A classic crest for a barber shop
Traditional barbers have always used heraldic signs. How to design a crest for the window, the cards and the chair, with an example drawn for gilding.
The barber’s heraldry
Barbering is one of the oldest trades with its own heraldry. London’s Barbers’ Company has held arms for centuries, and the striped pole outside a shop is itself a kind of emblem. A traditional barber shop with a crest on the window belongs to that line.
Fairfax & Sons
Illustrative scene made from a real Fable design; not a photograph of a delivered order.
Fairfax & Sons carry gold and black chequered arms with a black tower, on cards laid on a marble counter beside a straight razor and a shaving brush. The design is bold enough to gild on glass and simple enough to print on an appointment card.
The design itself
A design made with Fable Heraldry: a decorative emblem, not a grant of arms.
Chequers, a tower, a helmet and flowing mantling: classic, symmetrical, readable from across the street. That is what a window crest needs.
Choosing your charges
Crossed razors, scissors, a comb, a tower for a family name, a lion for a bold shop. Black and gold is the classic barber pairing; navy and cream feels softer. Keep it to two colours if you plan to gild it.
Cards, certificates and gift vouchers
Appointment cards, a gift certificate for a first proper shave, a business card for every chair. The stationery collection lets you write your own words and print them at home or at a printer.
On the window
A sign writer gilds a crest on glass by hand, in gold leaf, in reverse on the inside of the window. Give them a clean file at the size of the window and keep fine lines to a minimum. A good gilded crest outlasts most shopfittings.
Start
Fable draws a crest from your shop’s name and story, free to preview. The Business pack gives you commercial use in writing, brand files for the web and the business stationery collection: letterhead, business cards, appointment cards, certificates, invoices and notepads. A Fable crest is a decorative emblem, not a grant of arms.