A book about ghostletters?
They are fleeting urban witnesses, permanently threatened by removal or by being painted over: ghostletters are generated wherever and whenever writing has left a trace after having been removed. Some of them are still visible years, even decades after removal.
Due to the fast change in lettering methods, ghostletters will, in a couple of years, have disappeared completely from urban spaces. This is why we would like to dedicate a book to them – Europe’s first publication devoted to this topic.
How will this book come into existence?
What makes this project special is that the book is currently in the creation stage. It is one of the first combined crowdsourcing and crowdfunding campaigns in Austria.
Our partner is the Wien Museum, and we use its facebook community to ’cite sites’ and to provide information on them. By end of June, when the project is completed, we hope to have a comprehensive collection of this city’s ghostletters. 100 of the most interesting or outlandish will be photographed for publication in the book.
Apart from the photos, contributions by experts such as Sam Roberts of Ghostsigns (London) or the Stadtschrift society (Vienna), as well as interviews with, inter alia, producers of signboards will provide additional insight into the fascinating world of ghostletters. The book’s presentation will take place in autumn in the Wien Museum, an event to which all supporters will be invited.
What happens with your money?
We are three enthusiasts investing hundreds of unpaid hours of private time into this project. Your support will be used to cover the book’s production costs, as well as those of the postcard edition, the poster, and the gift wrapping paper. The proceeds from the original vintage letterings we will share with the Stadtschrift society, whose work for the conservation of this city’s beautiful characters we greatly admire.
If our financing goal is surpassed, we will – should it be financially feasible – make a small dream come true and integrate detachable postcards into the book. In this manner, all of us will profit.
Portrait mit Ghostlettern deiner Wahl 
Vintage-Schriftzug als Leihgabe für dein Büro oder Wohnzimmer 
Vintage-Schriftzug als Leihgabe für dein Büro oder Wohnzimmer 
Vintage-Schriftzug als Leihgabe für dein Büro oder Wohnzimmer 
What’s your reward?
We have devised many things to reward our supporters. Apart from the book itself, there is to be a postcard edition, posters, and much more. If you would like something a bit more personal, you can have yourself photographed with the ghostletters of your choice, or decorate your office or living room with vintage lettering from the Stadtschrift society for a whole year (Sorry, Vienna only).
As a special goodie, our partner Neonline will produce bespoke neon lettering especially for you (Sorry, Vienna only). We hope that our rewards will meet your taste and purse. Just click on the button and choose the perfect gift.
How else could you help us?
Let us make the book possible
– by telling us about ghostletter sites.
– by giving us information on sites we already know about.
– by telling your friends of our project, and sharing this site.