Underground Guerrilla Signs..
My friend Darren sent me a link to these rather excellent alternative London Underground signs…
(click image above for link to original photographers blog)
Apparently they’ve been appearing for some time now, but like 99% of passengers, I’m sad to say I’ve missed them..
They’ve been done so well, that to a regular commuter, their utter familiarity as part of an accepted, everyday visual clutter, results in them becoming almost invisible, losing all meaning beyond their colour and shape..
Well it’s a lesson learnt for me. I usually pride myself on at least attempting to see beyond the day to day, and resist the automatic filters that city life can generate.
Rest assured, that I will certainly be keeping a much sharper lookout for these signs from now on… How I would’ve loved to have noticed Shepherd’s Pie, overground, Gas mark 4 on a journey into work, it would have made my day…
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Joe Blogs / JVB 
Reblogged this on The Happy Land of Absolutes.
I saw this one: https://twitter.com/vickywoollaston/status/243660119387283457/photo/1
Hi Vicky
That’s excellent… I’ve been keeping my eyes open, but so far I havn’t been lucky enought to spot any… maybe one day soon.. I may even have to make some of my own..
thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment.
Joe
Hello
check out our stickers for TopHat and Ginger. we’ve had them about a year. it could have been us that started the whole thing.
Here’s a link to a Facebook page that focusses on underground stickers 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/stickersonthecentralline?ref=stream
Stickers On The Central Line.
Hi Bugnaz
Excellent link, thanks there’s some really good ones in there.. I’m still looking for my first one..
Joe
Pure genius – and great in this jobsworth age that it’s been allowed to happen
It hasn’t. Right now killjoy jobsworths will be going around removing them in case someone laughs and upsets the very balance of the universe.
whoever is doing this – YOU’VE MADE MY DAY! soooo funny – thank you. đź€
Utterly brilliant..
:)))))
These are delightful! We’ll look out for them when we’re next on the tube.they qualify for one of my beautiful things , something that pleases me!
Wonderful, made me laugh.
too much text since US-Americans are anal-phabets
Love love love! Naughty passengers will be criuhed ;O)
Oh wow this is excellent! I must say I do study signs and everything on my journeys on the trains but haven’t had the good fortune to come across any of these as yet. I blogged about the “everyday visual clutter” and myriad of messages during the Olympics. I always wonder why Transport for London feels so insecure it has to try to brainwash us into submission…but then, I suppose these signs say it all!
Thanks for sharing, I’m going to be keeping a closer eye from now on! đź›
Reminds me of the old Graffiti classics from the 70’s. My fave back then was on a Reed Employment Agency poster that advertised “Accounting For Women”, to which a genius had appended, “There’s no accounting for women”.
Ha Robert that is brilliant. My favourite was a slogan on a roundabout in Harrow that read Nicholas Parsons is the neo-opiate for the people. I used to go pass it on my way to school. I had to ask my Dad what it meant!
There was a billboard advert once for a car that read ‘If this car were a woman, it would get its bottom pinched’… spray painted onto the bottom was ‘If this woman was a car, she’d run you down’ 🙂
Reblogged this on Gyronny Herald and commented:
I wonder could be come up with for Translink Guerilla signage…
Ha Robert that is brilliant. My favourite was a slogan on a roundabout in Harrow that read Nicholas Parsons is the neo-opiate for the people. I used to go pass it on my way to school. I had to ask my Dad what it meant!
We discordians must stick apart…by order of the MGT(R.A.W.) very funny and subvertive too
SABOTAGE ! at it’s BEST! 🙂
Haha these are brilliant! I especially love the ‘Don’t acknowledge fellow passengers…’ one! I am not a Londoner and had no idea there was such an unwritten rule… until I found myself on a broken down tube one day and attempted to chat to a fellow passenger, who replied politely, but was hardly keen to get into a conversation (even moving away down the carriage, meaning that the attempted conversation was over rather abruptly)! Later that day I told a friend (a Londoner) about this and she said “Oh no, you mustn’t speak to people on the tube!!” I was like, “Why on earth not?!” (There was nothing else to do when the train broke down and we could’ve been stuck for a very long time, so it made sense to me to try to befriend someone). That evening she and I were both travelling on a different tube and I had to laugh when a rather inebriated fellow passenger started a rant about “Why is that noone ever talks to each other on the tube??!” Classic!
