Hidden stories in London’s signs
Hidden in London street signs are stories waiting to be told. Their letterforms tell us these stories, which we often read on a subconscious level.
Taking a closer look at the city streets reveals how the new and preserved signs narrate three centuries of letterforms. These tell the social and cultural stories of an area with ‘secret’ clues hidden in their shapes.
The signs change as businesses come and go, areas transform, or fashions and tastes change. If you stand for a few moments in one place in a town or city and look around you will find that the letterforms on the signs combine to create a unique snapshot of the area at that specific moment in time. For a number of years I have taken people on guided ‘Type Safari’ walks through Dalston in East London, and the one guarantee is that there will always be change. Sometimes a new sign appears and it is difficult to remember what was there before, other times I feel a heart-wrenching sadness when a favourite vanishes without warning. The Mockingbird tapas bar sign was hand painted by Peter Hardwicke, but now all that remains of the letters are the slightly raised edges as if embossed into the new layer of paint that now covers them.
