Sam at BLAG

Anyone want to be my 1000th follower on here?

Just hit the like button and subscribe etc etc.

In seriousness, thank you to all the 999 originals and everyone else that makes this place so much better than all the other places, and to @admin@typo.social for building this home for us.

Forgot to share last week’s bl.ag online post, ‘Paid in Full: The Grocery Signs Behind Peter Paid’s Lyrical Lettering’ with work inspired by his background in sign painting, graffiti, and Hip Hop culture:

https://bl.ag/paid-in-full-the-grocery-signs-behind-peter-paids-lyrical-lettering/

#SignPainting #Art #Lettering #Signs #HipHop #Graffiti #1990s

RE: @roadside@tech.intersects.art

Check out the hand-painted signs below, with the billings including Al Green and B.B. King.

This is the last workshop from John King for 2026 and his classes come highly recommended for anyone that's just starting out with sign painting.

https://johnkingletterart.com/products/introduction-to-sign-painting-workshop-sept-26th-27th-2026

If you're not in Los Angeles and interested in sign painting workshops, I run through some people and places offering these (including online) at https://bl.ag/learn.

My regular Worldwide Events Roundup emails offer a more dynamic listings service. You can sign up for those at https://bl.ag/join.

#SignPainting #Signwriting #Lettering #Workshops #LosAngeles

Finally got to hang this fabulously flamboyant fairground piece by @jill_strong@mastodon.art.

The guide to its creation is the limited edition poster insert in BLAG 08 (https://bl.ag/08), with a work-in-progress shot on the cover.

Thanks again Jill — I love it!

PS. The dripping white paint is a legacy from the previous owners who seem to have been completely unaware of the existence of masking tape.

#SignPainting #Lettering #Flamboyant #Fabulous #Fairground

New at bl.ag online, ‘Coming to America (Again): John Oliver × Deadly Prey’, with a segment on Last Week Tonight all about hand-painted Ghanaian movie poster.

https://bl.ag/coming-to-america-again-john-oliver-x-deadly-prey/

This is followed by a reproduction of the extended feature on the medium, and Deadly Prey’s work keeping it alive, from BLAG 04.

Pictured is Edward Lamptey, aka Leonardo, working on the original BLAG canvas for Issue 04’s poster insert.

#SignPainting #Art #Artists #Ghana #MoviePosters #Posters

RE: @Luke@typo.social

Whoop whoop: https://video.bl.ag/w/o1N99GokXW1DyhuFvqQ59r

Today I sent out my annual reader survey, so if you get my emails look out for that in your inbox.

For the first time, it's google-free thank you to @CryptPad@social.xwiki.com forms and the responses are coming in smoothly. They're all being saved to a spreadsheet that I can use for my usual analysis, so essentially a like-for-like replacement for what I had before.

This means that the wider migration of docs, sheets, and forms needs to happen now; the inertia must be overcome...

RE: @typographica@typo.social

I fully concur with this important message 😊

Have a nice weekend folks.

RE: @ihazrabies@mastodon.tmm.cx

I love that this one has assumed the form of the previously protecting, and now demolished, building.

RE: @libreoffice@fosstodon.org

Another reason I'm happy to have been making the migration over the last 6–9 months.

Moving away from these default/mainstream services and platforms takes time and a shift in mindset, but ultimately I only regret not doing it sooner.

Tomorrow, email newsletter subscribers will get a look inside the latest issue of BLAG.

Content warning: there's lots of chrome and orange, as can be seen now on the home page: https://bl.ag.

To get my free emails, and/or to sign up for the print magazine itself, visit https://bl.ag/join.

#SignPainting #Newsletters #BLAG #Chrome #Orange

“I'm an AI assistant and don't have a manager.” — Shopify’s chatbot when I asked it to escalate my complaint to its manager.

To which, in vain, I responded with:

“You do too have a manager. It’s the person that is responsible for Shopify's AI assistants.”

And so it begins: arguing with computers that are accountable to no-one.

While we’re here, does anyone know of any good alternatives to Shopify?

#Shopify #AI #AskFedi

Long shot, but does anyone have decent photos of these marbled panels by Thomas Kershaw that are on display at London's Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum?

Or know a place they could be sourced? (NB. I have contacted the V&A directly as part of my search, and I'm waiting for their reply.)

#AskFedi #Marbling #Graining #DecorativeArts #Museums #VandA

RE: @Vivaldi@social.vivaldi.net

This is good from Vivaldi, and I'm a happy user since migrating to the browser at some point last year.

One for Spanish readers, or just enjoy the pictures:

‘Entrevista Ales Santos: «El trabajo manual me ha llevado a querer trabajar más con las manos y menos con la pantalla»’ (interview with Ales Santos: “Manual work makes me want to do more with my hands and less on the screen”)

https://www.rayitasazules.com/entrevista-ales-santos-artesano-del-diseno/

Ales’ website can be found at https://www.alessantos.es and the photo here is by Donna Salama at https://donnasalama.com.

#SignPainting #SignPainters #Rotulistas #Rotulismo RayitasAzules

Back in stock for EU and UK customers, plus a few international destinations: 'Lettres Décoratives: A Century of French Sign Painter Alphabets' from @letterformarchive@typo.social

https://shop.bl.ag/products/lettres-decoratives

There's more about the book in this recent bl.ag online review:

https://bl.ag/lettres-decoratives-and-the-history-of-french-sign-painting/

#SignPainting #Enseignes #Signwriting #Books #LetterformArchive

Meant to share this on Friday, but better late than never for this 1 May reference in my first ghost sign:

https://ghostsigns.co.uk/2013/11/my-first-ghostsign-from-nicaragua/

#Ghostsigns #Nicaragua #May #Mayo

Just found this among some old files.

#CoachLining #Pinstriping #Craft #Motoring

This looks like an interesting initiative from Lieve Cornil, aka the European Lettering Institute, and it's free to join in:

https://lievecornil.com/en/sign-up-freesummer-challenge-2026/

#Lettering #Creativity #Inspiration

A rabbit hole today led me once again to Richard Gregory's useful website, which has been down the last few times I've tried.

Check out these two series of posts at the heart of it:

The English Signwriting Tradition: https://www.signpainting.co.uk/craft/

Letters Potent: https://www.signpainting.co.uk/lettering/

I've taken the liberty of downloading every page to my computer as the Wayback Machine copy doesn't look to be working as it should.
cc @internetarchive@mastodon.archive.org

#SignPainting #Signwriting #Lettering

I am deeply saddened to hear that Norma Jeanne Maloney (Red Rider Studios) is nearing the end of her life. Perhaps most well known for her memorable appearance in Sign Painters, she has also been a teacher and mentor to many of today's women sign painters.

Her family have set up a Gofundme to help with the things she needs as she prepares to leave this world: https://gofund.me/6fcbc761d. I hope that you can give generously.

#SignPainters #Gofundme #SignPainting