Hi Fifi
Making eye contact (or any type of contact to be honest) underground is always a real no no… most passengers are fine, but there are some strange people in London and what you don’t want is them telling you which bits ache and when their brothers comming down to stay…
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment
Joe
I’m not a Londoner either, although I spent a fair amount of time there as a teenager but I have to say I never found it that strange that no one was talking to each other. However I was a Games Maker during the Paralympics this summer and there were countless times I was engaged in conversation, I have to say mostly by people who were not Londoners themselves, but I do think the uniform played some part in getting people talking. Fellow Games Makers during that last week often mentioned that it was weird and maybe slightly sad that come the Monday life would just go back to normal. I was on the underground the day after the Paralympic closing ceremony and it had done exactly that.
I found one: http://flic.kr/p/cQjBJw
Hi Reevery
Very envious (esp. as its a good one) I’m still looking and hoping..
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment
Joe
Have these been done by a rogue 3rd party or something? 12 monkeys?
Fantastic. I saw the sitting on people’s laps one about 5 years ago, love that there’s more now!
Reblogged this on Jumbled Contents Of My Head and commented:
These are so brilliantly done I had to reblog it!
Reblogged this on The Fanciful Frog and commented:
Wish I had spotted one of these. What a little genius this person is. Is this the london equivalent of yarn bombing up here?
I’m popping down to London soon. This would make my day!
Fantastic! Thanks very much for this post: it really made me smile. đź€
I once made a mandatory sign (blue background white letters) for a construction site I ran “NO TRACKY BOTTOMS ON SITE SMART ATTIRE ONLY) !!!
lol cant believe I didnt notice though I’m the world’s worst!! 🙂
they are brilliant will look out for them next time i am down there unless the jobsworth no fun morons have removed them all, now that could be a challenge for each one thgat they remove 2 more should go up
What a laugh. We were on the underground on Monday but didn’t spot any. Too busy ensuring three wriggly children stayed firmly by my side
Didn’t know what as a Londoner I had to do. Now I am just confused. Ed
Reblogged this on msamba.
These are great. Remember travelling to east London (Rotherhithe from Baker Street about 18 years and 3 months ago) and this eastender fella, started a social commentary, He was one of the funniest men I have ever listened to (not on telly or paid for or the right wing kn*bs at the pub). I really wish I could remember the funny things he said but I can’t ( coz I am not funny like that). Sometimes he was rude to people, but only slightly slating them, for sneering at his ability to break out from the mould and actually talk to people he didnt know. He was a genious, like the guy/gal priniting these little ‘ditties’ ….brilliant, ….lovely! One day they will get spotted for the little gift they gave to London commuters.
I saw this on a train into London. Made me smile
https://plus.google.com/app/plus/mp/933/?source=mog&gl=uk#~loop:pid=116671259097326116679&alid=5719656245969421953&phid=5719656246947425890&view=photo
Reblogged this on Much More Than Near and commented:
Just been sent a link to this webpage with some fantastic guerilla stickers on the Underground. Had to reblog….
Reblogged this on Urban Phantasy and commented:
Sorry it’s been a while here. I was directed to this by a friend living in London. These are absolutely brilliant.
— The Mgt. Marcus Cheney.
Reblogged this on In the Dark and commented:
Some of these are pure genius 🙂
!!!
I’d have a problem not talking on the Tube – as a southern American I talk to everyone, even if I’ve only known them a few seconds. I absolutely love this post and add it to another of the long list of reasons I want to visit London someday. Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed.
These signs are hilarious! đź€
Yo….Really awesome…
You really made it đź€
Very good.
Reblogged this on The Bookworm Travels and commented:
Saw this a few weeks back and it made me wish I’d paid more attention on tube trains during the Paralympics.
Gravy & sausages, shepherd’s pie – this is clearly the work of a Northerner or possibly a bandit outfit thereof!
Hilarious post !! Are these signboards for real?
Sometimes I wonder whether these are prank signs, put in the wrong location, a typo, from another country, or someone simply messed up.
These are fantastic! I was laughing through the whole post 🀠Thanks for sharing and congrats on being freshly pressed!
Ah, so that’s why I always read the signs! Thanks for the laugh.
These are awesome! Just proves that creative minds can only be happy temporarily until it becomes necessary to instigate fun and mischief! Love this! There should definitely be “love” button.
That would have made riding on the underground a bit more exciting.
Too bad I couldn’t stand London any longer and have moved away already.
Why couldn’t you stand London?
Sorry Andreas,
I don’t understand.. I LOVE London, it’s the best place in the world..
Joe
This is classic! Love it, thanks for sharing.
And who says everyone in London is too serious and prim?
too too funny!! Brilliant signage .. some very clever artistic people out there!
