Signatory

Famous Signatures Through History

John Hancock 1776

Signed the Declaration of Independence so large that "John Hancock" became American slang for "signature." Legend says he wanted King George III to read it without spectacles.

William Shakespeare c. 1616

Only six confirmed signatures survive — and he never spelled his own name the same way twice. Variations include "Shakp," "Shakspe," and "Shakspeare."

Napoleon Bonaparte c. 1804

His signature visibly deteriorated over his career — from a bold "Bonaparte" during triumphs to a childlike scrawl during his final exile on Saint Helena.

George Washington 1787

His signed copy of the Constitution sold for $9.8 million in 2012 — the most expensive autograph ever sold at auction.

Salvador Dalí c. 1970

Signed an estimated 350,000 blank sheets and sold them — each worth $40 just for the signature. This led to over $625 million in fake Dalí art.

Elizabeth I c. 1580

Her enormous, elaborately flourished "Elizabeth R" could span several inches. The ornate complexity also served as an early anti-forgery measure.

How to Design Your Signature

Start by writing your full name in cursive a few times. Don't think about style yet — just get comfortable with the flow of the letters. After a few rounds, you'll notice which letters feel natural to connect and which ones you want to emphasize. Most signatures evolve from here: a stylized version of your actual name, not something invented from scratch.

Pick one letter to anchor the whole thing. Usually it's your first or last initial. Make it a little larger, a little more expressive — that's the letter people's eyes land on first. Everything else can stay loose around it. This focal point is what gives a signature its character.

Now speed up. The best signatures are fast to write. As you practice at speed, you'll naturally start dropping letters, merging strokes, cutting corners. That's not sloppiness — that's your signature finding itself. The parts you skip become just as distinctive as the parts you keep.

Add one flourish. An underline, a loop on a descender, a swooping tail off the last letter. One is elegant. Two starts looking busy. The flourish also makes your signature harder to forge, since it's a motion that becomes muscle memory for you but is tough for someone else to replicate.

Practice until signing feels automatic — like you're not thinking about individual letters anymore. Fifty repetitions usually gets you there. You'll settle into a natural rhythm, and the slight variations between each one are what make a signature look human rather than mechanical.

One last thing: consider where you'll use it. Legal documents and contracts need a signature that's at least partially legible — someone should be able to connect it to your printed name. But for everyday use, emails, creative work? It can be as abstract as you like.

Frequently Asked Questions