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blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Sam at BLAG
@blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
71 followers 6 following 480 posts
BLAG: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community, and Culture.

The world's only print and online publication dedicated to sign painting.

Inside you'll find […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://typo.social/@blag, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
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This new arrival at BLAG HQ is not in my shop (https://bl.ag/shop), but I'm exploring how to get it there.

'Sakaryanın Harfleri' by Murat Ertürk is a 430-page investigation into the hand-painted signs and sign painters from the Turkish city of Sakarya.

It's […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Book cover for 'Sakaryanın Harfleri' which has the books details set in a cream colour on a rich red background.
November 20, 2025 at 11:26 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
As a purveyor of books about signs (see https://bl.ag/shop) I think this is the first time I've seen such a substantial volume (150 pages) about a single sign. But I'm ready to learn of others!

'A Sign of the Times: The Best of the Penthouse Marquee' by Benjamin […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Landscape book cover with title and authors in a vertical panel on the left and a night time photo of a theatre marquee on the right with green neon letters on top that read "The Penthouse" and the reader board letters below that saying "Forever Neighbours, Never Neighbors".
November 18, 2025 at 11:06 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
New at bl.ag online, 'Chain Letter: Meghan McDermott', with the story of how Vanessa Power's Dublin mural guided Meghan towards her chosen career of sign painting.

https://bl.ag/chain-letter-meghan-mcdermott/

PS. This is the eighth 'Chain Letter' in the series: […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Mural with block and shade lettering for 'Me Aul Flower' set within an array of pale pink flowers.
November 14, 2025 at 3:02 PM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Just got some stock of Doyle David Butler's new book into the shop.

Packed with over 250 pages of exquisite design, lettering, and illustration inspiration, this new book is a slice through the prolific output of one of the sign world's most revered designers […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Book cover with the lettered title 'Doyle David Butler's Book' Book spread open with sign designs on the left page and an alphabet titled Havican on the right. Full-page spread showing an elaborate sign design for 'Godby Studios'. Book spread showing the artwork, installation, and finished mural for Hennemann's Cream City House.
November 14, 2025 at 11:34 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Goodness gracious me, it's actually a real book, with an introductory essay from the wonderful Morgane Côme.

This one from @letterformarchive looks spectacular and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Lettres Décoratives: A Century of French Sign Painters’ […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Graphic of a spread from a book with a column of text on the right and a black and white landscape image sitting across the fold. The image shows a school/workshop setting with multiple people painting large signs.
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Can any Spanish speakers help with translating these four words from an Argentinian sign painter?

- escolazo

- jentuza (perhaps alternative spelling of gentuza?)

- nagual (perhaps alternative spelling of najual?)

- pusilamine (perhaps pusilánime spelled […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Wide-format hand-painted panel lettered with the word Escolazo Wide-format hand-painted panel lettered with the word Jentuza Wide-format hand-painted panel lettered with the word Nagual Wide-format hand-painted panel lettered with the word Pusilamine
November 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
New book alert: 'The Art of Dancehall: Posters and Flyers of Soundsystem Culture' by Walshy Fire.

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780789345769/

There's a look inside here with a good sampling of the hand-lettered work from Jamaica […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Book cover with "Art of Dancehall" lettered three times in a vertical stack in red, blue, and black on a yellow background. The lettering is in loose sign painterly styles with simple white shadows added as the only embellishments.
November 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
I've just heard from sign painter Bug Sav Art in Jamaica who has taken a big hit from Hurricane Melissa.

A friend of his has started a fundraiser as he looks to recover his business, so please donate and/or boost:

https://gofund.me/6c68243b7

Pictured is Bug's […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Hand-painted paper sign headlined "Clients, Pick Two". Below this is a Venn diagram in red, blue, and yellow, with the main circles labelled "Fast", "Cheap", and "Good". Where fast and good overlap it says "Expensive"; where fast and cheap overlap it says "Poor Quality"; where good and cheap overlap it says "Takes Time"; and where all three overlap in the centre it says "Dream On".
November 9, 2025 at 3:53 PM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Tokyo folk, don't miss this two-day workshop with the brilliant Kenji Nakayama, hosted by Peter Liedberg, aka Letterboy, over the weekend of 13/14 December.

https://www.letter-boy.com/kenji-workshop

PS. There's more from Peter via his online course for those […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Hand-lettered showcard that reads "Tokyo Letter Club, Two-Day Workshop at Letterboy Studio, Dec. 13 & 14".
November 7, 2025 at 6:18 AM
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“This sign looks like shit." — Malcolm Kenyatta.

