Hand Lettering for beginners by Beatrice Cho
This book is for anyone who is interested to pick up hand lettering.
The Colophon COPYRIGHT 2016, all rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced in any form, expect for the inclusions of brief quotation in review, without permission in writing from the author/publisher. Designed by Beatrice Cho Printed at Lotai Printing Enterprise 2022 Bukit Batok Industrail Park A, Singapore 659527 Fonts used Playfair Display Type & Lato Type Paper are from RJ Paper 115 Defu Lane 10, Singapore 539228 Paper used Maple Bright 220 gsm Maple White 100 gsm
Hand lettering is for everyone, in this workbook, it aims to teach anyone who has interest in hand lettering. This workbook is a beginner’s guidebook to hand lettering. It aims to teach the basics and fundamental aspects of hand lettering. This book is filled with tips for beginners to better their hand lettering skills and different hand lettering exercises for one to work on. The book covers typography basics and hand lettering basics. Through these exercises, it encourages designers to sketch more and be fearless about their expression. This entire process trains their creativity and grooms them into better designers & creative thinkers.
CONTENT
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BEN JOHNSTON Follow @benjohnston25 to see more of his works. Web:benjohnston.ca
GET HANDSY CREATIVE LETTERING FOR BEGINNERS
CONTENT
GET HANDSY CREATIVE LETTERING FOR BEGINNERS
The book will guide you through the basics of hand lettering through exercises, bringing you a step closer to mastering hand lettering. Are you excited? Jump straight into the world of hand lettering!
Chapters 1
U N D E RS TA ND ING T H E BASI CS
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2
E X E RC I S E S
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3
B E I N SP I R E D
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4
K E E P P R AC T I CI N G
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BEFORE YOU START
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GET HANDSY CREATIVE LETTERING FOR BEGINNERS
In our everyday life, we use text to communicate. However, many neglect the use of text. Hence, with hand lettering, it allows one to understand the use of text and the potential of hand lettering.
The purpose of hand lettering is bringing letters to live. Each letter has a soul and a life within them which has the potential of evoking a particular mood. Through hand lettering, the aim is to control this, how to bring out the “best mood” within the letters. This could be done by integrating these elements, which would be revealed in this book. Controlling these elements will heighten designer’s ability and sensitivity towards font pairing, the ability to create new letter forms. Getting closer to mastering the the soul of of hand lettering, of bringing letters to life. Hand lettering, the art of creating custom letters. These connections and interactions between letters helps one to understand how letters are formed, heightens one awareness. Comparatively to letters found in font or a typeface, when single letters are created to pair with any others in the team. Hand lettering is the art of creating an artwork, which allow letters to all come together to form a perfect unification.
GET YOUR SUPPLIES READY!
GET HANDSY CREATIVE LETTERING FOR BEGINNERS
This will come in handy later, have fun!
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Now you’re ready, put on your favourite music and time to get handsy!
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COLI N TIERNEY Follow @tierneystudio to see more of his works. Web: tierneystudio.com
Learn the basics, understand how letter forms are form and break those rules. Start hand lettering today and see the possibilities it can bring.
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Chapter
UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS! Welcome to the world of hand lettering! Now you got to start with the basics, such as understanding the individual letter forms and how it is created. This would allow you to gain a deeper understanding of how letter forms are formed and be more sensitive towards letter forms. This would allow you to break the letter form structure and make new onesallowing you to be more creative in creating new forms with your lettering.
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ASCENDERS
CAP HEIGHT
TITLE
EAR
SHOULDER X- HEIGHT
LINK TERMINAL
BASELINE
Anatomy
DESCENDERS
BRACKET
ARM
STEM
APEX
LOOP
STROKE
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BALL TERMINAL SCRIPT
UPPER CASE
CLOSED COUNTER
SAN SERIF
BOWLS
DECORATIVE
TAIL
HAIRLINE SERIF
APPETURE
SERIF
SLAB SERIF
HOOK
AXIS UPPER CASE
CURVED EDGE SAN SERIF
CUPPED SERIF
SWASH
CROSSBAR
EYE LOWER CASE
OPEN COUNTER
OPEN BOWL
AMPERSAND
In a letter, there are different segments and they all have names for them, to make up their shape. Get to know what are the names of the segments and this may help you out in your hand lettering practice!
