One of the nice things about our new studio/office is these cabinets flanking the entranceway.

Today I had a go at making a little display in one of them.

Things you forget about in the excitement of adding 60% to the regular pagination of your magazine:

1. That's 60% more proofing in layout!

2. It'll be a much longer day on press in May.

But it's looking fabulous — even if I do say so myself — helped in no small part by the complete absence of advertising. That's thanks to BLAG members

PS. Pre-orders for this special issue of BLAG close this coming Monday: https://bl.ag/07.

Back in the Rijksmuseum Research Library (aka Cuypersbibliotheek) to have another look at the lettering book with alphabets by J. Weenink, 1843. Manuscript, no printed copy of it known. Weenink (1797-1879) was an Amsterdam letter- and decorative painter. Coll. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
#RijksmuseumLibrary #letteringbooks #signpainting #signpainter #lettering

Sign from c. 1900, painted by J.W. Beekmann. Small signs like this accompanied Amsterdam laundry that was washed outside the city (in cleaner water) and bleached. Coll. Allard Pierson, UvA.
#signpainter #signpainting #allardpierson

'Ye Olde Sign Shoppe at the American Sign Museum' is the latest at bl.ag online, where I get to indulge my fetish for photos of old sign painting shops and related tangents.

https://bl.ag/ye-olde-sign-shoppe-at-the-american-sign-museum/

Pictured are the dapper fellows that once plied their trade at the Raiford Sign Co. in Houston, Texas.

Ooh look, BLAG's brilliant designers Utile Studio have a new website up and running. And the magazine is one of their case studies: https://www.utile.studio/project/blag.

Starting to do a touch of decorating in the new space, and this was one of the first things to go up.

'Measure Twice, Cut Once' by Painter Kafeel (https://bl.ag/kafeel) with a BLAG cameo from studio buddy Daniel (https://instagram.com/insertdaniels).

Kafeel's piece was the 'Wise Words' in BLAG 02 (https://bl.ag/02) and Daniel's, inspired by Costa Rica's 'carretas', made an appearance in Issue 06 (https://bl.ag/06).

That's BLAG 07 (https://bl.ag/07) despatched to the designers; next stop layouts!

This Letterheads special has taken the pagination up to 128, which could be a failure on my part as editor, or a slight to the movement's fifty years of history, depending on how you frame it.

Either way, it's going to be a visual feast, packed with great people, projects, and stories. Pre-orders remain open until 31 March in the online shop: https://shop.bl.ag.

'My Week at the American Sign Museum' is the latest at bl.ag online: https://bl.ag/my-week-at-the-american-sign-museum/.

NB. It's a long one, so grab a drink, get comfortable, and settle in for a visual feast.

Jenna Homen is first out of the blocks with her report from last week's visit to the American Sign Museum.

https://jennahomen.substack.com/p/a-look-inside-the-american-sign-museum

All being well, mine will follow on Thursday.

A while back, Kirsten Bauer discussed the topic of sign painters signing signs, and while I was at the American Sign Museum I happened across this at the end of Raymond LeBlanc's book, Gold Leaf Techniques. He refers to them as 'imprints'.

Kirsten's original post with a section on the topic is here: https://kirstenmbauer.substack.com/p/end-of-year-inventories

There was then a little follow-up in the next issue of her newsletter: https://kirstenmbauer.substack.com/p/january-blues