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Signpainter Documentary
When Better Letters met ... Josef Samuel, Vienna’s Last Signpainter
Vienna-based graphic designer Tom Koch teamed up with Better Letters to produce the second in their series of biopics about veteran sign painters. This short film celebrates the life and times of Vienna’s last sign painter, Josef Samuel.
Stoke Newington
The secret of the Gravestones at Abney Park
At Abney Park Cemetery, subtle details emerge upon closer inspection of the gravestones. The lettering, in particular, appears almost as if it had been applied to the surface, bearing a striking resemblance to letterpress printing plates in both form and presence.
Amsterdam’s Krulletters
Letters and Lager
They belong to Amsterdam much as pubs belong to London: bruin cafés—intimate, traditional establishments frequented by locals and, for the most part, still largely untouched by gentrification and the excesses of tourism. What unites these cafés, beyond their preserved local character, are the often playful letterings at their entrances, known as krulletters.
A (virtuell) walk to Vienna’s gilded Signs
Vienna, Gilded
Pallas Athena, the Secession, the Plague Column—Vienna has never been sparing in its use of gilding on architectural landmarks. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the gilded shopfronts and commercial portals that came into vogue around the turn of the twentieth century, and which played a formative role in establishing Vienna’s reputation as a centre of sign painting.
A vistit to (the original) Hallstatt
Hand-painted skulls in Hallstatt’s charnel house
Hallstatt was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. In recent years, the village has come to exemplify the phenomenon of overtourism: despite a resident population of approximately 750, it has recorded up to 900,000 visits annually. Following the construction of a full-scale replica near Hong Kong in 2012, interest—particularly among Chinese visitors—has increased markedly. In May 2020, however, this dynamic was temporarily suspended. Owing to the Covid-19 lockdown, Hallstatt appeared almost entirely deserted.
Chinatown on the Eve of the Pandemic
Chinese New Year
Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown, is in itself a visual challenge. Yet as the turn of the year approaches, the already dense interplay of Chinese, Thai, and English scripts acquires an additional layer: the red-and-gold aura of the Chinese New Year begins to cast its glow.