Fantastic, I love those. I have spent many many hours on Londons underground often sketching fellow passengers and priding myself on my observational skills but like yourself I never saw these. I have witnessed some funny announcements on the underground though usually at Christmas or New Year…great post, congratulations…
I loved this post!!! you are actually amazing!!!!!
oh also how do you get so much traffic and could you look at my blog and tell me what i need to improve on please? thanks 🙂
I love this! You can definitely see some humour in the tube at times. 🙂 I´d love to re-blog this, if you don´t mind. I will follow your posts from now on. 🙂
Reblogged this on A Londoner from Afar and commented:
While I finish the post about my trip to Munich and the Oktoberfest, read this fun blog post from Joe Blogs on some guerrilla signs that have been appearing on the tube and on social media lately. Whoever said that using the tube is not entertaining!
A Londoner from Afar
I laughed out loud at the sausage sign. Absolutely brilliant work, whomever has taken the time to create these.
I have also seen this cartoon about it. http://www.simonscat.com/Blog/2012-09-11/Have-you-heard-of-violent-mice/
This is fantastic work- we have seen a few of these signs and were very confused for a while also- indeed if That London has left you bemused you might do well to take a look at our blog.
http://tinyurl.com/brj6aj9
“Submarine to Somalia.” 🆠How I love our British sense of humour!
This is very funny đź†
Amazing!
These are great i wonder when we’ll start to see these in america
Awesome, tell it like it is…truth is funnier than fiction.
England’s SON’S OF LIBERTY and some well needed “Civil Disobiedience”…GREAT JOB HOMMIES!! HAIL TO THE QUEEN, BEBE, lmfao. Ya’ll really do “Keep Up Appearences”.
HA!
Brilliant – a reason to sell my Vespa and go about using public transport again…
Reblogged this on Bored American Tribune. and commented:
Yes.
Where’s the “love” button? Congrats on the well-deserved FP!
Also: Shared with my 2100 friends on Facebook. Thank you!
Very nicely done, Sir Joe.
Reblogged this on browniesandblessings.
Amazingly genius! Thanks for sharing 🙂
These are pretty funny. There is nothing like the British sense of humour.
Another thing to keep your eyes out for in London: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/world/europe/14muswell.html. The gum art is really cool if you know where to find it.
Great!!!
hey these are brilliant, I often travel on the Tube and have never come across one (doesn’t help that I am half-asleep all the time…) – can’t imagine what some tourists make of them, when they take out their dictionaries to translate them…..
This is great! I need look out for these!
lol
Reblogged this on myatheistlife and commented:
I like to do what I call whiteboard bombing. When people leave drawings and notes on a whiteboard, I will stealthily add little bits and pieces to it which seem to make sense but utterly do not. I’ll have to get a picture of one and post it 🙂 This is taking the game way beyond my little shenanigans. So far beyond that it is quite amazing.
hahahahaha brilliant!
hahaha!!! So clever!
How come I never see that stuff here in SoCal? I guess thats what happens when you dont ride public trans. You end up missing out.
Haha, I love this! Great idea and great post!
Cheers,
Courtney Hosny
Oh man, we need these on the TTC here in Toronto. Brilliant!
Oh to live in Great Britain!
This one made me laugh…a lot. I remember finding the odd sign here and there and only thinking once to take a photo – I would share it but apparently the computer says, ‘No!’ Seriously, congrats on getting freshly pressed!
Hi Mike
Thanks for taking the time to comment, this post has gone crazy, it just won’t stop getting re blogged (which is good).. And thanks for letting me know about being Freshly Pressed.. It’s my first time (that I know of anyway) and it’s totally made my day
Joe
No worries! It was an excellent post!! 🙂
nice post
haha, great! thanks for sharing these, they’re hilarious…
I think I saw one on dancing in the train, but I didn’t have a chance to take a picture. I love them!
Mass transit: the true story. Love it!
very funny, I laughed my lungs out… don’t worry, I got them back in place before writing this. not unrelated, but also not funny: I once overlooked a sign on a train door: defective, will not open, which was, to my great disfortune, also true. I don’t know how anyone was expected to locate the 2×4 inch sign amidst all the other colorful stickers, For all intents and purposes, I was on the train without a ticket for a station and I was an hour late for a job interview. If it hadn’t all worked out in the end, I would have so sued the train company’s ass…
Reblogged this on Green Woman Walking and commented:
Excellent signage!
I wrote about something similar in a post inspired by a sign I saw in Montreal. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a sticker for the occasion. Just the internet. http://thestevolution.com/2012/09/17/theory-514-its-a-sign/
I love it! Keeping my bat wings peeled…thanks
these are actually amazing!!!! so funny. the shepherd’s pie one was my fave. thanks for sharing! x
Reblogged this on onesixteeneighteen.
