BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 is set to be a marathon with 18 sessions across 11 hours on Saturday, 2 March.
Visit https://bl.ag/meet for details of this online event.
It's all offered free of charge to broaden access, but for those that can, a suggested $10 contribution to the running costs is appreciated: https://bl.ag/tip.
Please #Boost to help reach more people that might like to indulge in these adventures in sign painting.
Realised I should probably do these as a BLAG Meet-themed thread, so reposting link here about Dr Amy Goodwin's talk about the fairground painters: https://typo.social/@blag/111940125408455717
This will include new material from Fred Fowle that has been received by the Fairground Heritage Trust; which offers an excuse to share this wonderful BBC segment about him.
And there's even more here: https://bl.ag/our-business-is-fun-with-fred-fowle/
Attached: 1 image On 2 March, at BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet), Dr Amy Goodwin shares her research into the fairground painters, past and present. This visual talk will include some of the works the Fairground Heritage Trust have in their collection — including, lettering which manipulates spatial depth and signs influenced by the cartoon industry — and discuss the impact the past has had on the fairground painters of today. More at https://bl.ag/meet #signpainting #lettering #fairgroundart
Window Splashes vs Sign Painting with Scot Campbell is one of the sessions at BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 on 2 March: https://bl.ag/meet.
Scot is a window splash specialist, and he will explore the important differences between this type of work and 'regular' sign painting.
The session will be held in conversation with me, Sam at BLAG, and open to questions from attendees, so be ready with your window splash queries.
India Street Lettering: A Typographic Archive in the Making with Pooja Saxena @matratype is one of the sessions at BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 on 2 March:
In a free-wheeling talk set against the backdrop of striking images from her archive — India Street Lettering — Pooja will share its story, the methods and perspectives she employs to make meaning from her collection, and the many enquiries and dialogues it helps initiate.
'Shared Signs': The Value of Traditional Signs for Local Businesses with Nico Barrios is one of the sessions at BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 on 2 March.
Nico will reflect on his participation in the Rótulos Compartidos ('shared signs') project, and talk about the importance and value of hand-painted signs for local businesses. And how to convey this to potential customers.
Nico's session is one of 18 across 11 hours, all online and free to join.
Fileteado Frames & Corners with Gustavo Ferrari is one of the sessions at BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 on 2 March.
In this illustrated talk, Gustavo will go deeper into the frames and corners from his most recent 'Secrets of Fileteado Porteño' column, showing examples from his own work and past masters.
Gustavo's session is one of 18 across 11 hours, all online and free to join.
For more Fileteado Porteño: https://bl.ag/learnfileteado
Learn what goes into hosting a Letterheads meet with Francois Tusseki at next week's BLAG Meet: https://bl.ag/meet.
Francois will share what he learned from the huge success that was last year's Benelux Letterheads — see https://bl.ag/benelux for a review — and will answer questions from the (virtual) floor.
This session is one of 18 across 11 hours, all online and free to join.
And remember: IOAFS.
Portrait cropped from original by Ben Boisacq, ACHROMAT.
🍻 Fancy a pint? Well, it is Friday after all!
Next weekend at BLAG Meet, join Hana Sunny Whaler at the virtual boozer to learn about her signwriting work for pub clients. And the opportunities that these customers offer.
This will all be put into context by a look back at the long tradition of British pub signs.
Hana's session is one of 18 across 11 hours, all online and free to join. Bring your own beers😉
Sign up and join us via https://bl.ag/meet
Milwaukee Transit Passes with @stewf is happening at BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04 on 2 March: https://bl.ag/meet.
Stephen will be sharing @letterformarchive's remarkable collection of Milwaukee Transit passes from the 1930s–60s, picking out some favourites, and discussing their design and lettering characteristics.
You can watch Stephen's previous BLAG Meet appearance with @Keltroughton sharing delights from the Ross F. George Speedball collection at https://bl.ag/03.
Painting Signs, But Not as You Might Think with Katy V. Meehan is happening next Saturday at BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 04: https://bl.ag/meet.