SPINE
BEAK
FILIGREE
FILLET
Meet the families
SERIF LIGATURE 13
LOBE
SAN SERIF
THIN
ARC BLACK LETTER
LIGHT
REGULAR
BOLD
ITALIC
EXTENDED
CONDENSED
SCRIPT
DINGBAT 3-DIMENSIONAL TYPE DECORATIVE
REPRESENTATIONAL TYPE
GEMOMETRICAL TYPE
FREESTYLE TYPE FREESTYLE
Do you remember? These are some exercises to test you on the anatomy of type, and seeing what are the other things you can do when you understand the basic structure of a letter form. Lets try to refresh your memory!
Do you know your Letters? 14
Using type properties, fill in type anatomy chart below!
Which family you’re from? Each letter below comes from a different family, help them out and fill in the blanks.
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After understanding the basic form of the letter forms, lets make things more fun by breaking them up and inject an element of fun into it. These are some exercises to test you on the anatomy of type and seeing what are the things you can do with a letter form. Break the structure!
Tails
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Crossbars
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Beaks
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Counters
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Brackets
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Ampersands
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SEAN MC CABE Follow @seanwes to see more of his works. Web: learnlettering.com
Now that you have understand the basics. Go wild and break some rules, there is no parameters to lettering except your creativity! You’re only limited by your own creativity.
2 Chapter
EXERCISES!
After understanding the basics, here are some exercises you could do to get yourself familiar and understanding hand lettering better. We have to understand the basic type structure before dismantling everything else to create something phenomenal don’t we! Most importantly, the understanding of basic allow us to be weary and make sure letters still look like letters- alphabet! Now set your mind free and think of the possibilities you can do with lettering!
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Many of us are afraid to copy others, it’s fine, if you’re picking it up try copy them right as practice! Practice now by copying them right!
Trace the letters 24
ABCDEF GHIJKLM NOPQRST UVWXYZ
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TIP!
Document the process of copying down and add a date to every copy session and you can witness yourself improving overtime.
Many of us are afraid to copy others, it’s fine, if you’re picking it up try copy them right as practice! Practice now by copying them right!
Trace the letters 26
abcdef ghijklm nopqrst uvwxyz
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TIP!
Document the process of copying down and add a date to every copy session and you can witness yourself improving overtime.
Playing with letters SERIF
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You can make some with smaller width or playing with the height of the serifs, all these little changes, make our serif so much more interesting! Try and create some new serifs letters on your own!
POSSIBLE SERIFS
You can adjust some parts of the serif and that will create more variations and you will be able to find a best serif for your letters. This allow many different variations of customisation for your own letter! Think of the possibilities.
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DECORATIVE
ASCENDERS
Playing with letters SAN SERIF
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San Serifs and script- Similarly, to serifs, you can add some embellishments, like extended tails or treatment to your script of san serif to make them look unique and different from the rest of the letters out there!
CURVED SAN SERIFS
SLANTED SAN SERIFS
You can adjust some parts of the san serif and that will create more variations and you will be able to find a best san serif for your letters. This allow many different variations of customisation for your own letter! Think of the possibilities.
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CUT SAN SERIFS
DIAMOND SAN SERIFS
POSSIBLE SAN SERIFS
Playing with Shapes When it comes to hand lettering, shapes are really important. Drawing shapes helps you plan your layout and help you visualise your ideas more efficiently. Here are some examples of shapes and forms you can play with.
Why is it important to understand this?
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PLAY WITH SUBTRACT AND ADDING OF SHAPES. DISSECT THE SHAPES AND HAVE FUN WITH THEM AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN COME UP WITH!
Understanding what’s important and what to emphasis on and this helps in layout and etc.
This exercise of playing with shapes, is a good way to help you to make new layouts and create something out of the norm. On top of that, creativity is in your own hands! Be wild and come up with different shapes, it’s all about breaking the rules and traditional grid system! Lets try to make it work!
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HERE ARE SOME OTHER SHAPES THAT YOU COULD ALSO PLAY WITH! TRY THEM OUT!
How is it done? Jonathan Ball shares his design process of how important planning is and how shapes helps her through her design process of hand lettering.
