ADVENTURES IN SIGN PAINTING WITH SAM ROBERTS Careers advisors in the early 2000s were striking signwriter off their lists of viable vocations, with vinyl letters and digital printing making the trade all but redundant. The last formal course dedicated to the craft closed its doors shortly afterwards. However, as we entered the 2010s, a resurgence of interest, and demand began to gather pace, in part a reaction to the homogeneity of our high streets and the pixel perfect digital worlds that we were increasingly inhabiting. Fuel to the fire of this resurgence was the 2013 release of the feature-length documentary, Sign Painters, (see SignLink, April/May 2023). This showed that the trade, although smaller, was still very much alive, and offered a career path that could be followed. It inspired countless creative souls around the world to take up the brush, and the UK was no exception. Now, up and down the country, businesses are seeking out the services of a signwriter to paint their premises, and more, with a new generation of craftspeople stepping up to do just that. Here, we hear from just a few of these signwriters and how they got to where they are today. Dawn Evans Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Since 2016 | www.signpaintingbydawn.com Dawn Evans always had a creative streak in her but after University, and a less-than-inspiring graphic design internship, she found herself working part-time at a local cafe. There she was asked to write their chalkboards, which she both enjoyed and had a knack for. She invested in some workshops, practised in her own time, and began to take on jobs from other customers. Over the next couple of years, she had enough work to drop the last few shifts she was doing at the cafe to go fulltime at signwriting. Working across Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, with lots of clients in the Cotswolds, Evans’ bread and butter is work for pubs and shops. However, she regularly takes on private commissions that range from house signs to more unusual briefs that have included fishing rods, champagne bottles, and even the beak of a wooden duck. “It’s these little jobs that involve personalising a sentimental item for people to pass down for generations that are extra special”, she says. Evans says that it’s the “human touch” that attracts people to signwritten work, while With traditional signwriting in resurgence, Sam Roberts meets those that are bringing the hand-painted touch to high streets up and down the country On the Brush with the New Generation of British Signwriters Sam Roberts is the editor and publisher of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine), the world's only print and online publication dedicated to sign painting. He has written numerous books and articles on the craft and its history and first became interested in the topic via the fading ‘ghost’ signs around London. SignLink subscribers can sign up with a special discount to the publication via bl.ag/signlink. Find more about Roberts and his work via: bl.ag ghostsigns.co.uk 45 www.signlink.co.uk Issue 260 - August / September 2025
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