Signwriting, or sign painting as it’s known in America, is a craft passed down from master to apprentice, brush stroke by brush stroke. There’s no university course, no formal qualification, no official route in. You learn from someone who already knows. Here in Joby Carter’s workshop (the home of traditional signwriting) in Street, Somerset, that tradition is very much alive. Joby has just taken on his second ever signwriting apprentice: Sam Earl-Hollis, better known online as @sam.the.signwriter.
To understand how important (and rare!) a signwriting apprentice opportunity is, you need to understand the background of the industry. In this blog we will talk about how signwriting as a craft nearly died out in the 1980s and the current ways to learn and refine these traditional skills. We’ll also share how Sam is following in the footsteps of Joby’s previous apprentice and how this echoes the tradition of passing these heritage skills down through the generations from master to apprentice.
Signwriting – a craft that nearly disappeared
Signwriting was once a mainstream trade: every shop fascia hand-painted, every van lettered by hand. Then the 1980s arrived, and with them, computer-cut vinyl. As Heritage Crafts describe on their website, “the craft declined significantly with the introduction of computer cut plastic signs in the 1980s.” The City & Guilds qualification closed in the early 2000s. Apprenticeships dried up. A generation of signwriters retired, and for a time it looked like the craft might go with them.
But it did survive, thanks largely to those who refused to put down their brushes. Heritage Crafts now list signwriting as ‘currently viable’, with a healthy market in historic buildings, traditional pubs, vintage vehicles and bespoke commissions. But there is still no official qualification. As Heritage Crafts note, hundreds of people attend courses each year, but not everyone goes on to make a career of it. The traditional way to truly learn the craft remains what it always was: plenty of practice and wherever possible, spending time at the side of someone who really knows what they’re doing.
Social media has also allowed many signwriters to sell their own artwork designs. The interest from hobbyists, career-changers and design professionals is genuinely growing.
Joby learned to signwrite the old way: through an apprenticeship with Stan Wilkinson, who had himself started work at 15 with a firm called Giles the Sign People, established in 1909. That’s an unbroken chain of knowledge stretching back well over a century. Stan was 90 in 2025 and is still signwriting occasionally! He attended previous signwriting events at Joby’s workshop in Maidenhead.
Pictured below: Joby and Stan at a workshop open day In Maidenhead.
Stan created some of the alphabets for Joby’s second book All the Fonts of the Fair including ‘Box Truck’ which was used on the side of many of the fairground trucks from Carters Steam Fair which Stan painted over the years. It is a lettering style designed to just flow off the paintbrush. Stan is also a master at script fonts and created the ‘Stan’s Script’ alphabet for the book, the only alphabet with lowercase and numbers provided for reference too!
Pictured below: Joby with Stan holding an S and W that he painted.
Pictured below, Stan with his script alphabet that he created for All the Fonts of the Fair
Because there’s no formal route into the trade, Joby has designed his own signwriting courses from scratch which include a five-day traditional signwriting course, plus specialist workshops in lining, coach painting, fancy lettering and fairground art. Around 200 students come to the workshop each year, with visitors making the trip from the UK and overseas including America, Europe and Australia. His signwriting books have sold over twenty thousand copies worldwide.
Joby says: “When I teach signwriting, I start with the basics: the Roman alphabet, the fundamental brush strokes. That’s what I was taught, and that’s where it has to begin. The fancy stuff can follow. But you have to have the foundations first.”
From course student to BBC television to apprentice
Sam’s journey started on one of Joby’s workshop courses. From there he went on to appear on Make It at Market, a BBC programme giving makers the chance to turn their craft into a business, with Joby as his mentor for eight weeks.
Joby says: “I was lucky that two of the people they chose had already done my course. They knew my methods, so I could pick up where we’d left off. Sam made a vast improvement but like anything with signwriting, he’s still got a huge way to go.”
(That’s not a criticism, it’s just the reality of the craft). Hand painted lettering is a craft that demands patience, repetition, and years of practice. The BBC series gave Sam a brilliant foundation and a taste of what was possible, Sam is now making the most of the unique opportunity to get real life practice regularly in Joby’s workshop.
An opportunity to practice signwriting skills in the real world
After the BBC show, Sam kept at it, taking on signwriting jobs alongside his plumbing business, and making the occasional trip to Joby’s workshop for guidance. Joby is often asked about taking on apprentice but he is usually too busy with his sign writing courses or the commissions he is working on.
With Sam he has made an exception saying, “we’ll invent the stuff to paint if we have to. He can help me with second coating, assist on ongoing projects, and most importantly just paint signs again and again. That’s how you learn. I’m not teaching him so I’ve got a member of staff, I’m teaching him because he’s keen. I like him, and I want to see him do it right. It’ll be a long, laborious job learning but watch this space.”
What a modern signwriting apprenticeship looks like
It’s unconventional by old-school standards. Sam will keep his plumbing business going to pay the bills and will come to the workshop twice a week. There’s no formal contract, no qualification at the end. What there is instead is the opportunity to acquire tried and tested knowledge by helping with commissions, assisting on ongoing projects, and most importantly, laying out and painting signs.
Following in Aaron’s footsteps
Sam is only the second person Joby has ever formally taken on as an apprentice. The first was Aaron Stephens, who came to Joby’s very first signwriting course after they met at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. Aaron started his apprenticeship in 2007, worked a season at the fair, and went on to become a central part of the Carters Steam Fair restoration workshops until 2024. Today he is very much his own craftsman, diversifying into gold leaf, reverse glass gilding, acid etching and stone wheel engraving, and serving as a trustee of the Fairground Heritage Trust. You can see more on his website Valentine Signs or his Instagram profile.
Joby’s work is rooted in Roman letterforms; Aaron’s in the more free-flowing fairground styles. Two different disciplines, two craftsmen who push each other creatively. Joby has written that fairground artists have always worked in pairs and that perhaps one day people will look back and think of them as ‘Carter and Stephens’, part of that long tradition.
Follow Sam’s journey
You can follow Sam’s progress on Instagram at @sam.the.signwriter, and Joby will be sharing updates on his own feed at @joby.carter.
If Sam’s story has sparked something in you whether you’re thinking about signwriting as a hobby, a new career, or just a fascinating week doing something completely different, Joby runs courses throughout the year from his workshop in Street, Somerset. Find out more about what’s coming up by signing up to Joby’s newsletter.