Drawing letters for logos, lettering & fonts
Workshop goals Learn/remember some type design fundamentals. Improve the analysis of fonts/lettering and proportions Best practices and time-saving tips when drawing digital letters.
This is my first attempt at drawing type circa 2002. Do not quit!
Content
1 Warm-up exercice 2 Key fundamentals 3 Planning 4 Drawing digital letters 5 Resources
1 Warm-up exercice 2 Key fundamentals 3 Planning 4 Drawing digital letters 5 Resources
Monogram (15-20 minutes). Draw 2-3 name initials in pencil or any kind of writing tool that suits your personality. Try different tools and see how the outcome differs.
Aquecimento
1
1 Warm-up exercice 2 Key fundamentals 3 Planning 4 Drawing digital letters 5 Resources
Fundamentals
Shapes that have the same absolute height‌
2
Fundamentals
…need to be adjusted so they look the same height. Forget math for a minute, type design is all about your eyes!
2
HOA
Fundamentals
The same effect on letters.
2
A
B
Fundamentals
Math centering a vs. optic centering b. Move objects up a little so they look centered (and not falling).
2
Horizontal stems look bigger than vertical. Which of these 2 look balanced?
A
B
B is visually adjusted for this optical illusion. Shorter horizontal stems, middle bar moved up a little so it looks balanced.
A
B
Which of these “io” looks better?
A
B
Increase curved areas so that they match straights. B curves are the same width as the straights, which doesn’t look right.
a: geometric vs optical construction.
These visual compensations are what makes letter more legible and pleasing to the eye. On the right is Futura.
Fundamentals
Bolder fonts will look smaller if they have the same x-height. Increase the x-height of bolder letters to compensate this effect.
2
finesse finesse
Fundamentals
The heavier the letters, the smaller the counters which calls for‌
2
finesse finesse
Fundamentals
‌ an adjustment in spacing so form and counterforms look balanced.
2
Fundamentals
This looks clumsy.
2
Fundamentals
The white spaces are just as important as the letters themselves.
2
Fundamentals
Always smooth out the joins of straight to curved segments. Avoid the “bone effect”.
2
Fundamentals
Do not fear the BĂŠzier curve. Ever!
2
1 Warm-up exercice 2 Key fundamentals 3 Planning 4 Drawing digital letters 5 Resources
Final use Style/Personality Family planning: weights, styles etc. Proportions Legibility
Planning
Some decisions to make
3
3
Bell Centennial: Mathew Carter. Type for newsprint.
Verdana: Mathew Carter. Optimized for screen display.
Planning
Final use
Wayfinding Sans: Ralf Herrmann. Signage.
Akceler Alt: Andrej Dieneš. For sports magazines.
Primot Display Type (Primot/WIP)
Lettering
Guanabara Sans ‘13 Super family – multiple weights and styles.
Planning
Personality/Family Planning
3
3
H
V
Planning
Contrast and style.
H
V
Ax Ax Ax Guanabara Sans | Mrs. Eaves | Maple Black
Planning
Altura de x
3
AxPeles sernatur ad endis endae omnisti onemquatur? Atiatiis quodit, si sum re nus evel et quo temporeri dolessinvel molut exeraTur aut minus ulpa alitat. Voluptae senis ut laborem perumquibus.
AxPeles sernatur ad endis endae omnisti onemquatur? Atiatiis quodit, si sum re nus evel et quo temporeri dolessinvel molut exeraTur aut minus ulpa alitat. Voluptae senis ut laborem perumquibus. 
AxPeles sernatur ad endis endae omnisti onemquatur? Atiatiis quodit, si sum re nus evel et quo temporeri dolessinvel molut exeraTur aut minus ulpa alitat. Voluptae senis ut laborem perumquibus.
Guanabara Sans | Mrs. Eaves | Maple Black | 30/36pt
Planning
x-Height affects word count. Same for condesed/expanded fonts.
3
Hamburgefons Hamburgefons Myriad: Robert Slimbach/Carol Twombly
Planning
Proportions – top is not as well proportioned as bottom. Study time tested fonts and train your eyes for good proportions.
3
Calligraphic origin
ea ea
ea ea
Garamond
Scala Sans
Didot
Helvetica
Planning
3
3
Niels Shoe Meulman
Planning
Calligraphic origin
Tony DiSpigna
2
milliliter
Planning
Legibility Erik Spiekermann
milliliter
Guanabara Sans lowercas l is adjusted to be more readable.
milliliter
milliliter
Helvetica: l can be confused for an uppercase i.
