Putting your signature on your work is generally seen as the way to show pride in one’s work.

Davis’s artwork occasionally didn’t bear his signature. But this was never due to a lack of pride. There were 4 situations where Davis’s squared-off trademark signature didn’t appear on his work:

1. Some (paying) clients requested no signature. As a commercial artist working for a commission, Davis honored these requests.
2. Some clients didn’t have the nerve to ask an artist to not sign his work. Instead, they erased Davis’s signature or cropped it under a mat frame after receiving the work.
3. Some clients not only requested that Davis not sign his work, but actually signed it themselves! More often than not, this occurred back at the architect’s office… As you can imagine, Davis frowned on this.
4. While working for Francik and Associates, Davis would occasionally moonlight for his own growing base of loyal clients. Fearing that Francik would discover this, Davis occasionally signed his work with his cousins’ surname, Barba.

These were mostly rare cases. In fact, none of the “Barba” work is known to still be in existence.

Regardless of whose signature is on the work, it is still Davis’s artwork and he still got paid to produce it.