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

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Sep 18, 2025 • 14 min read
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.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Aug 28, 2025 • 3 min read
The Letterheads Go Large at the 1982 Oklahoma Bash
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.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Aug 21, 2025 • 7 min read
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.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Aug 14, 2025 • 9 min read
Bonus Books and Links from BLAG 07
Books

Bonus Books and Links from BLAG 07

The first instalment of the digital companion to BLAG 07, the Letterheads special.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Aug 7, 2025 • 12 min read
Two magazines with masthead IOAFS placed on top of a folded poster which has been removed to reveal the cover on one copy of the magazine.
BLAG

What's Inside Issue 07 of BLAG, the Letterheads Special?

BLAG's first special issue applies an IOAFS twist to its worldwide adventures in sign painting.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jul 31, 2025 • 8 min read
View from the side of a woman painting a man's face on a mural with reference to a picture of him taped to the wall beside her.
Events

Letterheads 50: 28 Days Later

A historic event at the American Sign Museum through the lens of photographer Natalie Grilli.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jul 24, 2025 • 11 min read
A painted sign for a DTP shop called “ArtLife”. The name is painted in white on a green background, and a list of their services is painted in red on white.
Projects

Indian Sign Painting: A Typeface Designer’s Take on the Craft

Through her India Street Lettering project, Pooja Saxena re-examines the craft and its clichés.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jul 17, 2025 • 9 min read
Watch the Recordings from BLAG Meet Inside Issue 06
Films

Watch the Recordings from BLAG Meet Inside Issue 06

Five hours of talks, interviews, studio visits, and demonstrations from contributors to BLAG 06.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jul 10, 2025 • 3 min read
Diverse letters with yellow illumination of different forms arranged on support stands to spell 'Buchstaben'.
Places

A Final Resting Place for Letters at the Buchstabenmuseum

As the Berlin museum celebrates its 20th anniversary, the Letterforms remain the stars of the show.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jun 26, 2025 • 5 min read
Old book spread out to show a script alphabet on the left and a sign design for London's Ye Olde Curiosity Shope on the right.
Books

Bringing Back the the Coast Manual of Lettering and Designs

A Kickstarter to publish a new edition of this extremely rare antique sign painting book.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jun 19, 2025 • 3 min read
Letterheads Per L'Horta: An Intimate International Meet
Events

Letterheads Per L'Horta: An Intimate International Meet

The masses amass in Almàssera for an inspiring four days painting in the Valencian sun.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Jun 5, 2025 • 8 min read
Hand-Painted Shopfronts in Rural Uganda
Places

Hand-Painted Shopfronts in Rural Uganda

Olivia Krawczyk introduces the hand-painted signs for businesses large and small in Kumi, Uganda.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters May 22, 2025 • 6 min read
Man sitting on a stool in an artistic workshop setting, smiling and holding a magazine with 'BLAG' on the masthead.
BLAG

Thoughts on the 2025 BLAG Reader Survey

"An absurdly cool niche publication" and more feedback from the third annual BLAG reader survey.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters May 15, 2025 • 6 min read
Brush Up Your Single-Stroke Skills at Letterboy's Block Party
Learning

Brush Up Your Single-Stroke Skills at Letterboy's Block Party

Review and sample video from the new online course and community, Block Lettering with a Brush.

Jenna Homen May 1, 2025 • 5 min read
Painted scene of a mill and cottage by a river, overlaid with text that reads "We are not superstitious but we believe in signs".
History

“We Are Not Superstitious, But We Believe in Signs”

The Gawthorp sign firm in Leeds were renowned in the trade at the turn of the twentieth century.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Apr 24, 2025 • 5 min read
Painted and gilded panel with a cowboy pictured saying "Welcome Back To" above the main lettering that reads "El Dorado".
Events

A Golden Opportunity to Learn at the Return to El Dorado

Ghi Sign Service resumes its gilding-themed Letterheads meets following their pandemic postponement.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Apr 17, 2025 • 5 min read
Woman sandwiched between two sheets of painted plywood, and painting Mr. Plywood's face onto one of these.
Projects

Mr. Plywood Stands Proud Again: Recreating a Portland Icon

Kirsten Bauer and Alina Radetsky collaborate to replace a celebrity sign of 60 years' standing.

  • Better Letters
Better Letters Apr 3, 2025 • 5 min read
BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & Culture © 2026
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