“There is No Substitute for Hard Work”
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Before kickstarting any project, Jonathan would try to toy around with words, just to warm up and get the mood of the entire piece. He usually would focus on the word she like emphasis on. In this case, it’s “Hard Work”, he will go on adding elements to reinforce the idea. Jonathan would then move on to brainstorming some visuals to view in with her hand lettered words. He would consider using various objects, such as work gloves, boots, a uniform, or tools, but I think it would be better with a character in this case, to bring out the idea of “hard work”. So after a little brainstroming, he came up with the idea of illustrating an ant carrying the bottle. There’s no other creature he can think of that works any harder or longer. Plus, the emphasis can still remain on the phrase. Before tackling the type within the label of the bottle, he did some bottle shape explorations. Since the bottle shape will dictate the form of the composition.
A letterer and a typographic designer in Seattle, Washington. Jonathan Ball has been drawing letters for as long as he can remember, but only recently started drawing them more correctly. Jonathan works are loud and vibrant! In the recent years, he suffered from a very unhealthy obsession with all things concerning type. The most recent symptom of this infatuation is font creation. Check out more of his works at jonathanballdesign.com.
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He will decide on which shapes he likes and move forward, #2 or #4, and played around with some thumbnail layouts, above. He would also explore a few more letter forms.
After working on a couple of thumbnails, he would pick the ideal one and enlarge it further. He would first draw out a sketch with the letters in. He would then play around with some decorations and see which is the ideal one. After much considerations, he would choose the decorations he think suits the theme most and execute it.
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Now it’s your turn to explore! Flip to the next page and try out some exercises.
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Here are some new grids you could explore. Get out of your comfort zones now and start to break some rules! Playing with the grids is helpful when it comes to lettering, as it allow you to come up with new layouts to present your lettering!
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There is no time for Rules! Look at how Risa Rodil did her amazing works by breaking the grid and come up with different layouts and variations.
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A letterer, designer and an illustrator from Phillippines. Risa a passionate multimedia designer, loves working with bright colours. Her lettered works revolves around brightly coloured typography. She would also weave in retro illustrations into her works. Check out more of his works at risarodil.com.
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Using the handy ruler, try to try out the various shapes available and come up with new Grids for your lettering. Learn the rules and now you can break them! 42
Sometimes when you are doing hand lettering for awhile, we might be too caught up with stylizing and dressing the letter up, that we forget to break away from the traditional grid’s layout. Hand lettering is fun and quirky and customizable at the same time. Now fill in the grids with whichever quotes of your choice, and play around with it.
Grab your handy ruler for this exercise!
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Step One: Use the handy ruler, choose a shape of your preference. Step Two: Letter your own name within the outlined shape of your preference. Step Three: Fill the shape with an ideal colour and colour your lettering with another colour.
Grab your handy ruler for this exercise!
Artwork by Jonathoan Benson
TIP!
Decide on a shape before sketching in the letters. This way, it will help you in sketching your letters in.
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Step One: Use the handy ruler, choose a shape of your preference. Step Two: Using your name again, use those letters to form the chosen shape. Step Three: Fill the type with a colour and you’re done!
Grab your handy ruler for this exercise!
Artwork by Jonathoan Benson
TIP!
Decide on a shape before sketching in the letters. This way, it will help you in sketching your letters in.
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Emphasis Marta Harding shares her design process of how important planning is and how shapes helps her through her design process of hand lettering.
“You’re as sweet as a peach.”
Before kick starting a project, warming up is always recommended. This could really get you into the mood and think of what kind of possible ideas are there to tackle your lettering project! What Marta did was she started out some lettering styles and she knew from there, she wanted something simple and elegant with hints of nostalgia.
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So she will then move on to the next step of her project, sketching thumbnails! Realised how she had emphasis on “Sweet” and “Peach” as those are the words she would want it to stand out more form the rest.
TIP!
You can think of objects or elements to infuse into your lettering works to bring it to life! Such as borders and banners!
A letterer, graphic designer and an art director in San Francisco. Marta Harding is a lover of all things pretty. Born and raised in South Carolina. She love to explore different forms of lettering and usually weaving illustrations into her works to help bring liveliness to her works. She love using fun and attractive colours to bring her lettered works to live! Check out more of her works at cargocollective.com/martaharding.
You can see the below, how Marta came up with a few layout and composition, playing with the shapes and hierarchy of letters. This helps create a great hand lettering piece. Usually after working with a couple of sketches, Marta would choose the one she likes the most and she would move onto an enlarge version of the particular composition. This way, it allow her to add in more details into the letters.
TIP!
Deciding that before starting on a lettering project, helps you shape your compositions easier and come up with many different ideas!
