BLAG's Top Ten Adventures in Sign Painting for 2024
2024 was my second full calendar year working on BLAG, having launched in April 2022. It's now six issues in (BLAG 06 ships in January), and things like the shop are now well-established, while BLAG Meet has become a staple for each issue. I continue to experiment with the BLAG Forum as a private space for members away from social media, but know that there is more potential to be realised there.
All of this is made possible by those that pay for my work, and I'm happy to have welcomed around 100 new members over the last twelve months. I'm looking forward to the next year, and continuing to steadily grow and connect the community through the publication.
Top Ten 2024
The bl.ag online site now has well in excess of 200 articles and features straddling a broad range of sign painting and lettering topics. Just like 2022 and 2023, I've worked through the analytics to identify the ten most popular across the calendar year. Strictly, this should include pieces relating to BLAG back issues, but I've omitted these to keep the focus on stand-alone articles.
However, I have included the three articles that made it two years running in the Top Ten, while Larry Stammer's piece for 'lefties' is the only piece to make three successive appearances in the extended Top Twenty: go lefties!
It's been a pleasure to publish a variety of new contributors this year, and these are represented in the Top Ten below, which is once again dominated by the Learning and People categories. While some of the other categories might not feature, I will continue to maintain the breadth of what's published, as well as the international focus; both are important to me and what I'm doing with the publication.
So, without further ado, here are the top ten bl.ag online articles for 2024, in reverse order...
10. Doc Guthrie: A Tribute
Few have made a greater impact on contemporary sign painting than Doc Guthrie, and this extended tribute tells his story. (In fact, that influence is felt in this Top Ten, with two of the articles penned by LATTC alumni.)
9. Tips for Left-Handed Sign Painters from Larry Stammers
Larry's timeless article proves left-handedness should be no barrier to becoming a sign painter, provided you learn how to mitigate against some of the challenges it presents.
8. Meet Earl Phillips: Cleveland's Greatest Living Sign Painter
Some sign painters become an institution in their locale, none more so than Earl Phillips, whose story is captured in a wonderful biopic.
7. Getting Into It: Sign Painters' Stories Around the World
There's no single route into the trade these days, and Lauren Kerbel's piece profiles the journeys of six different sign painters around the world.
6. Ye Olde Sign Shoppe: George Biles, King of Signwriters
The stories of individual sign painters and sign shops are a personal favourite of mine, and the account of George Biles' life and work was a very special one to work on.
5. How to Prepare MDO Plywood for Sign Painting
Agustin McCord's step-by-step is once again in the Top Ten, up from eighth place last year. (The latest on his blog is 'Repainting a Sand Blasted Sign'.)
4. Where Can I Learn the Craft of Sign Painting?
This guide to ways to learn the craft includes listings of regular workshop providers around the world. The 'Events Roundup' email list is then where I share details of other events of note.
3. The Basics of Letter Shades: Left, Right, Up and Down
Erwin Indrawan's guide continues to prove most useful, explaining the fundamentals of letter shades in a clear and accessible way.
2. Why Lead Paint Makes Signs Last: A Toxic Legacy
After years of seeking an explanation for this phenomenon, Jill Strong answered the call with this extended feature on the legacy of lead.
1. Intro to Foundational Sign Painting Strokes: The Gothic Alphabet
And top spot in this year's list of the most popular bl.ag online articles goes to Jenna Homen's guide to the strokes of the Gothic alphabet.
Make it a Top 20
And, as a small bonus, here are the articles that came in places 11–20.
11. Enjoy a Free Fileteado Porteño Lesson from Gustavo Ferrari
12. Meet the Letterheads: Keeping the Craft Alive
13. Reflections on the Impact of Sign Painters, Ten Years Later
14. Bringing a Gilded Victorian Transom Window Back to Life
15. The Apprentice: Colossal Style
16. Marketing Without Social Media: Advice for Your Creative Business
17. Peeling Back the Layers of Chrystel Crickx's Typographic Legacy
18. An Origin Story of Sorts: Better Letters
19. 60 Years On the Brush: The Barker Signs Story
20. An Introduction to Quick Showcard Lettering, Norwegian Style
Here are the Top Ten lists from 2022 and 2023, with even more inspiration from the articles and features at bl.ag online.