Stickers, stickers, stickers filling the pages of this G . F Smith Colorplan sampler.
Sign painters love stickers, and so do I. However, the collector in me always struggled with peeling them off to use on things that are ‘less-than-permanent’ such as laptops.
Surprisingly, I’m still getting some limited use from my 2008 laptop (left) as it still has a DVD drive. On the right is the cover of a photo album that’s full of sign and sign painting-themed postcards. The stickers are all from around 2018–19 and those are all I have left from London Calling.
This sticker ‘problem’ lurked in my subconscious until we started getting ready for the move to Spain in 2019. In the process, I picked up the beautiful G . F Smith book below that showcases their Colorplan paper range. It was a originally a gift from Paul Antonio and had sat on my shelf for the best part of five years because it was simply too nice to use as a regular notebook. Holding it once again, the stars aligned and my sticker album idea was born.
Paul Antonio also wrote my name on the first page.
For the last seven years I’ve been filling the pages of the book with what is now a collection of over 400 stickers, mostly for sign painters. (Yes, I’m just a fan boy really!) When I have doubles, the extras go onto my bike, which was another place I used to put stickers before the album.
This was originally a bright red 2007 Specialized bike which I ‘roughed up’ to reduce the risk of theft in London. It is now canvas to duplicate stickers.
Here’s the current status of the album, from start to finish. I hope you spot a few familiar names along the way...
Some vintage Better Letters stickers, including Mike Meyer casting us as famed bagel makers, the Einstein Bros.I must have had some spare stickers from Tokyo Letterheads as these appear on both the photo album above and in the opening pages of my sticker album. There’s then the collection of stickers collected at the 2019 Porto Letterheads. Also on this spread are Letterboy (Tokyo Letterheads host), A.S. Handover, and Xesta Studio.‘Fearless’ by Halfstudio (check out their BLAG Meet talk) and three from Joan Quiros (continued below).More from Joan Quiros and ‘Support Your Local Sign Painter’ from Regarfix.More vintage Better Letters, Mike Meyer pieces for the 2019 New Zealand Letterheads, and the first of a few appearances from Tozer Signs. The address label is one that I made after receiving a beautifully written letter from Alice Mazzilli, but please don’t send any stickers there as I’ve moved twice since!
These were sent to me from Switzerland by Metro Gustavo during the heat of first summer of the pandemic in 2020.
Another from Metro Gustavo and a set of five from Brush & Leaf.Fem Ribes (we make Ribes) is the local business association in my adopted town of Sant Pere de Ribes. These were part of their ‘shop local’ campaign during the pandemic. Sandwiched between them on the left page are stickers for Red Truck Company and printers Done London. On the right are the first of some from Jaws Graffiti, which continue overleaf.More Jaws Graffiti (left) and then two each from Francois Tusseki and Studio Miras from the 2021 Barcelona Letterheads.Moving into 2022, this sticker pack was received from Likemind Design.The Pink Panther makes a few appearances in the album, including these three from Pink Painter. Below those are one for a music shop in Barcelona and a couple of fruit stickers, but it looks like I decided against continuing to collect those. Then, on the right, are the first of a few entries from Rachel E Millar, including the first Burds of the Brush artwork from the meet in 2022.Two from the George Kirby Jr. Paint Co., Mek Summat featuring Jenna Greenwood, my first ever BLAG sticker experiment, and ‘Chop It’ from Jahpix / Customized Magazine.From Gnarly Magazine.
More from Jahpix / Customized Magazine plus one I picked up at a coffee shop in Barcelona.
This Pink Panther and Captain Caveman double was an impulse purchase from Welsh Bridge Books & Collectibles in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, while visiting in August 2022. And Tozer’s back! Amsterdam Signpainters (also once known as Sign Painters & Co.) alongside the bullish Manning Signs.I honestly can’t remember how/why I got stickers for basketball magazine BSKT and Weird Sports, but the other pieces on this spread came from David Leutert not long after illustrating the ‘Playful Pangrams for Sign Painters’ article.More Manning Signs (left) and David Leutert.
The delivery from David Leutert actually consisted of whole sheets of stickers, many of which had holographic finishes.
Three Dapper Signs originals, kindly sent to me by Nathan Collis following the wake in 2023.
One more Dapper Signs original, ‘Sláinte’ (cheers) by Much Signs, and then a series designed by Victor Brangolo for Oedipus Brewery using variable fonts from Edgar Walthert. The last page is a Robo Font sticker and one from High on Type, both sent to me by Edgar with the brewery ones.
Final Letterheads 50 stickers from Puget Sound Signs (left), and two from the Power Tools zine (bottom right).One more Power Tools zine sticker and then the full sheet, plus bonus stickers, from Tom Vincentie, received last week.Next up is this spread (and six more after that) which I hope to have filled on my return from Letterheads 2026: Sea Level....
Thank you to everyone that has given and sent me stickers over the years. And to Paul Antonio for providing the missing piece in my puzzle. I’m looking forward to finishing up with this album and moving onto the next one. Fittingly, this has been set aside already after being given to me by sticker star Francois Tusseki, so look out for a future despatch from the pages of that one!