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Understanding Shapes Try to figure out what shapes did Marta use when she is doing her layouts. Understanding the shapes, you will realise those words she choose to emphasis on are usually found in a bigger shape. Try it out!
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Step One: Write down your chosen phrase or quote.
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Step Two: Circle the words you want to emphasis. This is important because it helps you to define the hierarchy by circling the important words. Step Three: Create an outline for the words, a shape to reflect the message. Experiment with the shape canvas.
Write above and circle the word you wish to emphasis.
Grab your handy ruler for this exercise!
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Now that you’re half way through the exercises. Try mixing it all up! Create new letter forms with serifs and san serifs. Come up with different compositions with the help of simple shapes! If you’re really lost! Use the handy ruler to help get you through this exercise! Now go wild and mix them up and get creative in creating some new layouts.
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Grab your handy ruler for this exercise!
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Deco.Deco.Deco. Lets try out some decorations to dress up your letters! Here are some of the simple ways of decoration. Think of it as a plant, such as, Leafs, thorns inner stem or combine all of these above.
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There is so much to play with when it comes to decorating your letters. You can try adding some leaves and thorns onto your letters. Mix them up, have the in alternate ways or tilt them at a certain degree. Just be wild in adding those decorations!
SINGLE LEAF
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DOUBLE LEAVES
SINGLE THORN
DOUBLE THORN
Play with Deco Now try Mixing up the shapes and create some new layouts. Here are some of the common praising seen, and you can apply it with text and create one of your own. Try it out!
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SINGLE/DOUBLE STEMS
REVERSE STEMS
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DISSECTING STEMS
Hello there Shadow Drop shadows are good way to decorate and dress up your letters. Here are some examples! Loosen up and sketch! See what kind of shadows do you like for your letters!
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Creating new forms Create new forms from inspired subjects or images. If you cannot think of any, please choose from the following. *Circle the chosen theme. Fruits, Animals, Vehicles, Places, Travel, Food.
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UNDERSTAND HOW THE FORM WORK AND FLOW, AND SLOWLY TRY TO BREAK THE FORM AND CREATE NEW ONES. I CHOSE A SIMPLE FONT AND SLOWLY BROKE IT DOWN! NOW TRY IT!
USING YOUR FAVOURITE FONT AS REFERENCE, DRAW OUT A SIMPLE LETTER FIRST AND START EXPLORING!
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Mixing it all up Now that you have completed all exercises, it’s time for you to proceed on to the trying out of different themes and exploration, to better yourself from all the exercises.
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Artwork by Raul Alejandro
A letterer, designer and an illustrator from New York. Raul graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, with a heavy concentration in Motion Graphics and Typography. He is currently working as a graphic designer at Nike. He is adventurous and always looking out for lettering projects that inspires him. Check out more of his works at iamraulalejandro.com.
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From the previous works by Raul Alejandro, look at how he uses different Patterns, Shapes, Textures, Decorative, Script to come up with a lettering piece! You can also try to weave in illustrations if it helps you to covey the intended message you are delivering across. Have fun!
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Representational Think out of the box, and think of a preferred quote and weave in inspired objects to represent the word.
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Artwork by Petra Eriksson
A letterer, designer and an illustrator from Sweden. She is a compulsive drawer with a love for dots and bright colours! She loves to break boundaries and explore out of her comfort zones! Her hand lettered works are usually representational where she break the traditional letterforms and come up with her own! Check out more of her works at petraeriksson.com.
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STEPHANIE CREEKMUR Follow @stephaniecreekmur to see more of her works. Web: stephaniecreekmur.com
You got lucky! Get to know how letterers tackle their projects to help you through your own hand lettering journey! 71
3 Chapter
BE INSPIRED
Now that you have mastered the exercises, it is time for you to up your game! If you’re a keen learner of hand lettering or a type-enthusiast, gear up and be ready! It might not be easy from the start to keep a habit of practicing your letters, but time will tell! Here are some of the useful nify tips for your “letter-war”!
TOOLS FOR AN ADVENTURE
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GET READY FOR THE HAND LETTERING JOURNEY AHEAD
The best design software is between your ears, so keep it upgraded by looking, reading, and questioning, and learn to think with a pencil in your hand. Andy Gossett
Now that you have mastered the basics of lettering. It is time for you to get familiar with the tools for hand lettering. The tools required are simple and inexpensive. Many of the items might be already found in your pencil cases. These tools includes: mechanical pencil, brush pen, fine tip marker, broad tip marker, pencil, chisel tip marker, water ink, sharpener, compass, brushes (flat and pointed) pen nibs, nib holder, scrap paper, tracing paper, eraser, ruler (grid ruler is recommended) and eraser shield. For starters, these are some of the simpler tools for hand lettering. However, overtime, feel free to experiment with new brushes, nibs or even paint!
