Paul Barclay - from Dartmouth to St Tropez

When I started the magazine back in 2008, I took a conscious decision to create a magazine logo that was immediately identifiable as belonging to Dartmouth. Our connection with Dartmouth began as second homeowners and, like many such residents, we soon amassed a collection of Paul Barclay illustrations. Paul’s signature writing was increasingly ubiquitous around Dartmouth and it was an obvious choice to get him to ‘sign write’ our logo. A quick contra of logo for an advert and By The Dart was born! The logo hasn’t changed since, and likely never will.

I visited Paul in his studio at 1, Oxford Street in Dartmouth last month to reflect on how the Paul Barclay brand has developed and grown over the intervening years. Paul has been in his current shop/studio for 12 years – previously he was above Alf’s for 4 years. Ten years ago, Paul’s main focus was on his illustrations of local buildings and customers’ yachts as well as much sign writing around the town. He was, however, just starting to develop the brand onto other merchandise. His illustrations and trademark signature were instantly recognisable and his connection with Dartmouth was obvious to all. Residents and visitors alike were either commissioning their own drawings or getting Paul personally to sign his standard artwork so that they would be reminded of their time in Dartmouth

Commissions to draw customers’ yachts were beginning to grow fast ten years ago as word of mouth spread not just in Dartmouth but along the south coast and quickly overseas, especially amongst the Sunseeker and superyacht fraternity based mainly out of the south of France. This latter work has grown rapidly ever since with Paul having secured hundreds of such commissions almost entirely via word of mouth.

Dartmouth’s close connection with the Royal Navy through the BRNC has also spurred commissions to draw not just Royal Navy ships but also ships of overseas navies. Countless warships, submarines etc have since been given the Paul Barclay® touch. It’s not unusual for personalised signed prints then to be given to every crew member. 180 such signed prints have recently been ordered for the crew of HMS Torbay.

It is no surprise that Paul was recently asked to draw the entire fleet of Brittany Ferries. Paul’s illustrations will soon be available for sale on board the ships as well as on other, specially commissioned, merchandise like he did for Crew Clothing nationwide. 

Requests to draw the PB ‘yacht’ on customers’ clothing led Paul to experiment with

embroidering his brand on 20 white Swedish yachting jackets bought specially for the purpose. Such has been their popularity, especially amongst visitors and second homeowners, that this branding experiment soon expanded onto a wide range of clothing and merchandise, the latter mostly orientated to home furnishings e.g. cushions, lampshades etc. When Paul’s wife, Marianne (who was a school governor for four years and Head of Languages for 20 years at Dartmouth Community College, now Dartmouth Academy), joined the business full time, the merchandising side of the business built up rapidly – it is now on 42 products and growing… Embroidered clothing is obviously contracted out but Paul still personally illustrates his signature yacht lampshade and wrapping paper. The clothing side has proved popular and both Paul and Marianne ‘dress the brand’.

The signature Yacht logo has developed over the years, adding a bit of colour (red) and the # 8 – the luckiest number in Chinese culture. That development was down to Marianne’s influence.

Paul is also aware that his artistic influence via his ‘official’ logos for the Newcomen Engine House and Mayflower 400 will live long after he hangs up his pens and ink (see here).

Paul is clear that the studio’s proximity to Café Alf Resco and the lower ferry have been important for visitors’ footfall. But the international brand awareness has developed through word of mouth and on line sales (30% of the trade) have grown consistently. 

Paul’s wife Marianne is French (Paul’s grasp of French needs a bit of work!) and they are regular visitors to France, especially to the south of France. This has allowed Paul to develop another ‘geographical string to his bow’, such that, his artistic style is increasingly recognisable now in St Tropez. He was particularly honoured when the Port de Saint-Tropez Capitainerie asked him to illustrate their new building for their grand opening in 2017. The original has pride of place in the building welcoming clients to their very prestigious VIP lounge. 

It’s almost certain that we will one day lose Paul to St Tropez. It may not be a permanent loss but it’s another chapter in his life that Paul and Marianne are keen to explore. As he explains, exaggerated partly for effect – “six months of winter and six months of rain… and traffic wardens… eventually loses its appeal!” With such a portable brand and a growing international reputation, it will likely prove a successful move.

The success of the Paul Barclay brand has obviously been due to how creatively he’s been able to exploit his style to maximum effect but it’s also been in large part down to nothing but hard graft – “I live, breathe, dream and work the brand 24/7” he says.  “Every day is different, every commission is something new. I enjoy it greatly and look forward to doing it for many years to come.”

First published By The Dart magazine March 2018 issue

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