No Loitering, Smoking or Sitting on the Steps…

As bad boy urban artists there’s not much that stands in our way, especially not some passive aggressive sign trying to tell us what not to do. No loitering, no smoking or sitting on the steps. No one tells us what not to do. Take THAT sign. 

We make those kinds of rules up ourselves. And then break them anyway. That’s just the id-iom way.  

Cheers

id-iom

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Caution!

I’m cautiously hoping it might well be about time we can dig our sign and ladder out and put them to some use as we get back to some sort of wall painting normality. It’s been fun painting my garden wall over lockdown and i’m sure there’s probably more to go but it would be good to spread the love and get to know some new walls too. Here’s to hoping…

Cheers

id-iom

Celebrity Quote – Chris Martin

It’s been a long while since we’ve delved into the murky world of celebrity quotes. Today we’ve got Coldplay front man Chris Martin with, what I think we can all agree, is a pretty odd quote. 

It  both shows his awareness of his popularity with a certain segment of the population whilst simultaneously showing disdain for the other part of the population that would like to shake him by the hand – assumably for bringing his music to the world rather than because they have a taser concealed in their palm. Gloves or helmet? What a modern dilemma. Who knows? If I were you Chris I’d go belt and braces and wear them both…

Love

id-iom

Art samaritan foiled…

It’s typical isn’t it? I try and do something genuinely nice and the world conspires to deny my effort. There I was walking down the street when I happened upon what must be in the ranking for worst sign in the world. There is so much wrong with it that I don’t know where to start – damaged, dirty and illegible to begin with.

I felt a sign like that was doing any business more harm than good so decided to engage in a little guerilla marketing and upgrade their signage for them.

I’d designed their uncommissioned new signage and got as far as looking for a local printer when I realised they’d removed their on street display. Maybe they’re just psychic and don’t want anything to do with my garish redesign. Or perhaps they’d realised the sign’s nefarious potential as it was. Who knows? That’ll teach me anyway.

Love

id-iom#

Make them smile!/Sphere no.9

I’ve got my hands on some wooden panels and since they’ve got 2 paintable sides I thought that I may as well go ahead and do just that and get some more double sided pieces on the go. Behold the first creation.

Side one features a new demotivational piece – ‘Make them smile’ and some snazzy colour fades.

Side 2 features a mysterious sphere floating serenely above some yellow and red flower like devices. What is it doing? Your guess is as good as mine…

What more could you want? It’s on a 60 x 40cm wooden board and is made using the magic of spraypaint, stencils and imagination. Drop us a line if interested.

Cheers

id-iom

My way or the highway

We were asked to paint up a sign that had ‘North Pole’ on it and was clearly part of some winter wonderland set in a previous life. We know not why. We were given no brief other than to give it a lick of paint. After sitting around thinking what to do for a while ‘My way or the highway’ is the somewhat inevitable result. I wish it well in it’s new incarnation wherever it ends up. Godspeed my odd little signpost…

Cheers

id-iom

Other People’s Graffiti (Ju Jitsu car park edition)

I’d love to have thought this was an actual bit of street art but, alas, I think it’s just a weird sign. I still thought it deserved a spot in ‘Other People’s Graffiti’ though for the mental image it creates. A ju jitsu car park? A car park in which one must perform in a series of ju jitsu fights in order to win the right to park? Or one in which you may park freely but ju jitsu trained warriors will perhaps jump you on your way to the ticket machine? I’m confused. You’ll be happy to learn we didn’t have the car with us at this point. Things could have got ugly.

Cheers

id-iom

Other people’s graffiti – Brixton

In our occasional but continuing series of other people’s graffiti here’s a lovely shot of a ghost sign on the side of a building in Brixton advertising some long gone menswear brands (including classic British sportswear brand Bukta). It’s difficult to explain exactly what it is about ghost signs that I love the most – the fact that they’re even still there, the fact that they’re like kind of weird snapshot of the past or the fact that they’re blatant graffiti that most people don’t even notice exist. Probably all of the above plus I love the fact they’re usually a little grimy too. Perfection.

Cheers

id-iom

Nothing to see here

Ah, the joys of waiting for a train in the cold. At least I had my little Dymo with me to amuse myself with whilst enduring freezing temperatures and a mystery 15 minute addition to the train’s due time. Anyway I decided to the furnish the sign with a sassy little addendum to show the sign is fed up of being stared at by soulless London commuters all day and needs a little time to himself. I can only wish him the best on his voyage of self  discovery and hope the little addition does the trick…

Cheers

id-iom

Please No Dumping

Here we have Gerald. Although Gerald looks quite smart in his shirt, tie, trousers and spiffy white shoes he is, in fact, an absolute rapscallion. He’s not to be trusted further than you can throw him. If you give him the benefit of the doubt, just once, he’ll have your pants off you before you know it. And not in a good way either, just a straight up steal.

Here he is waiting in some less than salubrious area for one of his ‘associates’. I didn’t hang around long enough to find out who – but that was probably for the best. How do I happen to know Gerald I hear you ask? Well, knowing someone like this is a double edged sword but on more than one occasion he’s proved his worth. He knows a few useful people. Let’s just leave it at that…

Cheers

id-iom

Title: Please No Dumping
Materials: Paint pen, acrylic, pencil, spray paint and charcoal on found street sign
Please email if interested

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