TIP!
Looking for a set of good drawing tools? My personal recommendation would be Micro pens, permanent, precision tip and consistent ink flow. A pencil for sketching is also important. A mechanical pencil is preferred for making lines that are fine and light.
TOOLS FOR AN ADVENTURE
GET READY FOR THE HAND LETTERING JOURNEY AHEAD
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JACKSON ALVES Follow @jackdzn to see more of his works. Web: jacksonalves.com
BE INSPIRED
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SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
If you’re serious about lettering. You just got lucky! Here are some professional letterers around the world, sharing their insights on how they kick start their very own project! Using reference material is an essential resource to help you to grow and develop your own personal style as a letterer. Historic references are one of the best examples, with a rich source of inspiration for lettering. Personally, I have found my inspiration everywhere, from painted signs to branding on packaging. Letters are found everywhere, you just got to have a look out for it! Finding inspiration is important, it helps you shape your personal style overtime. Keep practicing the exercises in this book and when you’re ready, work on your sketches for your works by memory. This way, it allows you to create your own personal lettering works with your own style! Here are some of the letterers where they share their own personal take on how they tackle a brief!
BE INSPIRED
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
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Work in progress sketch by Jeff Rogers
BE INSPIRED
Lisa Lorek How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
“I researched the quote or lyric to learn about the origin and see if there’s anyway I can tie it into the composition.
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Then I sketch out the phrase and see where to add line breaks and which words to call out. Next, I research different font styles to get inspiration for styles and details. The process I go through is usually half research, then sketching and finalizing the design using ink or paint. I love to look up projects on Behance, Designspiration, and Instagram. Then I pick out a few images, create a mood board, and sketch out the composition based on elements of the mood board. I sketch until I’m happy with the composition and fill it all in!
Follow @lisalorek to see more of her works. Web: behance.net/lisalorek
BE INSPIRED
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
Scott Biersack How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
Every project is completely different but the one thing that stays constant is the research portion. Before any project begins, I need to research whatever subject, ideology, phrase, etc. that I’m drawing. It’s always good to have knowledge of what you’re drawing or why you’re even drawing it. Making connections and have a consistency throughout your project is crucial. With the research, you’ll know exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. The client will have a much deeper connection with the final product if there’s meaning and reason behind what I do. Even though every project is different, I try to streamline my process to make each project flow smoothly. There are about 4 stages to my process. Beginning with research (studying the who, what, when, where, why, etc), then developing concept sketches (very rough sketches to get the ideas flowing on paper). Next, I would finalize 2 or 3 concepts (taking those rough sketches and fine-tuning them into a completed idea). Lastly, creating a final deliverable for the client (most of the time this means a completed vector file ready for print purposes).
Follow @youbringfire to see more of his works. Web: scottbiersack.com
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BE INSPIRED
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
Jonathan Benson How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
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I have to hear a phrase, quote, saying, etc. that really sticks with me. There has to be a passion behind my pencil or I won’t be motivated enough to create. Then I search Instagram, designspiration.net or whatever for a type style that’s inspired me. One of the few accounts on Instagram I can always count on is “DANDRAWNWORDS” or “TOBIASSAUL”. I start by writing down a phrase plainly, just in a single line. I usually then count the words to start getting an idea of how to balance and arrange the words. Then I do some thumbnail quick sketches to try out some layouts and type styles. Once I find a sketch I like, I’ll begin a larger, more detailed pencil drawing. This is usually where I stop and post to the Internet unless the work is commissioned. Then I will scan the sketch and move it to the computer but I’m usually dissatisfied with a computer render. I’d prefer to ink a drawing by hand and use the computer just to clean up little details.
Follow @jonbensondesigns to see more of his works. Web: behance.net/jonbensondesigns
BE INSPIRED
How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
“Grab a pencil and a paper, sketch till you’re happy with how it looks. Scan, clean it up, print and set aside. Look at it with a pair of fresh eyes the next day. If I’m happy with it, I might even do a little dance after.
