that these customers embrace the handcrafted aesthetic for its “personality” and because it makes their businesses “feel established and authentic — like places that have always been there”. To deliver this authenticity Adrián offers a ‘full service’ that allows him to work through the entire creative process with his clients. This starts with visual identity and graphic design work, right through to the final execution where he’ll take on carpentry and illumination where required, in addition to the gilding and painting of signs. And it is this end-to-end process that he feels is important for those starting out to understand: “Don’t focus only on painting. Painting is the final step but everything that leads up to that moment — design, preparation, materials, installation — is just as important, if not more.” Daniel Esteve Carbonell instagram.com/insertdaniels Daniel Esteve Carbonell is a native of Sant Pere de Ribes, a small town in the wider province of Barcelona. Painting graffiti in his youth set him on the path to studying calligraphy and graphic design before eventually discovering lettering and traditional sign painting. These crafts fascinated him and led to the realisation that he could develop a career “combining my passions of working with letters and painting walls”. While Daniel’s signs can be found in the city of Barcelona, most of his clients are local, consisting of bars, restaurants, music shops, and other retailers. He also takes on projects for councils and local schools, which has extended to facilitating workshops for young people. Word-ofmouth is his biggest marketing asset in what is a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone. His customers come to him because they “value unique handcrafted work” that brings “warmth and something special to their business”. Daniel is comfortable working in a variety of media — digital and physical — where “hand-drawn lettering plays a significant role”. Depending on the client’s requirements he’ll use tools ranging from regular sign painting brushes to spraypaints, markers, and other pens. And it is these tools that form the foundation of his practice, which is grounded in the study of calligraphy and the formation of letters. He believes that these fundamentals are important for anyone that wants to pursue a career in sign painting: “Only by controlling and practising different calligraphy styles with nibs and brushes can we develop the necessary skills to apply to our lettering and traditional sign painting.” Leonel Fernández leonelsigns.com Leonel Fernández, trading as Leonel Signs, started his sign painting journey in Buenos Aires, in his native Argentina. This was originally in that city’s distinctive ‘Fileteado Porteño’ decorative style, which he learned by attending classes with a number of different master painters. However, as his experience grew, learning as much from his mistakes as his successes, he sought out his own style and direction. After a period of splitting his time between Argentina and Spain, he finally relocated to Barcelona in 2005 and now has a studio in the city’s Raval district. Businesses from various sectors, including hospitality and tattoo parlours, form Leonel’s clientele, which includes those overseas as well as in Barcelona. He believes that his customers choose handcrafted signs over vinyl and other media because they can see the difference and ADVENTURES IN SIGN PAINTING WITH SAM ROBERTS ▲In this work for the Biocolmado organic grocer, Adrián Perez echoed the organic Art Nouveau features of the original door’s design ▲El Cargol (the snail) is a nursery in Sant Pere de Ribes where the vast majority of the town’s hand-painted signs are from the hand of Daniel Esteve Carbonell 32 email: editor@signlink.co.uk Issue 264 - April | May 2026
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