YazıBursa
A living archive of Bursa’s hand-lettered signs, and the painters who made them, before they disappear.
YazıBursa is a digital archive dedicated to preserving the typographic heritage of Bursa. Born out of academic field research, the site documents the hand-lettered work created by local sign painters before computer-based production took over, including building nameplates, shop signs, glass and wall lettering that quietly shaped everyday city life but often go unnoticed.
The archive currently holds over 300 pieces, each recorded with its GPS coordinates, gathered from more than 70 neighborhoods across the city and produced by nearly 50 documented sign painters.
The project spotlights these painters, recording their names, histories, and studios. You can explore an interactive map of Bursa, browse curated neighborhood stories, filter pieces by artist, and dive into detailed entries with high-resolution photographs. The site’s mission is to make this rapidly disappearing heritage visible before it’s lost, contributing to the city’s collective memory.
- Type
- Ongoing digital archive
- Records
- 300+ pieces
- Neighbourhoods
- 70+ documented
- Sign Painters
- Nearly 50 documented
Painters
and pieces
Rather than treating these signs as decoration, the archive preserves their authorship: who painted them, where, and how the city’s lettering habits shifted from hand to machine production.
Fieldwork
to archive
The archive is structured to move between people, places and typographic evidence, letting individual pieces build a larger map of the city’s vernacular lettering.
- 01
Interactive map
Every piece is recorded with its GPS coordinates and plotted across the city, organised by neighbourhood. - 02
Artist profiles
Each of the nearly 50 documented sign painters has a dedicated profile with biography, studio history and field notes. - 03
Six categories
Pieces are classified as nameplate, shop sign, glass lettering, warning or information sign, wall lettering, or other.
A city’s memory
YazıBursa grew out of academic field research into Bursa’s hand-lettered signs. Its mission is to make this rapidly disappearing heritage visible before it’s lost, keeping it part of the city’s collective memory for researchers, designers and residents alike.
Featured in
- BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting, August 2026