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Jacqueline Goh
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
Follow @thefingersmithletterpress to see more of her works. Web: thefingersmithletterpress.com
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Dan Lee How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
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SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
“I get an idea, sketch out a thumbnail, and experiment with different styles — sometimes i know exactly what style I want to use, other times it takes a few tries to find one that fits. I make sketches to figure out proportions and an overall look.
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BE INSPIRED
Sometimes this is just a light penciling on the page, with lots of erasing till I get something satisfactory; other times it is a separate page full of experimentation. Hahah see above! I always also step back or hold the drawing away from me to determine if the proportions and balance of the piece are good. My final artwork varies — sometimes it’s just a polished sketch that gets scanned and cleaned up, or photographed in its raw form. Other times I’ll import it into Photoshop, clean it up with a trace and some brush magic.
Follow @dandrawnwords to see more of his works. Web: danleedesignstudio.com
BE INSPIRED
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
Karen Domingo How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
Foremost, I need something to write! Sometimes it’s a word, a phrase, a short quote. I typically do not use long sentences or phrases over ten words. I begin with thumbnail sketches, and occasionally I sketch the actual lettering, but primarily, I draw the shapes of the words high rectangles, squares, ovals. Having the shapes, I then arrange the shapes into a layout, and play with emphasis/size, spacing, and direction. Next, I play with different letter styles to see what would capture the emotion of the phrase. I typically have a queue of the same type of lettering styles, many of them influenced by post Victorian Era, Art Nouveau, and copperplate calligraphy. Once I have the outline and style set, the bulk of the process is spent with drafting, copying onto tracing paper, and revising. I often photograph my work, look at it in the mirror, look at it upside down, or inverse the colors; something about the contrast that allows me to catch flaws otherwise unseen. I finalize with inking and cleaning off erasing lines, then sending off to the printer.
Follow @ks.domingo to see more of her works. Web: ksdomingo.com
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BE INSPIRED
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Kiko Ardiansjah How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
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Start with finding some ideas, sometimes looking for words or sentences that you want to communicate are the most difficult task in the process. What’s the story behind the project, and so on. Or, if I had an idea of composition, how it looks as a visual block, that will also can be a start, whichever comes first. Research and observing other’s works also great for us to have inspirations for the project. Below is the process on how I produce lettering artwork: First, I begin with some rough sketches (thumbnail), simple line drawing, no need to draw properly at this stage, the purpose is just to find basic composition, shape of overall layout and selecting priority words in a sentence. I will move on to creating proper sketch(es) with guidelines on selected paper. After this process, I will proceed to outlining, refining and cleaning up my sketches. Next, I will try on some colours. This allow me to see initial look and feel and I will add effects in at the same time, such as shadows and hightlights, etc. Sometimes if it is necessary, I would add some graphic elements, such as filigree, lines, curves, floral, stars, leafs, foliage, etc. Lastly, the finishing touch is a lot about detailing.
Follow @regalisapertura to see more of his works.
BE INSPIRED
How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
“I will draw very loosely in order to come with composition ideas and I will do many of these rough sketches in order to explore the possibilities for possible forms.
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Jeff Rogers
SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
Follow @frogers to see more of his works. Web: howdyjeff.com
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Scotty Russell How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
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SEEK FOR INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
“I will start with thumbnail size sketches that I keep I keep in a sketchbook with me at all times. As I progress, I will develop and refine the piece and if it calls for it, I will digitize it within Adobe Illustrator.
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BE INSPIRED
I will typically use the Pen Tool to recreate the hand drawn piece. If the piece needs more refined I will print it out and refine it by hand again than rescan it into the computer to polish up. It’s a process of working analog to digital to analog and back again.
Follow @Prspctv_cllctv to see more of his works. Web: perspective-collective.com
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Anthony Hos How do you usually start a new project? How is your design process like?
Firstly there is the research stage. If this project is being completed for a client this is a very important process to gauge what your client is wanting and what style of hand lettering they are gravitating towards. This can eliminate loads of wasted hours working in a direction that the client may not even like in the first place. After a select few images and styling examples are chosen I then get to work sketching out very basic layouts using the words that are to be produced in the hand lettering piece. This is also important so that the final article is composed nicely and looks balanced. Then once this is figured out I go to work looking more at the letterforms themselves and how flourishes and other aspects of the composition look like. I then would go back to the client with a number of concepts (that are still reasonably rough) and get them to select their most preferred option(s). When this is decided I enter into what I call the development phase, which is basically ironing out all the creases and inaccuracies of the type until a near final hand lettering piece is produced. If the client is happy I will then maybe re-draw this and vectorise it on the mac. And Vwallah! The final hand lettering piece is complete.
