Last Saturday I went along the "Birmingham Graphic DNA" walk as part of the Still Walking Festival (http://stillwalking.org). Originally the walk was supposed to be guided by Geraldine Marshall (http://urbanlettering.wordpress.com/), however Geraldine had to cancel on short notice and Ben Waddington (http://tinyurl.com/8wylpy), a local historian, filled in to share his expertise of the local area of Digbeth with the walkers.
The images where all taken during the walk and it was truly insightful to find out more about the history and stories behind some of the typography on display in this former-industrial centre of Birmingham, which is now in many parts derelict. Some of this history is now also my history, as I used to by paints and materials from Johnstones' Paint (image above), which has left their shop a while back now and I am also driving through the area daily on the way to work. I wish I could go on walks like this everyday!
The sign above was covered up for a while by the sign of a shisha shop, however since that business has left the area, the original sign was revealed again. The sign furthermore indicates that the original house was shortened, as the sign would have originally read: Birmingham Home for Lost and Starving Dogs.
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Statement from GraphicDNA project
just to clarify Geraldine did not pull out of the walk. Still Walking were unable to negotiate appropriately an agreeable time to complete a Health and Safety walking check to lead a group around Digbeth. Although Geraldine had gone through a walk, sent an itinery and was able to offer an hour and a half that week – this was unfortunately not suitable, so Ben Waddington suggested he did it himself. Apologies for any confusion.
Geraldine will be initiating a Graphic DNA walk as part of her research. For further info on the project:
Research: http://www.typographichub.org/research/entry/graphic-dna/
Twitter: @BHamGraphicDNA
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