ADNAMS X DB SIGNS 29 Issue 250 - December 2023 / January 2024 email: news@signlink.co.uk Dave Barber of DB Signs is the definition of a one-man band, and having learned the ropes from his father, he is now - quite literally - single-handedly responsible for 99% of the signage for the Adnams Brewery Group challenging the old adage that many hands make light work. DB Signs was founded in 1968 by Barber’s father, also Dave Barber, who had been a signwriter for most of his life. On leaving school, Barber Senior began working for his father’s painting and decorating business, but what he really wanted to do was sign painting. Barber Senior enrolled at art school and met Joe Rouse, another talented signwriter who took him under his wing and became a second father figure to him. In 1969, DB Signs’ relationship with brewery group, Adnams began. Based on the coast of Southwold, Suffolk, Adnams crafts premium beers and spirits and the group comprises hotels, pubs, stores, and inns each with their own individual personality and feel. A Long-standing Relationship “Dad did his first swing sign for Adnams for the Plough Inn Wissett in 1969 on a self-employed basis on the understanding that, if Adnams liked it, he could do more, which he did,” explains Barber. “Dad had grown up fishing in Southwold with Jonathan Adnams so there was already a strong connection formed. Plus, my great-granddad and my granddad both worked directly for Adnams back in the day,” Barber adds. Barber Senior stepped away from signwriting for a ten-year spell in 1972 where he worked as a fisherman making his way from a 12ft boat in Southwold to an 80ft trawler from Lowestoft. In 1982, he returned to signwriting and Adnams contacted him to see if he would continue to do their work. He did this alongside building up a large local customer base. Born in Southwold in 1974, Barber lived ten yards from Sole Bay Inn and 25 yards from Adnams’ main office – little did he know that years later he would be producing the signage for this company just as his father did. Moving to Lowestoft at age six, Barber worked weekends with his father from the age of eight to earn pocket money, eventually saving enough to purchase his first good guitar. Still his primary passion today, Barber learned to play guitar from the age of 11 and was in bands between the ages of 12 and 20. He began studying classical guitar from the age of 15 and still plays most days. Leaving school at 16, Barber continued to work with his father where he would clean gear, trace vans and signs for repeat jobs, and prep and paint wooden boards. He later progressed to second coating and shading and then began training for pub sign painting with the Mill Aldeburgh’s signage. “It had two almost identical swing signs,” Barber explains. “Dad did one, I did the other. I had to copy him and keep up. By the time they were done and up they both looked pretty much identical. After that, I was on my own!” Working with his father from such a young age, Barber already knew a lot of his customers, Adnams included. Keeping up with Demand Having started out signwriting 100% by hand, the duo got their first PC and cutter when Barber was 22 due to finding it difficult to keep up with the volume of work coming in from Adnams. “We digitised Dad’s signwriting style that we used on amenity boards and had it made into a typeface so that we could prep boards in batches, have paint masks ready for each sign, and have time applying the masks and painting the text on with a roller. The shading was then done by hand.“ As the company grew, DB Signs had to do the same and at one point there were five people working for the business. However, when Barber’s father and a couple of other members of the team retired, Barber and the remaining team were left to absorb the workload. This was due to struggling to hire new members of staff and is something Barber says has always been his biggest challenge, aside from keeping up with the work itself. “After a few years, I felt that I really had lost my way, the turnover of work was high and keeping the standard was a priority, but I felt very unfulfilled. I either had to carry on this way, which wasn’t an option, or something had to change. So, I decided to scale down even further and go back to the days when I was happier at work, doing something more creative and different like promoting the signwriting more and hoping I could build that side up to make things work.” This strategy paid off and having eventually taken over the business Barber describes his relationship with Adnams today as very natural. “I can’t imagine it any other way. I morphed into it so early and gradually that I didn’t really focus on it to any degree. I know 95% of the people in the business including tenants and staff, and I have grown up with most of them. So again, it all feels very natural.” Champions of Signwriting To date, 99% of Adnams’ swing signs are The Southwold brewery group championing signwriting ▲ Dave Barber learned the craft of signwriting from his father. Photo: Adnams & Anthony Cullen
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