in Boyle Heights. It was my first time in the neighborhood and it reminded me so much of the Mission in SF before gentrification. Predominantly Spanish-speaking. Mostly independent shops with fronts right at the street. So many handmade signs! Here are a few goodies. More: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/albums/72177720336092798/
New at bl.ag online (aka @sam), ‘Chicago Sign Writing in The Origin of the Serif’, with a reproduction of the final chapter of Edward Catich’s seminal work with the kind permission of St. Ambrose University:
https://bl.ag/chicago-sign-writing-in-the-origin-of-the-serif/
Pictured is Figure 233 from the chapter, captioned with “Step and block serifs for letter I made in two strokes”.
New at bl.ag online (aka @sam), ‘Unpredictable Precision: Bringing Gluechipping Back to Japan’, with Sayumi Mizukoshi sharing her sign painting story and her work reviving this technique in Japan.
Reminded me of this collection of archival Hungarian sign painting/painter photos:
https://bl.ag/a-fascinating-collection-of-hungarian-sign-painting-photos-1906-1976/
While in London I found two copies each of BLAG 04 and BLAG 05 which were previously sold out.
I have put these together with Issues 03, 06, 07, and 08 to create a six-issue bundle with shipping included from Spain.
New at bl.ag online (aka @sam), ‘My First Letterheads: Sea Level, Amsterdam, 2026’, with Maggie Jaris sharing her “transformative” experience at last month’s gathering of sign painters in the city.
https://bl.ag/my-first-letterheads-sea-level-amsterdam-2026/
Pictured is Canadian sign painter Pierre Tardif panel jamming at the event, photographed by Sabrina van Duijn (https://www.sabrinavanduijn.nl/).
There are bargains (and freebies) to be had for anyone that can get to Welwyn Garden City on Friday, 9 October.
https://www.handover.co.uk/blog/2026/09/22/warehouse-sale-friday-9th-of-october-welwyn-garden-city/
The early bird catches the brushes, paints, and sundries...
Today's rabbit hold: Interesting Ideas:
"Interestingideas.com is my project. It began as a photo-copied newsletter in 1989 and reached the world via the Web in 1994, a sobering example of the Internet’s transparency to marginal notions. It was a personal test bed for online publishing as well as an outlet for thoughts on vernacular art, oddball culture, politics and other random topics."
Dive in and get lost: https://www.interestingideas.com/
#OutsiderArt #Vernacular #Signs #SignPainting #RoadsideArt #InterestingIdeas
💯🎨🔠👏 On l’attendait, ça y est ! la bible de Morgane Côme vient de paraître : “La peinture en lettres, Histoire & Renouveau” aux éditions l’Échappée.
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À cette occasion elle organise un grand tour de France festif avec balades, conférences, tables rondes, projections… qui commence ce week-end à Paris.
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https://morganec.fr/festival
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Le 15 octobre, pour l’étape bordelaise je proposerai une balade typographique dans les rues de la vieille ville. (sur inscription, via le site du festoche)
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J’aurai également le plaisir de présenter quelques chouettes archives à la Librairie Galerie La Mauvaise Réputation. L’exposition “Lettres Modèles” sera visible du 1er ou 31 octobre.
Hâte !
Check out Michael Letters’ video report from last year’s Letterheads Per L’Horta (mainly in Spanish but with some English bits):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T90J-QdOdQY
I’ve also added it to my previous report at bl.ag online (aka @sam):
https://bl.ag/letterheads-per-lhorta-an-intimate-international-meet/
Embracing small local businesses 🎨👩🎨
סטודיו וגלריה לאמנות של נטליה דיאטלוב "המרפאה" בעין הוד. בואו בהמוניכם!
Peinture en lettres by Morgane Côme
Published today and avaliable in the BLAG shop: La peinture en lettres, Histoire & Renouveau by Morgane Côme.
https://shop.bl.ag/products/la-peinture-en-lettres-histoire-renouveau
I want to read this book so much that I'm considering dropping my Spanish studies to learn French. Perhaps I'll do a flick through later to really show what a visual feast it is.
Chapeau Morgane! 🎩
PS. This is her second publication this year!
https://bl.ag/lettres-decoratives-and-the-history-of-french-sign-painting/
#SignPainting #Peinture #Enseignes #Lettres #Signwriting #France #Chapeau
Swiss folk, check out Brigitte Jaggi's forthcoming workshop schedule, and her notification about discontinuing a couple of these, i.e. this is the last chance to take two of these classes:
Here’s an ampersand for World Ampersand Day, painted by Brian Walker (RIP), the subject of a short film I made last year with Irene Chirita.
I’ve now made the film, ‘When Better Letters Met Brian Walker’, and lots of Brian’s work free for all to enjoy via the @[email protected] site here:
https://bl.ag/when-better-letters-met-brian-walker/
And here is the link to the @[email protected] Peertube page for the film, also publicly viewable now:
https://video.bl.ag/w/xhrG4omsRFv7yMfM7HPFMb
#SignPainting #SignPainters #Signwriting #Signwriters #Hackney #London #ShortFilm #Ampersand #WorldAmpersandDay
New at bl.ag online (aka @sam), ‘BLAG Has Moved (Downstairs)’, in which I talk a bit about the office space I’m returning to next week after travelling to Amsterdam for the Letterheads and London for some family time:
https://bl.ag/blag-has-moved-downstairs/
Also includes a linked blow-by-blow account of the panels mounted on the walls and their stories/significance to me and mine.
