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

People

Getting Into It Again in 2026

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

Field Notes

Field Notes from BLAG: December 2025

Bozo Texino, gilding samples, Intarsia, an Indian ghost sign, and more from the field.

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

People

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..

Places

Glorious Gilding Samples at the American Sign Museum

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

Films

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."

People

When ‘Hand-Painted Jamaica’ Met Bug Art Sav

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

New Books and December Deliveries from the BLAG Shop

I’ve got some new titles in the BLAG Shop (see below), including the American Sign Museum book that starts shipping this week. For December deliveries, orders must be placed by 27 November with the exception of the UK which has until 11 December. New Books Doyle David Butler’s

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

People

Chain Letter: Meghan McDermott

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

Films

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.

Places

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.

Projects

Renegade Writing: London’s Faux Fascias

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

Books

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.

Field Notes

Field Notes from BLAG: October 2025

Lettering the weather, Hong Kong ghost signs, the New York Sign Museum, and more from the field.

Books

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.

Learning

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.

Learning

Watch Cheryl McLean's Blackboard Art Seminar from LH50

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

Events

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.

People

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.