This is brilliant and fantastic! Very interesting to read. Congratulations for getting into Freshly Pressed!
many thanks Jim..
first time freshly pressed for me.. the challenge is writing another one that catches peoples imagination..
thanks for visiting and commenting
Joe
Reblogged this on Layyla over the rooftops of the world and commented:
This is pure fun. Just love the sheer absurd 🙂
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant ;and I’m pushing 62 but still an anarchist.
Genius!
Hahahahaha! These signages are golden! Which reminds me to bring my camera often. Even the most ordinary mall can have a little signage gem! 🙂
It’s a pity this is almost certainly this is considered illegal vandalism, because these signs are actually pretty funny and often contain a few home truths as well!
Like, why don’t people talk more on the Tube? Or talk to each other at all? It’s bad enough on the bus up here on Teesside… though not *as* bad…
I wish for this one to be added: All passengers in the rear move to front ,,all in front move to rear, all in middle take three laps around the car and return to a seat one to the left of the one you are presently in.
please do not smile while reading signs on the underground you may be removed by medical staff
Very amusing! The built environment of almost every western city – excluding Gaudi’s Barcelona – is mostly dull, predictable, lacking in aesthetics and devoid of the beauty of nature, so anything that we can do to subvert these norms is to be applauded.
Haha this is great, especially now that I live in London 🙂
Clever and accurate wherever you are. Maybe I should make some for the commuter bus I ride, such as: Please leave all needs for personal space in your car. There will be little personal space on the bus.
Absolute genius. It’s the subtlety of the signs which just make it all the more funnier.
Funny signs and street art, could be the culprit
http://www.citizenskwith.co.uk/galleries/signs/index.html
Isn’t it lovely, here we are all sharing a laugh and there are no dissenting voices and nobody needing to use abusive language. Thanks everyone, subversives and bloggers alike.
I just love this and the
fact that we all still have a sense of humour in this world of political correctness!
This is amusing, why don’t we have underground stickering in Sydney ha
British humour at it’s best
I lived in London a few years and think back to the Underground with some nostalgia. This had me litterally in tears. Thank you!
Reblogged this on Sparkstone -Multichannel retail software.
Wow this was phenomenal, I wish I could write like you. Where did you learn how to make post like that?
“Underground Guerrilla Signs.. « Joe Blogs” ended up being a fantastic
post, can’t wait to examine far more of ur posts. Time to squander
a little time on the web haha. Thank you ,Carl
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Excellent, very funny
Just hilarious, if just one of these causes one morose and socially inept Londoner to actually turn and have a conversation with a fellow commuter then their excellent efforts will have been rewarded!
Keep up the good work….. 🙂
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google,
and found that it is truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future.
Numerous people will be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
Reblogged this on Erasmuz.
Can anybody update us on the 2014 status of this ‘campaign’. Was it a fleeting fad?
Hi Michael
I’ve travelled on the tube most days since I wrote the post back in August 2012 and I’ve only once seen a guerilla sign for myself. Whether that means that there aren’t many on the lines I use or that they’ve mostly been removed, I don’t know.. The resurgence of interest in this post may mean it’s all about to start again… (fingers crossed)
Thanks for visiting and taking time to comment
Joe
Also see: the Department of Social Scrutiny.
Reblogged this on On wishes and horses and commented:
Guerilla signage – superb.
That top image? I snapped that 🙂
http://whatleydude.com/2012/07/the-internet-is-mental/
Hi James
I borrowed these images from several sources, yours being from The Poke.
When I originally wrote this back in August 2012, it went bonkers (mostly in the US) racking up more than 130,000 hits in a week or so, and it’s doing it again now. The last two days alone I’ve had over 30,000 hits.. I have no idea why .. I’ll make your photo a link to your post, so hopefully you can share in the traffic and wonderment…
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment.
Joe
Thanks Joe! That’s super good of you, I appreciate that much.
Well done on the hits, I think the combination of the Olympics definitely had a knock on effect on the Tweet that originally re-purposed the image.
Have a great week and may good karmic things head your way 🙂
Reblogged this on jaichristoff..
More sticker photos here – several tube ones: http://youcanstickit.blogspot.co.uk/p/thanks-for-your-pics.html
Reblogged this on Kats eyes and commented:
Crazy how easy it is to miss the little things when your not looking for it… Always try to look at the world around me and take it all in and even more so now…
excelente post !!
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