Hand painted lettering pop-up shop opens in STREEt

2 December, 2025

Following a successful first year in Street, Joby is hosting a pop-up Christmas shop at his workshop open Tuesday to Saturday 10-4pm until Tuesday 23 December.

Visitors will have the chance to witness a traditional craft in action and purchase hand-painted lettering, fine art prints, signwriting books, and specialist paints, brushes and other signwriting supplies that cannot be found on the High Street.

By visiting the workshop and pop-up shop, customers are also supporting a thriving heritage craft business that has brought close to 1000 visitors to the area during its first year.

Framed prints available in Joby Carter's workshop

Whether it’s someone’s initial or a phrase that resonates with them, hand-painted letters make a unique gift that you simply won’t find on Amazon. Each piece has been created using traditional techniques and genuine craftsmanship. I welcome everyone to come along and see for themselves.

Joby Carter Christmas 2025 pop-up shop details

The pop-up shop is located in Joby’s workshop:

Unit 18 Rockhaven Business Centre on Gravenchon Way.

Date: Tuesday – Saturday until Tuesday 23 December, opeh 10-4pm.
Admission: Free entry for all. Well behaved dogs are welcome on a lead.
Address: Unit 18 Rockhaven Business Centre, Gravenchon Way, Street, BA16 0HW
Parking: There is free parking in the neighbouring areas but please park sensibly and courteously.
Public transport: the workshop is a five-minute walk from Sainsbury’s Street bus stop

Travel:

13 miles from Castle Cary Train station
28 miles from Bristol Temple Meads Train station
25 miles from Bristol Airport
5min walk from Bus Stop at Sainsburys Street

All are welcome, come along and browse, watch Joby paint or ask him questions.

Hosting a pop-up shop in my workshop is a great way to showcase the traditional skills to a new audience. Of course, there’ll be signs you can buy and prints you can take home, but you can come and spend nothing and see examples of traditional signwriting throughout the decades which adorn my workshop walls. I welcome everyone to come along and see for themselves.

The home of traditional signwriting

Since relocating from Maidenhead to Street in January 2025, Joby has transformed his workshop into a hub for traditional signwriting, hosting 180 students throughout the year. His aim has been to establish this workshop to be globally recognised as ‘the home of traditional signwriting’. Students have flown in from America, Europe and Australia to learn in person with Joby. The success is already set to continue in 2026: there are already three sold out traditional signwriting courses in January and February 2026 and one currently booking in March.

Why traditional signwriting matters

Joby learned his craft through a master-apprentice system dating back to the Victorian era. His teacher Stan Wilkinson learned from a signwriter who learned from another, creating an unbroken chain of knowledge spanning over 150 years.

Joby is a well-known advocate for these traditional skills and art forms: to date, his books on traditional signwriting and fairground art have sold over 18,000 copies worldwide, and he’s taught more than 1,000 students throughout his career.

While signwriting is enjoying renewed interest in the craft: fairground art is at risk of dying out in the next generation. Heritage Crafts have placed it on their ‘Red List’ of endangered crafts. Joby’s book ‘All the Fonts of the Fair’ helps bring the traditional fairground lettering styles to a wider audience which preserves their legacy. Joby is also one of the very few offering courses in traditional fairground art.

Joby says:

No computers, no stencils, no modern shortcuts, no AI. Every letter is painted freehand using techniques passed down through generations. When you watch me work, you’re seeing the same methods used to paint shop signs in Victorian England.

What’s available at the workshop?

Visitors can commission Joby to create a piece of hand painted lettering while they wait (typically names or short phrases) or they can watch him work on larger commissions or other projects.

Visitors can also browse and purchase:

Gifts featuring hand painted lettering including fun fridge magnets from just £4.50
Original, one-off pieces including hand-painted alphabet letters in fairground-inspired styles
Fine art prints featuring Joby’s designs from £15, framed options available
Limited edition signed prints in various designs (only 50 of each design made)
Signwriting books, including two books written by Joby: Signwriting Tips, Tricks and Inspiration and All the Fonts of the Fair
Specialist supplies including enamel paint in Joby’s bespoke retro colour range, signwriting brushes and a range of professional grade signwriting tools and accessories