PS. Another plug for this incredible programme of events across France to celebrate the book's publication:
Took some time get my little sign painting kit organized. #SignPainting #HandPainted #DIY
Yesterday I touched down in Amsterdam for the Letterheads meet that starts this evening.
My first job was to head over to this shop/storage space in the centre of the city, home to a collection of over 100 of these impactful signs.
They're painted on what seems to be stretched cheese cloth and are largely generic sale signs; closing down, winter, summer etc.
Shops would (and in some cases still do) lease them for external display, and they apparently trigger nostalgia in locals of my age (late 40s) and over.
Yesterday we selected about 10 for display at the event, and on Saturday there will be a presentation from Misha, daughter of the sign painter that produced them.
Today I welcomed the 650th paid member to BLAG, which has put a little spring in my step as I head to the Amsterdam Letterheads meet tomorrow.
If you want to be number 651, support independent, advertising-free publishing, and of course join the ongoing adventures in sign painting at BLAG, then this is the place to do it:
I’m on a podcast, talking about BLAG, books, and the joy of print: https://the-life-of-letters.castos.com/episodes/celebrating-letters-with-blag-magazine
#SignPainting #Signwriting #Lettering #Publishing #Books #Magazines #LifeOfLetters
‘Back to His Roots: David Mearns Gets Back on the Brush at 50’ — my latest column for Signlink:
https://www.signlink.co.uk/specials/back-to-his-roots-david-mearns-gets-back-on-the-brush-at-50/
#SignPainting #Signwriting #SignPainters #Signwriters #Signlink
New at bl.ag online (@sam), ‘The Elusive Senegalese Sign Painter and a Lost Mural Artwork’ which finds a music and film producer trying to track down their sign painting hero in Dakar for a special commission.
https://bl.ag/the-elusive-senegalese-sign-painter-and-a-lost-mural-artwork/
PS. Off the back of this story I’ve been working my way through the Baaba Maal back catalogue, so if you’re on Qobuz you can find him here: https://open.qobuz.com/artist/61708
(Other streaming services are available.)
If you're in/around Amsterdam next week, then the international Letterheads event, hosted by Amsterdam Signpainters, will have an 'open doors' component from about midday on Sunday, 30 August:
https://www.amsterdamsignpainters.nl/program/
If you're curious to see what one of these events is all about, then this is the perfect opportunity. I'll also be there, gradually winding down my table of books and magazines, so don't be shy.
Likewise, feel free to ask me anything about Letterheads here. (I've also posted a lot about the movement via @sam over the years: https://bl.ag/tag/letterheads/.)
Amsterdam Sea Level Letterheads artwork by Dave Correll: https://www.instagram.com/davecorrellbrushwork/.
#Letterheads #IOAFS #SignPainting #Signwriting #Lettering #Amsterdam
Since I’ve just introduced myself, something a little more personal already: Malta holds a special place in my heart. Partly for sentimental reasons—I spent a lot of time there as a kid—but also because it’s still the place I go to find calm and inspiration (Alphabet Ggantija is typographic proof of that: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RX1oH7nxjbQBzQxbq9sPbTf2YeHy9Qc9/view?usp=drive_link). I think of Malta and Gozo as my second home.
So, Malta’s old buses. The modern ones have many advantages, but the old ones had tberfil: https://bl.ag/joe-farrugia-keeping-maltas-tberfil-artform-on-the-road/
Thanks to this @blag article, I’ve just discovered and ordered Steven Scicluna’s book “Tberfil: The Art of Maltese Vehicular Decoration in the 20th Century”. Can’t wait!
https://shop.bl.ag/products/tberfil-the-art-of-maltese-vehicular-decoration-in-the-20th-century
Photo: álvaro / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped
Hello, #SignPainting #Lettering internet. I'm looking for a book. 65 Alphabets by Arthur Newhall. It's out of print so I'm looking for good used book sources where I might be able to find a copy.
New at bl.ag online, ‘Documenting the Signs and Sign Painters of Bursa, Turkey’, with @muraterturk sharing YazıBursa, a living digital archive of Bursa’s hand-painted signs and vernacular lettering.
https://bl.ag/documenting-the-signs-and-sign-painters-of-bursa-turkey/
#SignPainting #SignPainters #Archives #DigitalArchives #Bursa #Turkey #Lettering
RE: https://typo.social/@typographica/117058351920948613
Can anyone help with reaching out to Sam Moses?
@typographica shared this instagram piece and I've contacted both the producer of that and Sam's own profile, but with no reply.
There is a Coney Island connection, so that's my next port of call after finding this little profile and audio interview with him: https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history-archive/sam-moses
How to Run a Letterheads Meet with François Tusseki
When Better Letters Met Brian Walker