Clover Signs Blog

This custom hanging sign that we did recently was shipped to a clothing designer in Graz Austria.   It is double sided with the the logo at the top and the carved skirt done  as add-ons to give a 3 dimensional effect.   All the gold is is gilded by hand with real gold leaf.  It is simple yet attractive and gives a feeling of quality.  With the real gold gilding that does not tarnish and the UV resistant acrylic paint it should attract customers for many years.

Plissee & Mode Hanging Sign

All our House Signs are made with the highest quality materials.  Visit our FAQ’s page to find out more about our signs.

Here is another business sign we did recently.  We don’t usually do installations but since this one was just down the road and  in the heart of downtown London we decided to do it ourselves to be sure it was done right.  At first glance the sign might not look that big.  In fact is is 2.85 meters long and 66 cm wide.  A little bigger than your normal house sign!  You might just be able to see that it has two joints inside the A’s at both ends but that sure does not distract from the effect of the sign.  Here are some before and after shots, unfortunately it was raining so the photos are not the best.

Previous Sign

New Sign

New Hanging Sign

If you are ever in the area you might be interested in a meal at the Anokha Indian Bar & Restaurant.  If you are here because of your interest in signs visit our website to place an inquiry and see more of our House Signs, Hanging Signs or Bed and Breakfast Signs.

Possibly the most humorous sign we have made, “The Dead Ostrich” is to hang in a private study, (not on a pub).  The background depicts a pub building on a hill top in the Karoo region of South Africa, hense the Afrikaans translation on the reverse of the sign. It was given as a 70th birthday present to a much loved uncle, and  I trust he is enjoying it on his wall as much as we enjoyed designing and crafting it.

The Dead Ostrich

In the past, we have run articles about the history of house names, but after reading a recent article in The Guardian about the demise of pubs, I thought to give this ‘catastophic loss’ some much needed attention:

The painted pub sign, one of the oldest popular visual arts traditions in Britain, is locked in decline. That is the fear of conservationists who hope to alert pub chains and breweries to a ‘catastrophic’ loss of the traditional skills involved and a failure to preserve a heritage that dates back to Roman times.

The first signs outside inns appeared after the Roman invasion when most people were unable to read. A wreath of vine leaves on a pole was the recognised symbol for a hostelry, and this led to images of shrubbery and pub names such as The Bush or The Bunch of Grapes.

The growing corporate ownership of public houses across the British Isles has led to the standardisation of what is on offer, both inside and outside the bar. The situation has worsened in the past five years because of the increasing number of pub closures.

We have made signs for both brewers and pubs, and below are a few examples.

Generally, when people are ordering some new sinage, whether it is for their recently rennovated house or they are opening a home B & B, they want the complete package to be delivered from one company. As of the beginning of 2008, Clover Signs has made both hanging signs and wrought iron hanging brackets. There is nothing special about it but The Cart Lodge has become easily our most-referred-to sign; ie. “I want a sign just like The Cart Lodge”.

Popular hanging sign with wrought iron bracket.

To request your own customised sign (double sided or otherwise) visit our Hanging Signs page on our business website.

Have you ever wondered what inspired (or possessed) Charles Rennie Mackintosh? I have often pondered his exquisitely unique style and found nothing even remotely similar. Whereas in the sign industry we mainly utilise the font that bears his name, he was primarily an architect, and a quite successful one at that.

Born in 1868 in the Townhead area of Glasgow, Mackintosh was a working class boy and one of 11 siblings. From an early age, he demonstrated an obsessive passion for art, relentlessly drawing the flowers his father grew on his allotment. It’s thought he also suffered from a mild form of autism, which could explain his reputation for mood swings as well as his attention to detail seen in his artwork.

Along with three other art students, Mackintosh established the “Glasgow Style”, first shown in a collection of metalwork panels, posters, furniture and silver work at the 1896 Arts & Crafts Exhibition in London. From there, “The Four’s”  notoriety grew and together they developed a repertoire characterised by stylised motifs of Celtic, Oriental, Egyptian and natural inspiration, including the iconic Glasgow Rose.

Here are a couple samples of our own Rennie Mackintosh designs which have proved increasingly popular.

Clover signs is proud to announce that we have now made over 2000 signs in our short history. It was just under two years ago that founder and former manager Bernard Hibbs and his wife Rachel travelled to the United States to learn from sign makers there. Among other things, they were introduced to a new material – High Density Urethane (HDU)- which has been used extensively, not only in the USA, but also in Canada, Germany, and Australia. Currently, all of our signs are made of this tough synthetic wood which can be carved and machined much like wood, but will last much longer on your house.

When we reached the last milestone of 1500 signs, all the employees at Clover Signs made a prediction of when we would top 2000. August proved to be an unusually successful month with many people buying their house signs in between vacations. As the month drew to a close we all held our breath and on the last day we hit the mark, fulfilling the prediction of one of our most senior employees. The customer received a generous discount and if you are ever vacationing in Shropshire, you may just stay in one of these Luxury Holiday Cottages.

When selling signs, we mostly get the payment by credit card.  However, when Gina from Gina’s Cakes asked us to make them a sign, we couldn’t resist.  We accepted payment for half the sign, then charged the other half in “cake.”

Gina was thrilled with her part of the deal and the cake was most delicious!  Clover Signs certainly recommends Gina’s Cakes as the source for your celebrations.

Of course, if you are looking for a sign, not a cake, you can get a hanging shop sign from us!

It has become popular to have a home bar these days. Once you have the room, equipment and drinks, a hanging home bar signs is all you need to finish it off.

We make the brackets ourselves as it is very hard to get custom metal work done these days.  The signs are all made out of HDU, a tough synthetic wood, which is hand carved and gilded.  Any artwork is done by hand. The hanging hardware is all stainless steel.

If you are wanting to add that finishing touch to your home pub then a home pub sign is for you.

It doesn’t take a sign maker to tell you that having nice signs outside your hotel, pub or restaurant helps attract customers – but most people would be surprised by how big the difference is.

In July 2007, we were contacted by The Old Thatch Teashop on the Isle of Wight and asked to design some signs for them.  The teashop was very plain, and  didn’t fulfill it’s potential in the busy tourism months.

Here is the Old Thatch just before the signs went up:

And here are the signs in place:

The pictures are not the best, as for some strange reason we decided to travel down and install them during the worst storm of the winter!

Since the signs have gone up, Patricia Whybrow, the owner of the Old Thatch is delighted with the amount of new business she gets.

In the end, having a decent sign could be the cheapest form of advertising, especially in an area like Shanklin where there is lots of competition.  People are wandering around and choosing what to visit purely by whim – so you have to make something distinct in the image you present.

If you want to discuss having a sign for your pub, restaurant or hotel, please feel free to get in touch.  We offer free sign design and beautiful hand carved signs.