Ok, nice.
But where to begin?
1 Warm-up exercice 2 Key fundamentals 3 Planning 4 Drawing digital letters Tips Method 1: Modular Method 2: From Scans Method 3: Strokes Method 4: Straight up Masters
5 Resources
Drawing
Sketch and define things early on.
4
Drawing
4
Drawing
4
Hamburgefons Adhesiontext Will help define the personality and features of the other glyphs.
Drawing
First words
4
Drawing
Points at extrema
4
Drawing
Points at extrema
4
HO no You can define many letters from these basic shapes, and it will give you a good starting point for spacing.
Drawing
Kickstart your font start with one straight and one rounded letter.
4
HOHOHO hohoho
ara decidir o espaçejamento entre as letras, comece pelas duplas HO maiúscula e minúscula. Assim você já tem muitos espaçamentos resolvidos (lados circulares e retos). P
Drawing
Spacing
4
HDFEL OQCD MN WYX ZS
Drawing
Groups of shapes (construction)
4
oec pdbq fjg nmu il kzs vwyz
Drawing
Groups of shapes (construction)
4
ABC0123 Minion Pro
Drawing
For text fonts, numerals are a little shorter than Capital Height so as not to overpower them in text.
4
01234567890 01234567890 01234567890
Drawing
Some types of numerals
4
4
n
Drawing
Copy paste?
Âť nu
n
4
n
Drawing
No sir (ma’am)!
» nu
n
AAA Light
Book
Black
Drawing
Start to love the blend tool (Interpolation)
4
Drawing
Use interpolation to test letter variations.
4
Drawing
4
MODULAR
Wim Crouwel
Drawing
Modular
4
Drawing
4
SCAN
Drawing
Scan 4
Drawing
Vectorizing the scan
4
Drawing
Refining the scan
4
4 Drawing
Final result
babycub Clube de roupas infantis
STROKES
Drawing
Width tool (Illustrator – Shift + W)
4
Drawing
Width Tool
4
Drawing
Width Tool
4
Drawing
Width Tool
4
Drawing
From strokes, you can also start simple monoline letters like this S for example. But remember, it will need lots of tweaking for you to call it a letter.
4
STRAIGHT UP… JUST GO FOR IT😈
Drawing
4
MASTERS
Hoefler & Frere Jones
House Industries
Adrian Frutiger
Doyald Young
Herb Lubalin
Alex Trochut
Louise Fili
1 Warm-up exercice 2 Key fundamentals 3 Planning 4 Drawing digital letters 5 Resources
Briem.net: http://briem.net Hoefler & Frere-Jones: http://www.typography.com/ Letritas: http://letritas.blogspot.com Type Drawers: http://typedrawers.com Typophile: http://typophile.com Typotheque: https://www.typotheque.com/articles Unos Tipos Duros: http://www.unostiposduros.com/ Type Workshop (Underware): http://www.typeworkshop.com/
Resources
Learn more!
5
Logo, Font & Lettering Bible. http://goo.gl/4djGZt The stroke, Theory of Writing. http://goo.gl/Xr9rR Counterpunch. http://goo.gl/hcQVDo Letterletter. http://goo.gl/PcGyjF Designing Type. http://goo.gl/HZ7TL Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age. http://goo.gl/qCqyb Elementos do estilo tipográfico. http://goo.gl/sAAxZ Stop Stealing Sheep. http://goo.gl/8YKUK1 Metro Letters. http://goo.gl/5CWs5e
Resources
Books
5
THANK YOU! email link behance twitter facebook
rodrigo@plau.co plau.co behance.net/plau PlauStudio facebook.com/plaudesign
a big thanks to: Vanessa Padua, Cristiano Junqueira, Betina Cupello and everybody at Saravah, Cida, Eddy e Martha, Gu, Nina, FamĂlia Padua, Mark Mullin, Eduardo Varela, Lucas Azevedo, Daniel Campos, Matheus Fragoso, all the designers and coders from Niramekko and Plau and everyone who inspired and taught me so much! fonts: Guanabara Sans, SS Social, Futura, Myriad, Minion Pro, Motiva Sans, Bordonia, Primot.