Katy V. Meehan is a sign and lettering artist of a different sort: she uses ink and paper to commemorate and memorialise her favourite vintage American signs.
Join her as she talks about how she came to this point, with a look at select pieces from her portfolio. You'll also hear about her process, methods, materials, and muses.
On Saturday in Los Angeles there will be an art giveaway at Oh Nami Gallery.
The work was produced by the late, great, Doc Guthrie (https://bl.ag/doc), and 100% of the donation-based proceeds will go to charity.
The event is on the same day as BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet) and Nami Oh will join us via a pre-recorded video sharing the experience of opening a gallery, and some of its current activities, including the Doc Guthrie giveaway.
I've just finished working with Alice Mazzilli on her next 'Interowriting' column for BLAG, the fifth in her 'adventures in writing' series.
Alice will also be delivering a session at Saturday's BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet), exploring the theme of handwriting, and its contemporary relevance in the ‘digital era’.
And you can join her while she writes; just have lined paper and your favourite writing instrument to hand.
#writing #handwriting #calligraphy #calligrapher #writer #lettering
Jennifer Konanz is joining us this weekend for BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet). She has been a mentor to many young sign painters, and in her session she'll be sharing her experience to cover:
How to survive and thrive as a sign painter in a remote part of the world.
How to expand your services while keeping it all hand made?
How to adapt your business as you grow a family?
Jen was profiled in 'Shop Talk in BLAG 04: https://bl.ag/04.
The Light Capsules initiative from Craig Winslow had me hooked from the moment I saw it.
Craig's latest installation in Winnipeg was the 'Ghost Sign Corner' feature in BLAG 04 (https://bl.ag/04) and he will be sharing a little of that at this weekend's BLAG Meet, before diving into some of his process, and what's in the pipeline for future installations.
Craig's session is one of 18 across 11 hours, all online and free to join: https://bl.ag/meet.
What's it like opening a sign shop with a high street presence, and a shopfront of your very own?
Find out tomorrow at BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet) from two people that have recently done just that: Rachel E Millar and Hana Lindsay, the duo behind Glasgow's Bungo Sign Co.
Hana and Rachel are just two of the many contributors to BLAG Meet, which kicks off online tomorrow at 11am London time. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T4siNqR7R1S-LUPNeikB_Q#/registration.
'Getting Into It' is becoming a regular feature at BLAG, and tomorrow Tomos Jones will share his whirlwind journey from seeing a bit of signwriting on instagram to working all over the UK, and with some top-notch craftspeople.
Tomos' session is one of 18 across 11 hours, all online and free to join: https://bl.ag/meet.
Pictured is a Tomos' project for the the Welsh town with the second longest place name in the world: #Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
A BLAG Meet bonus: I've just added a session with Kathy Kikkert who will be taking us for a walk through Hollywood's sign history. These iconic signs have fascinating back stories, and Kathy will tell some of those from her book, Hollywoood Signs.
Head to https://bl.ag/meet for details of all the sessions and a timezone converter to get the start times wherever you are in the world.
Just five hours to go until it all kicks off—I cannot wait!
And for my final BLAG Meet announcement, I'm excited to hear from Alex Perry at Right Way Signs in his session 'The Business of Signs'. In this, he'll be sharing what he and his dad Ches have learned about building a creatively and commercially successful sign business in Chicago.
BLAG Meet is happening online today, and is free to attend for some/all of the sessions. Visit https://bl.ag/meet for the full line-up and I hope to 'see' you there.
Hosting online events is curious in that it's harder to gauge how they're being received by the audience. So it's always nice to receive messages like this one from Rich Tabor following the weekend's BLAG Meet.
Thank you to everyone that contributed, including @matratype and @stewf on here.
I hope to be able to share recordings in the coming weeks/months, and more good news is that Amy Goodwin will deliver her session, The Fairground Painters, on 9 May: https://bl.ag/events.
Sam at BLAG