Is it just me, or does it look like some A3 sheets run off a colour printer and blu-tac'd in place?

It definitely doesn't look like genuine gold leaf, so the "literally gilding" line in this report isn't quite […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Door to a white building with a sign to its right that reads "The Oval Office".
November 6, 2025 at 9:07 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
I guess that makes it proof reading day: BLAG 08 incoming.

Check out the previous seven at https://bl.ag/backissues

#blag #betterletters #magazines #signpainting #signwriting #lettering
Close shot of a portion of a black and white printed page. In addition to a fragment of a photo of a hand holding a brush being visible, there is text that reads "Winter 2025 / Issue 08".
November 4, 2025 at 6:31 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
New at bl.ag online, 'Bring Back Tucson's Sign Museum After Its Devastating Fire', with some background on the museum and why it should be on your 'bucket list' when it returns (with your help) […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Wide-angle photo of a museum gallery space filled with brightly coloured neon signs.
November 4, 2025 at 5:56 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
'Toulouse La Crêpe' — top punning on this ghost sign in Richmond, Virginia, albeit long since lost.

Oh, and shout out to Richmond Magazine for having a website that doesn't batter you with cookie warnings, popups, subscribe promos, and the rest when you land […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Large brick wall of a corner building adorned with layers of fading painted advertising. In addition to a portion of the Coca-Cola logotype, the wall is dominated by the most recent sign for 'Toulouse La Crêpe' at street level.
November 3, 2025 at 5:52 AM
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Lovely story (in Spanish) about the Albacete sign painter José Esparcia, with a particular focus on his work for cinemas and the films they screened […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Archival photo of a building group with some people walking the street beside it. The foreground is dominated by a curved whitewashed wall which is adorned with hand-painted sign boards advertising film screenings.
October 31, 2025 at 9:03 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
It's Halloween already here in Europe, so here's a piece that the wonderful Mark Oatis shared with me in around 2020.

#halloween #signpainting #pumpkin #lettering
Hand-painted horizontal panel. On the left are two illustrated pumpkins with the signature "Rose & Mark" underneath. To the right of this there are three lines of lettering. The smallest on top says "Wishing you a very", with "Spookadelic" under this as the dominant copy, with "Halloween" as the last line.
October 31, 2025 at 5:36 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Has anyone encountered this before? It's my 'Lettering Locations' bucket list map and I haven't received any notification about this before logging on today to find it locked.

Is there any way to find out more about the violation/fix it/appeal?

#askfedi #googlemaps #maps #mapping #google
Screenshot of a Google Maps branded screen with a locked file graphic and text that reads "Unavailable. This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies."
October 29, 2025 at 9:46 AM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Tucson's Ignite Sign Museum suffered a devastating fire earlier this month, and they've set up a Crowdfunder to help with repair and restoration work:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rebuild-ignite-sign-art-museums-collection

cc @JamesAkers @lightshipneon

#neon #signs #signmuseum #tucson #arizona
Large neon and incandescent bulb sign for Tucson Inn on the roof of a building. The sign is formed by the six letters of Tucson set on red panels on long red poles that are fanned to have the word on a slight arc. Inn is then set on a light blue panel below these letters, with a yellow arrow curving around this to point down and slightly to the right.
October 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
Got a question about gilding, but were afraid to ask? Or just didn't have anyone that you could ask?

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Society of Gilders is hosting a free, online Q+A, and they are accepting question submissions in advance here […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Two people in hi-viz jackets and yellow hard hats posting in front of dimensional letters on a ship that have just been gilded. The letters spell "Warrior".
October 24, 2025 at 1:26 PM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
[Beer]

'Crisp Strokes': Colossal Media and Brooklyn Brewery team up for a limited edition Pilsner to celebrate the outdoor mural advertising company's coming of age.

