offered in the technologically advanced world we live in.
owadays we rarely pick up a pen and paper to communicate with one another. However, it might is not wise for us to trade this long-standing, cultural practice of writing letters entirely for the convenience of text/instant messages and
e-mails. Research has shown that the general act of writing by hand can promote quite a few physical and mental benefits, from improving learning abilities to fostering a more positive outlook on life. When it comes to writing that is used as a form of communication between two people, namely letters and postcards, the impact of such messages lasts far longer than any alternative version
No true match exists for this old-time, traditional means of conversation. Long after they are written, crafted and sent (and even after their senders and their receivers are gone), letters and postcards remain to be read, to be appreciated and to be preserved. Whether displayed on museum shelves honoring famous historical figures or saved in a scrapbook between two old friends,
letters protect the memories of lives lived in a way that technological communication will never be able to match up to.
They are tangible, personal and real, in ever y sense of the word.
Hand lettering is one of Megan from Make Wells most favourite things to do.
One way to think of the difference between calligraphy and lettering is that calligraphy is based on penmanship, or writing letters, while lettering is based on the draftsmanship, or drawing them. So to improve your lettering skills, essentially you are looking to improve your drawing skills. Not only can each letter be drawn inan infinite amount of ways, but the conbination of the letters to form words, and words to form phrases, opens up an entire world of creative interpretation that could very possibly go on forever and ever.
Getting started with hand lettering is easy (and cheap!). All you need is some of your basic supplies:
And none of these materials need to be fancy. Most of her sketches are done with a mechanical pencil in her sketchbook or on copy paper. When getting started in lettering, it’s important to get to know a few basic types of letter styles. Highlighted are the three of these above: serif, sans serif and script type.
And that is what Megan loves about handlettering: there are endless of other possibilities. It sounds like a lot of work, but each time you pick up your pencil to draw letters, you are indeed getting very valuable practice drawing each letter and alre also stretching your creativity to find very innovative ways to interpret each letter. Megan has pages and pages in her sketchbooks dedicated to letterring - which serves just as much as practice in the moment, and also as a source of inspiration for future work. You can choose to start with any alphabet you’d like. One way to discover the many variations of single letters is by utilizing tracing paper. Draw the main body of your letter on white paper. Then, using the tracing paper, trace that same letter, varying a small details.
Have fun practicing you will be surprised how easy it is to come up with 100 variations! If you do complete the exercise, post your photos on Instagram so we can see and be inspired.
Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with on Instagram!
How important to you is the interplay of text and image?
Nate, please introduce yourself, give us your bio. Did you have any formal training in this field or are you self-taught?
Why do you think there is more hand lettering in design outcomes today? When you are hand drawing type, do you think about sketching the word itself, or articulating the letters?
What made you choose to draw your type by hand?
Nate Williams who is also known as Alexander Blue is an artist, illustrator and designer. His illustrations have a unique whimsical style, filled with vibrant colors, imagery which combines hand drawn type and doodles.
When drawing a word, is the context always important, or do you look at how it looks?
Photo + Illustration by Nate Williams Text by Sonali Vora + Victoria Whincup Layout by Ruzana Abdul Rahim
Do you think fonts look better if they were all hand drawn?
Creating faux calligraphy is so great for beginners who are quite intimidated by a traditional - looking dip pen and also great for seasoned calligraphers who want to write on other irregular surfaces. Faux calligraphy can be applied on surfaces which would otherwise spoil your pen nibs.
writing like the sample above— just use the best cursive you can! All you need to know is that his technique works with any letters that are connected.
“Faux calligraphy” is achieving the gorgeous thick and thin cursive style without using a traditional dip pen.
After you have written using your very simple cursive, you’ll need to do is to draw lines to denote the downstrokes that will create the little spaces for you to fill in. Parts of the letters where your pen is moving upward, you leave untouched. What are downstrokes?
To create faux ‘cheating’ calligraphy, write out your phrase in simple cursive. No worries if you aren’t
Essentially, downstrokes are the parts of the letter that you drag your pen down to make.
A downstroke occurs when your hand moves downward to create part of a letter. With the “a”, for example, that first curve down on the left is a downstroke, then you swoop up to the right, and down again for the right leg of the “a”. Once you’ve gone over your letters again with those lines, all you have to do is fill them in! Doesn’t it look so fancy? You can transform your very own handwriting to make it look like modern calligraphy simply and easily with just a few extra pen strokes.