BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & Culture

Join BLAG (Better Letters Magazine) for a free weekly dose of our global adventures in sign painting craft, community and culture.

Issue 08 (pictured) ships to new members with back issues available in the shop.

Magazine cover with a person painting flamboyant lettering under the masthead. It’s set on a poster of the same lettering.

Curved side panel from a Waltzer fairground ride, lettered and flamboyantly decorated in bright colours and metal leaf.

The BLAG 08 Digital Companion

Bonus content from the adventures in sign painting in Issue 08 of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine).

Magazine cover with a person painting flamboyant lettering under the masthead. It’s set on a poster of the same lettering.

What’s Inside Issue 08 of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine)?

Between the covers of the worldwide adventures in sign painting from Issue 08 of BLAG.

Joe Farrugia: Keeping Malta’s ‘Tberfil’ Artform on the Road

Joe Farrugia: Keeping Malta’s ‘Tberfil’ Artform on the Road

Meet the last Maltese painter applying the Tberfil decorative style to vehicles of all kinds.

Getting Into It Again in 2026

Getting Into It Again in 2026

Six sign painters share their journeys into the trade and their advice for those just starting out.

Woman painting the colour purple on a portion of a wall with other portions already painted in red and white.

Risen Through the Ranks: Colossal Media’s Supreme Janine

Janine Taylor is the first woman to progress from Apprentice to Expert Painter at Colossal Media.

Ornate Tuscan letter L with its face and block shade decorated with a variety of gilded and painted effects..

Glorious Gilding Samples at the American Sign Museum

A show of mastery on reverse glass gilded panels from the American Sign Museum’s collections.

Words with Meaning: The Personal Panels of Luis Benz

Words with Meaning: The Personal Panels of Luis Benz

Santiago Carrasquilla and Danaé Gosset share the work painted by Luis Benz while filming his biopic.

Man sat on a stool painting a sign advertising "Money Fever, Divas Edition, at Spicy Thursdays HQ."

When ‘Hand-Painted Jamaica’ Met Bug Art Sav

Tracey Thorne profiles Bug Art Sav, a Jamaican sign painter keeping the island’s traditions alive.

Mural with block and shade lettering for 'Me Aul Flower' set within an array of pale pink flowers.

Chain Letter: Meghan McDermott

The Dublin mural by Vanessa Power that inspired Meghan McDermott to become a sign painter.

When Better Letters Met Brian Walker

When Better Letters Met Brian Walker

Short film celebrating the late Brian Walker's life and work as a signwriter in Hackney, London.

Wide-angle photo of a museum gallery space filled with brightly coloured neon signs.

Bring Back Tucson's Sign Museum After Its Devastating Fire

Fundraising for the Ignite Sign Art Museum in Tucson, Arizona, which has lost hundreds of exhibits.

Hooded sign painter on a ladder working on a fascia sign on a busy road.

Renegade Writing: London’s Faux Fascias

This Is My Costume speaks to BLAG about its decade-long initiative refashioning abandoned shops.

A Sneak Peek Inside the American Sign Museum Book

A Sneak Peek Inside the American Sign Museum Book

Celebrating 25 years of the American Sign Museum through the lens of its most important exhibits.

Mobile Masterpieces: South Asia's Dazzling ‘Trucks and Tuks’

A new book documents the diverse decorations found on working vehicles from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka.

Series of five illustrations showing hand-position and technique for working with a mahl stick while painting lettering and lines.

The Mike Stevens Journal, Volume 1, Number 5

Mastering Layout's Mike Stevens riffing on brush technique, letter formation, and mahl sticks.

Woman standing in front of a hand-drawn and lettered blackboard advertising a variety of colourful cocktails.

Watch Cheryl McLean's Blackboard Art Seminar from LH50

Blackboard art tips, tricks, and techniques shared in a pre-recorded session for Letterheads 50.

The Letterheads Go Large at the 1982 Oklahoma Bash

The Letterheads Go Large at the 1982 Oklahoma Bash

43 years later, host Mike Jackson reflects on a meet that redefined what a Letterheads could be.

View from the side of a woman working with a mahl stick and fine brush to paint lettering on the back of a piece of glass.

The Pre-Vinylettes Podcast and More Burds on the Brush

Bonus content from Meredith Kasabian's BLAG 07 feature on women, trans, and nonbinary sign painters.