The mystery behind Glasgow’s fake street signs

A self-proclaimed guerrilla artist is covering Glasgow in parody street signs in a bid to get people to look up from their phones and pay attention to the city around them.

The anonymous artist, known as ‘A Sign of Humour’, has placed his spoof signs close to Glaswegian landmarks such as the Finnieston crane and the Barrowland Ballroom.

He says the main goal is to spark joy but the project began in response to what he saw as a lack of appreciation for Glasgow and its surroundings.

The artist says that his children are the only people who know his signmaking secret.

“The kids know because I will run designs past them to get their opinions and things but they’re very much under secrecy not to tell people about it,” he says.

“If it’s done anonymously then it’s about the sign, it kind of adds to the fun.”

Glasgow’s history of street art and murals goes back decades.

The city recently hosted the first exhibition of graffiti artist Banksy.

‘A Sign of Humour’ admires Banksy but insists his own work is different.

“I don’t shy away from politics”, he says.

“It’s just not quite what I want to be doing with this project.”

“The focus is on fun,” he says.

“If I can make somebody having a bad day see something, laugh, and improve their day then that’s good.”

Using cable ties for quick installation and easy removal, the signs are made by painting plywood before printing and applying custom vinyl stickers.

The materials are chosen to be recyclable and reusable, he says.

“Nothing is permanent, it’s all designed to be temporary, to be easily removed, or dealt with.”

The artist prefers to put up signs in the middle of the day, blending in rather than standing out.

“Too many people are walking around not just looking at their phones, they’re looking lost and not taking the world in around them,” he says.

“It’s amazing how often you can have a sign – that’s quite a bizarre sign if you actually notice – and people just don’t notice it, they don’t take it in.”

“It’s the major motivation behind the project”.

“There’s so much going on in the world that it’s very easy to just get stuck in that rut and get stuck in your own little bubble because it feels safer,” he says.

“We’re just bombarded with bad news constantly so having something that’s different makes people realise that the world around them isn’t all bad, it can be quite funny and amusing as well.

“I think it just contributes to the wellbeing of society,” he says.

The signs are mostly in Glasgow while others are in Largs and Bonnybridge – a small village often called the UK’s UFO hotspot.

One of his favourites is beside a police box and includes Doctor Who, another warns against pterodactyl nesting at the dome-shaped cinema beside Glasgow Science Centre and the OVO Hydro arena is portrayed as a spaceship.

The artist hopes to travel to Edinburgh during the city’s festivals in August.

The artist hasn’t received any trouble while installing signs, but says he would take them down if asked.

He doesn’t consider the work to be graffiti despite the guerrilla installation in public areas.

“If it’s adding something to the street rather than detracting from it, then to me that’s where you’re crossing into line of art rather than graffiti,” he says.

The artist put signs where they won’t distract motorists, instead they are only visible in spots along rivers, quiet streets and parks for pedestrians and cyclists to stop and enjoy.

“I’m hoping that they’re carefully enough put up that they’re not going to get mistaken for real signs,” he says.

“I would also hope that if people looked at the signs and actually took notice of them, they would very quickly realise that they’re not real.”

Some of the designs have been shared widely online.

“People post photographs of them on their own feeds and I noticed that one of them on Instagram seems to have gone absolutely viral, so it’s got people from all over the world commenting on it,” he says.

But once a sign is up, the artist no longer sees it as his own.

“Once it’s out there you kind of have to let it go because it’s no longer yours, it’s there for everybody,” he says.