Q&A with Signspotting photo editor Doug Lansky; win a round-the-world plane ticket for sharing funny travel snapshots

Signspotting.com — Doug Lansky’s hilarious collection of strange photos of signs taken by travelers all over the world — has just become more user-friendly. Now you can upload your own crazy signage and vote on which pics you think are the best.

So far there are categories such as traffic flaw signs, accidentally R-rated signs, lost in translation signs and stick-figure signs to name a few. I spent a few minutes IM-ing with Doug (based in Stockholm, Sweden) to get the back story on this project that’s kept him laughing for years.

[Ed.: While you're at it, check out our LAT Your Scene Strange but True and Wierd America community photo and video sharing galleries - you can't make this stuff up!]

Jen: How many years have you been doing Signspotting? And where did it start?

Doug: Eight years. It started when I decided not to renew my five-year contract with the Chicago Tribune syndicate to travel the world and do a weekly column (Vagabond). And that was largely because my daughter was about to be born. I didn’t want to miss fatherhood.

Jen: How many forms has Signspotting taken over the years?

Doug: Signspotting has been the same from the start. But the site has changed. I did nothing to make it appealing to people on the Web. It was just a site to upload signs.

Jen: Until now.

Doug: Yep, until now.

Doug: Actually, a few months ago, I started putting up daily signs. But that also felt quite static. I wanted to make it more interactive.

Jen: How many submissions do you think you’ve received this whole time?

Doug: To date I’ve had over 20,000 submissions.

Jen: Wow. And some of them get paid?

Doug: I’ve bought the rights to over 400 of them for $50 each. That’s $20,000 out-of-pocket.

Jen: How many Signspotting books do you have now?

Doug: There are two “Signspotting” books. Last one came out fall ‘07

Jen: Are those pics in the new version of the website?

Doug: Many of those pics are.

Jen: So when folks submit their photos, they have a chance of winning $50 and getting their photo shown off?

Doug: Yep, each month subscribers get an e-mail showing the $50 weekly winners, as well as some of the highest-rated signs from various categories. We’ve revamped the e-mail as well as the site.

Jen: Cool. How else can visitors to the site participate?

Doug: We’ve given away six round-the-world (RTW) Star Alliance tickets to the yearly winners.

Jen: So people can still try to win a trip?

Doug: Yep, they can still try to win a trip. You can see it on the site under Signspotting community.

Jen: Fun. So, what’s next?

Doug: A new Signspotting exhibit. We’re enlarging 100 images and mounting them on real metal signs and putting them in the center of Stockholm where they get foot traffic of 40,000 per day. I’m busy building it now … should be cool.

Jen: Thanks for this Doug! If you want to submit your photos to Signspotting, check out the newly designed website and enter to win a free round-the-world trip courtesy of Star Alliance.

If you’re passing through Stockholm July 5-20, 2008, stop by Kungsträdgården Park to see the Signspotting exhibit.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Montage: Doug Lansky, Signspotting.com]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 6:29 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Book Reviews, News, Tips & Advice, Travel Photography, Travel Q&A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.