With a career spanning many facets of sign-making, Signmode has taken David Mearns back to where it all started with no regrets. Ahead of Mearns’ return to The Sign Show, Sam Roberts speaks to this traditional signwriter Back to His Roots: David Mearns Gets Back on the Brush at 50 When David Mearns picks up the phone for our conversation, he’s in the middle of paying bills and other bookkeeping tasks. These now come naturally to him after more than 40 years in the business of signs, but it wasn’t always so; in his teenage years he “was awful at maths” and finished school with just two O Levels in Art and Technical Drawing. However, his success in those subjects was perhaps inevitable for someone that “always had a pencil in [his] hand and was constantly drawing”. He’s now wielding a pencil once again, alongside the brush that is the main tool of his trade – traditional signwriter. Seeking (and Finding) Direction Although he was born in The Wirral, Merseyside, David grew up in Surrey and after getting those O Levels as a 16-year-old, he had no idea what he was going to do next. One day while walking in Guildford with his dad they happened upon a signwriter lettering a shop fascia. As they paused to watch him work, David’s dad casually remarked: “You could do that”. A seed had been sown and, not long afterwards, a school friend mentioned that the local Guildford Signs firm was looking for an apprentice. David’s mum drove him to their shop, where she was also invited inside and given a cup of tea in the waiting room while he got interviewed. Up against 20 other hopefuls, he got the position and started work in July 1985. Formative Years Guildford Signs provided David with a traditional apprenticeship, an opportunity that is largely closed to today’s aspiring signwriters. The vast majority of the firm’s work was hand-painted, and he was quickly making himself useful around the shop. His early responsibilities included coating out boards before they were lettered by the signwriters, and later he progressed onto double coating larger letters, gradually developing his skills, even though he didn’t feel like he was making progress. Despite having only one working eye, the boss, Mark Allen, was a fine signwriter, and nothing like the grumpy taskmaster stereotype of shop foremen. One day he saw David admiring some skilful lettering work in progress and offered up some encouraging words: “One day with practise, you’ll be doing this”, and, sure enough, it came to pass. David worked at Guildford Signs for the best part of eight years, with most of this in the era when everything was done by hand. From fascia signs to vehicles, the 51 www.signlink.co.uk Issue 266 - August | September 2026 ADVENTURES IN SIGN PAINTING WITH SAM ROBERTS 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
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