blag

blag, 1 month ago to Philippines

Jeepneys are a popular mode of transport in The Philippines, and last year I profiled the decorative work that adorns them. This includes a wonderful documentary film by Esy Casey.

http://bl.ag/jeepney

Today I found this video about a sign painter that produces the destination and other functional/directional signage for the Jeepneys. It shows the painter at work, including his tools, materials, and techniques.

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=YWyXVyD1Hdw

#SignPainting #philippines #jeepney #signs

blag, 1 month ago to Montreal

New at bl.ag online, 'Meet Claude Dolbec: Montreal's Elusive Sign Painter'

https://bl.ag/meet-claude-dolbec-montreals-elusive-sign-painter/

Short documentary feature about Montreal's most prolific, but elusive sign painters: Claude Dolbec.

#SignPainting #signwriting #montreal #canada

blag, 1 month ago to calligraphy

My eldest's latest adventures in letters is this self-initiated piece using aquabeads. They're now mounted onto this hand-bound booklet as a gift for her friend, Ona.

If this inspires you for your next creation, then there's more about the environmental disaster that are aquabeads at https://aquabeadsart.com.

#lettering #letters #aquabeads #craft #handmade

blag, 2 months ago to portland

New at bl.ag online, 'Bringing a Gilded Victorian Transom Window Back to Life'.

Visit https://bl.ag/transom to learn from @ajsignsdorset about the techniques used to create the original sign, and the work he's done to make it just like new again.

#gilding #GoldLeaf #portland #dorset #transom

Short silent video panning from left to right across and then from bottom to top of a gilded Victorian transom window. The ornate Tuscan letters have scrollwork in the centres and give the name of the house, Rosslyn, and the window also has a decorative gilded border.

blag, 2 months ago to random

Check out this collection of photos featuring a sign painter posing with his work in Cuba in the 1950s.

They're for sale on ebay and I'd pay something for nice scans if anyone forges ahead and buys the set...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741946217 (the one shown here)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741955783

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741923583

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741957116

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741929249

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741471388

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741944091

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325741958160

#cuba #SignPainter #1950s #Havana #SignPainting

blag, 2 months ago to random

“What really drives me crazy is if you go to a truck show and you see a 1950s restored Bedford or something like that, and it’s got computer cut lettering on it!” — Philip Smyth

https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/signwriter-shares-his-thoughts-on-traditional-vs-vinyl-styles-and-mistakes-to-avoid/

#Signwriting #SignPainting #TruckLettering

blag, 2 months ago to random

Thank you @onpaperwings for this deep dive into the beautiful islands of San Serriffe: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/san-serriffe

#AprilFools #SanSerriffe #TheGuardian

blag, 2 months ago to comics

This kickstarter from @glennf is now more then 2/3 funded with just over a week left to see the project over the line.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glennf/how-comics-were-made

'How Comies Were Made' is a visual history of the techniques and processes used to bring artist’s hand to the printed page over the last 130+ years of the medium.

Check out the videos and preview images from the book on the kickstarter page above, and back the project to get a copy when it ships in the autumn.

#comic #comics #kickstarter #book #boost

blag, 3 months ago to calligraphy

Who's got some good RSS feeds for me to follow in the realms of sign painting, lettering, typography, calligraphy...

Please boost to cast the net wider.

#SignPainting #lettering #typography #calligraphy #RSS #boost #AskFedi

blag, 3 months ago to calligraphy

On 2 March, at BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet), Dr Amy Goodwin shares her research into the fairground painters, past and present.

This visual talk will include some of the works the Fairground Heritage Trust have in their collection — including, lettering which manipulates spatial depth and signs influenced by the cartoon industry — and discuss the impact the past has had on the fairground painters of today.

More at https://bl.ag/meet

#signpainting #lettering #fairgroundart

blag, 3 months ago to calligraphy

BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 is set to be a marathon with 18 sessions across 11 hours on Saturday, 2 March.

Visit https://bl.ag/meet for details of this online event.

It's all offered free of charge to broaden access, but for those that can, a suggested $10 contribution to the running costs is appreciated: https://bl.ag/tip.

Please #Boost to help reach more people that might like to indulge in these adventures in sign painting.

#signpainting #signwriting #lettering #blag

blag, 4 months ago to random

Well this is fun... I've got the @ghostsigns blog set up as an instance, and it posts a picture, headline, excerpt, and link here in the fediverse:

https://ghostsigns.co.uk/2024/02/cigarettes-marouf-ghent-belgium/

#ghostsigns #ghostsign

blag, 4 months ago to Cleveland

New at bl.ag online: 'Meet Earl Phillips: Cleveland's Greatest Living Sign Painter', with a biopic about the proprietor of Cleveland's U-Need-A-Sign Co.

https://bl.ag/earl

With thanks to John Skrtic.for sharing the photos and producing the film, and to Michael Bierut for the instagram post a few weeks back reminding me of it all.