'Always Hand Paint' is the slogan/hashtag popularised by Colossal since their early days […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Two cans of beer surrounded by some outdoor sign painting rig. The design of the Brooklyn Brewery cans features casual lettering with the phrase "Always Hand Paint" on one side, and then the Pilsner's name, "Crisp Strokes", on the reverse. Everything is set within a simple yellow, black and white palette, with the exception of the green, black and white Brooklyn Brewery logo.
October 24, 2025 at 1:15 PM
blag.typo.social.ap.brid.gy
No lettering, just typos.

'You Spelled It Wrong' goes meta in Mexico.

Kindly shared by Breno.

#lettering #mexico #humour #humor #fridayfunny
Plain signs on white wall with with no entry symbols followed by English text and Spanish translations. The top instruction reads "Do not feed the animals" / "No alimentar a la fauna silvestre", while the one below says "No lettering" / "No tirar basura".
October 24, 2025 at 4:13 AM
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Regular readers/followers will recognise the photo above from the cover of BLAG 02 (https://bl.ag/02).

This was one of the features in that issue (Winter 2022), which is no longer available in print, but can be read digitally on the back issues page of the […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Graphic of the cover of a magazine. The masthead reads 'BLAG', while the picture is from the initial post in this thread showing a sign painting on a ladder lettering a shop fascia sign.
October 21, 2025 at 9:03 AM
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New at bl.ag online, 'Renegade Writing: London’s Faux Fascias', where we meet This Is My Costume and learn about their decade-long initiative refashioning abandoned shops.

https://bl.ag/renegade-writing-londons-faux-fascias/

#signpainting #signwriting […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Hooded sign painter on a ladder working on a fascia sign on a busy road. The lettering is in a loose rounded cursive style, painted in black with the shadow being applied in pink.
October 21, 2025 at 8:59 AM
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Please join us tomorrow for a short (30 minute) event comprising the online premiere of our new film, When Better Letters Met Brian Walker.

https://bl.ag/brian

It's free and online from 18:00 London time, Friday, 17 October.

Boosts/reposts appreciated ☺️ […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Bearded man in white apron holding signwriting tools and posing in front of a sign that's balanced on the ledge of a bay window. The sign reads "Brian Walker, Traditional Signwriter" and then gives a phone number.
October 16, 2025 at 2:19 PM
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The next issue of BLAG has a feature on the changing nature of Hong Kong's signs. I'm doing some picture research and this is one of my favourites from a set of eight images captured by Anny Nadal in 1978.

Thank you to @jill.strong for sourcing these and doing […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Night time street scene showing the view down a road with red light trails from cars due to long exposure photography. Flanking the wide road are enormous and encroaching illuminated signs, predominantly in neon, that feature mainly Chinese characters with some of these paired with English.
October 14, 2025 at 9:50 AM
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Good to know this one's still going strong, so thank you John Edwards for photo/update.

I've posted the text from our book, Ghost Signs: A London Story (https://ghostsigns.co.uk/book), in the alt text.

Spratt’s/A.H. Payne | Gunn’s, Acton Lane W4 (between […]

[Original post on typo.social]
Two layers of fading painted signs on the gable end of a terrace of houses. Description/notes from the book: The earlier sign on this palimpsest is a privilege for Spratt’s, on Arthur Henry Payne’s food and seed store, based here in 1926. Spratt’s was founded in 1861 by the American James Spratt and remained active until 2008. From 1866 he employed Charles Cruft, who set up dog shows to promote the company. These continue today as Crufts. In 1899 Spratt opened what was then the world’s largest pet-food factory, in Poplar. The original architectural lettering can still be seen there, but this was superseded in 1936 when Max Field-Bush designed a series of popular ‘calligrams’ (calligraphic pictograms) for the firm. Used until the 1970s, these spelled out the brand’s name in the shape of animals that might eat their products. The most recent layer on this sign is for the corn merchant J. Gunn & Co., which was here in the late 1920s. Gunn’s ran fifty stores by 1938 and manufactured at the nearby Actona Biscuit Works. These took their name from the borough of Acton’s motto, Floreat Actona, which means ‘May Acton flourish.’
October 11, 2025 at 1:11 PM