Over the past few years Alistair has researched, visited and photographed sites all over the capital city, documenting and creating an archive of street name plates. London has an amazingly rich collection of these wayfinding signs which stretch back through the centuries. The beauty is that because the signs were never erected by a single authority or been updated at a particular time, they
comprise a rich treasury of graphic form and typography, which Alistair has carefully and considerately mined.
Click on images to enlarge |
‘Mr Hall writes in an informative way about an unexpectedly fascinating topic. He has a good eye for serifs and unusual embellishments, such as the “delicately rendered manicule” on a sign on Addison Road, W14.’ The Times Literary Supplement
‘Everything I hoped it would be, nerdy and engrossing in all the right ways.’ Professor Phil Baines, Typography Professor at Central Saint Martins
Alistair Hall runs his own studio We Made This, he lectures at The Cass and CSM and is also art director of children’s literacy charity Ministry of Stories and its fantastical shop, Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.
London Street Signs is published by Batsford, which is an imprint of Pavilion Books and I'm sure they have a sure hit with this book. Congratulations to Alistair on the publication of his first title, I'm sure there will be more to come!
This 192pp hardback book is available from all good bookshops (Foyles, Waterstones, WH Smith etc.) at very reasonable prices or you can buy direct HERE.
https://www.pavilionbooks.com/book/london-street-signs/
http://www.wemadethis.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 03.09.2020