Sign Maker Profile
The heart in timber sign making
Assistant editor, Ana Lambert, sat down with Hartwood Timber’s owner, Robert Joslin, to shine a light of the uniqueness of timber sign making and the company's sustainability efforts.
H
artwood Timber is a small independent business with a passion for crafting wooden products using a sustainable, considered approach.
While the company originally focused on furniture and household timber structures, the introduction of CNC technology to the business in 2020 opened the door to signage production. What began as a simple engraved house sign soon revealed the growing demand for sustainable timber signage – setting Hartwood Timber on a new path within the sign industry.
The beginning
Founded in 2013, by owner Robert Joslin, the company originally started off by creating spiral staircases, kitchen workshops, and other timber furniture by hand. Since its creation, the company has prided itself on being a sustainable, unique timber product-making business.
Robert mentioned how he prides himself on using traditional woodworking techniques, alongside bespoke designing, and routing by CNC technology. He said: “The majority of our sign production also involves bespoke CAD design work, traditional woodcraft techniques, and hand-finishing, which are central to what we do as a small independent timber workshop and ensure we are adaptable to the individual needs of our customers.”
He continued by saying that the combination of traditional and modern tools, was in order to create high-quality sustainable timber signage which was more accessible rather than relying on predominantly machinery made signage.
Robert said: “I ended up buying a CNC machine and the first thing I made was a house sign. I typed in ‘your name’ text and took a photo of it and I put it on eBay. I started selling lots of signs, and I thought,
Robert Joslin, owner of Hartwood Timber
this is something that can add value to timber. So it started purely by chance. “Then in the first lockdown, the number of orders started coming through from people wanting signs because they couldn’t do anything and were all at home doing DIY. That really exploded Hartwood Timber in to the signage industry.” The boom of interest in signage during the lockdown, has led to Robert, and his sales and office co-ordinator – and CAD designer – Sarah, working with nationally recognised names, including the National Trust on their wayfinding signage and the Mounted Police’s stable signs.
The warmth of timber Timber is a versatile material, being used for outdoor and indoor furniture, ornaments, accessories and even signage.
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The uses of timber are many, and Robert’s love for the unique material is what has kept him away from the standard plastic-based materials. Robert said: “Timber is a very warming product, people know oak, they know timbers like this. With plastic or metal, its very functional and lasts a long time, but with timber every piece is completely unique. You get the grain, the colour, and I just think it’s something which gives the character of a lot of buildings.” Robert is not only the owner of Hartwood Timber, but also the craftsman. However, creating timber signage from hand alone can be incredibly costly for the client. So, by using a blend of Robert’s traditional woodworking techniques, with modern machinery input, timber sign making has been made more affordable for Robert’s customers.
www.signupdate.co.uk
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