Follow @anthonyjhos to see more of his works. Web: pinterest.com/anthonyjhos/typography/
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GENEVA VANDERZEIL Happy days ahead! Start lettering today and make it a habit! A DIY practice by Geneva, check out her DIY lettering project here: http://apairandasparediy.com/2013/04/diy-hand-lettering.html
Never say no to doodling. Keep your passion burning! Start by keeping a notebook to jolt down ideas when you have! 87
4 Chapter
KEEP PRACTICING! They say practice makes perfect! If you are on your journey to become a fine hand lettering artist, use the practice sheets to help guide you through your projects and construct new letters. I would recommend using this as a guideline and start small projects. Overtime, this would help you boost a little confident and you can start working on bigger hand lettering projects! Get your pencils out now and start doodling!
Theme One:
88
TIP!
Before you embark on this journey! If you can’t think of anything or anywhere to begin, use the checklist on the right to help you out! Think of a adjective or an inspiration to help you out. Have fun!
Inspiration: TYPE FAMILIES
STYLING
SERIF
BLACK LETTER
ROUNDED
STEM
DROP SHADOW
SAN SERIF
SCRIPT
FREESTYLE
THORN
LOWER CASE
SLAB SERIF
DECORATIVE
3-DIMENSIONAL
LEAF
UPPER CASE
89
Theme Two:
90
TIP!
Before you embark on this journey! If you can’t think of anything or anywhere to begin, use the checklist on the right to help you out! Think of a adjective or an inspiration to help you out. Have fun!
Inspiration: TYPE FAMILIES
STYLING
SERIF
BLACK LETTER
ROUNDED
STEM
DROP SHADOW
SAN SERIF
SCRIPT
FREESTYLE
THORN
LOWER CASE
SLAB SERIF
DECORATIVE
3-DIMENSIONAL
LEAF
UPPER CASE
91
Theme Three:
92
TIP!
Before you embark on this journey! If you can’t think of anything or anywhere to begin, use the checklist on the right to help you out! Think of a adjective or an inspiration to help you out. Have fun!
Inspiration: TYPE FAMILIES
STYLING
SERIF
BLACK LETTER
ROUNDED
STEM
DROP SHADOW
SAN SERIF
SCRIPT
FREESTYLE
THORN
LOWER CASE
SLAB SERIF
DECORATIVE
3-DIMENSIONAL
LEAF
UPPER CASE
93
Theme Four:
94
TIP!
Before you embark on this journey! If you can’t think of anything or anywhere to begin, use the checklist on the right to help you out! Think of a adjective or an inspiration to help you out. Have fun!
Inspiration: TYPE FAMILIES
STYLING
SERIF
BLACK LETTER
ROUNDED
STEM
DROP SHADOW
SAN SERIF
SCRIPT
FREESTYLE
THORN
LOWER CASE
SLAB SERIF
DECORATIVE
3-DIMENSIONAL
LEAF
UPPER CASE
95
Theme Five:
96
TIP!
Before you embark on this journey! If you can’t think of anything or anywhere to begin, use the checklist on the right to help you out! Think of a adjective or an inspiration to help you out. Have fun!
Inspiration: TYPE FAMILIES
STYLING
SERIF
BLACK LETTER
ROUNDED
STEM
DROP SHADOW
SAN SERIF
SCRIPT
FREESTYLE
THORN
LOWER CASE
SLAB SERIF
DECORATIVE
3-DIMENSIONAL
LEAF
UPPER CASE
97
Because there is so much more to hand lettering you couldn’t get enough.
Art work by Jeff Rogers
Overview Get Handsy is an exercise book that will teach you all the essentials to hand lettering. Inside you will find exercises which will equip you with the basic skills of lettering and allow you to gain a deeper understanding of how to apply them to your own projects. The rest of this book is filled with guided practice pages and practice sheets for you to play around with. Some of the pages are totally open-ended where you can freely design your unique hand lettered works. It doesn’t matter if you’re a well trained designer or not, this book is for anyone who is interested to find out more and explore the possibilities of hand lettering.
CREATIVITY.ART.LETTERING $25.00 £12.50 €25.00 ISBN 928-0-839-18280-1
9 8320 0384 1849 0274 1