Pictured is Earl in 2018, outside the shop where he plied his trade from 1960.

#signs #cleveland #signpainter #signpainting

blag, 4 months ago to mathematics

Question for @mathematics

Why is the triangle shown in this diagram an isosceles?

#maths #mathematics #geometry

blag, 4 months ago to Typography

Does anyone have a nice landscape photo of some lead type, in a drawer or set for printing, that I could use in an article at bl.ag about lead-based paints?

My email is sam@bl.ag, or I can download from a reply on here if Mastodon doesn't compress things too much...

#lead #type #leadtype #typography

blag, 4 months ago to random

Save the date: For all of August, there will be an exhibition in Bridport, Dorset, about the life and work of George Biles, a prolific signwriter, decorator, and scenic painter whose career spanned nearly 70 years.

A collection of his Palmers Brewery pub signs have survived, and will be displayed alongside drawings, and more.

I'll post more in the future, but for now, there is an extract from a 1932 article about Biles in the alt text.

#signpainter #signwriter #signpainting #bridport #dorset

blag, 4 months ago to random Spanish

I used @birb to create a mastodon feed from the RSS on my site, and it worked a treat: https://rss-parrot.net/u/bl.ag/status/1704986166432686488

blag, 5 months ago to random

New at bl.ag online: 'BLAG's Top Ten for 2023, and Reflections on the Year'

https://bl.ag/blags-top-ten-for-2023-and-reflections-on-the-year/

Round-up of the year's most popular articles from the adventures in sign painting at bl.ag online.

#SignPainting #Signwriting #2023 #2023inreview

blag, 5 months ago to random

Noel sent me some more copies of A Sign Painter's Sketchbook: https://shop.bl.ag/products/a-sign-painterss-sketchbook

"Noel's book is amazing. He's faithful to the period he's working with, but his details are always original and very inventive. The execution is, of course, flawless." — Carl Rohrs, calligrapher

blag, 5 months ago to pakistan

New at bl.ag online: 'Phool Patti Brings Pakistan's Decorative Artform to the World'

https://bl.ag/phoolpatti

Meet Phool Patti's Ali Salman Anchan, harnessing Pakistan's decorative art for social enterprise.

PS. There's more from Phool Patti in Issue 04 of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine). Get a special Mastodon introductory offer at https://bl.ag/md30.

#phoolpatti #pakistan #truckart #art #folkart

blag, 7 months ago to Halloween

I forgot to share the Halloween offer on our book, 'Ghost Signs: A London Story', so here it is, valid until Thursday:
https://shop.bl.ag/products/ghost-signs-a-london-story

#halloween #ghostsigns #london #history #book

blag, 7 months ago to random

BLAG 04 is now in layout, and I'm working through final copy checks in the new expanded 80-page format.

It goes to print in a week, when this will be in colour, followed by shipping to members in December.

Visit https://bl.ag/join to sign up for the adventures in sign painting, or https://bl.ag/md20 for a special introductory offer, which includes Issue 03 in print and digital access to back issues BLAG 01 and BLAG 02.

#Boosts appreciated 😃 #boost

#BLAG #signpainting #signwriting

blag, 7 months ago to random

Opening tomorrow in Amadora, Lisbon: This is Not America: Letreiros Comerciais — Século XX (commercial signs of the twentieth century).

This is an exhibition of some of the incredible Letreiro Galeria collection. If you're not familiar with their work, I recommend a look at their instagram (https://www.instagram.com/letreirogaleria) with Portuguese signs that they've salvaged.

This exhibition now listed at https://bl.ag/eventlistings.

#neon #signs #amadora #lisbon #exhibition #show #letreiros

blag, 8 months ago to london

Have you ever heard of the London Necropolis Railway Company?

I hadn't, until someone shared a short video with me, which I immediately thought must be a hoax.

But no, it checks out, and is an incredible story: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Necropolis_Railway

#london #railway #history #Necropolis

blag, 8 months ago to brazil

This weekend I'm hosting a free, online event profiling #signpainting traditions in #Brazil.

https://bl.ag/brazils-letter-openers-with-fatima-finizola-and-fernanda-martins/

'Brazil's Letter Openers' is a BLAG Chat with designers and #typography researchers Fátima Finizola and Fernanda Martins.

They will share their work documenting and celebrating the work of Brazil's abridores de letras (letter openers, or #signpainters). This will include an exclusive screening of the documentary film, Marajó das Letras.

#signwriting #signwriters #lettering