hand lettering
21 Hand Lettering Artists to Follow on Instagram
Hand Lettering Artists to Follow on Instagram
Wandering around Instagram, we found some really beautiful examples of hand lettering that we thought we’d share. We thought they might inspire and ignite your next project. Enjoy the hand lettering artists to follow on Instagram and please click on each image to learn more about the artist who created the individual piece.
For more hand lettering inspiration, check out our post “Letters We’re Loving: 30+ Hand Lettering and Typography Inspirations” and
one of our most popular articles, “100 Top Resources for Typography and Hand-Lettering”
Elizabeth Gray (thegraytergood)
Lisa Quine (lisa_quine)
Pierre Boisson (pedrodelabedida)
Katie Made That (katiemadethat)
Loren Klein (lorenkleindesign)
Talita Marques (marquestalita)
Maxime Bolis (maximebolis)
Saori (_lil.something_)
Jessica Renna (jessicarenna)
Michael Moodie (michael_moodie)
Loz Ives (idleletters)
Shauna Parmesan (weneedtotalkproject)
Tiffany Dewitt (livelongandletter)
Annick Martin (annick.martin)
Indysign (theindysign)
Jessica Nam (jessicanam)
Tearapart Intajak (tump_tearapart)
Emmy (redpolarbear_)
Devin Rista (devinrista)
Joanna Walters (jopeydopes)
Deirdre (the designer) (deirdrethedesigner)
- Categorized: Design Community, Graphic Design Inspiration, Web Roundup
- Tagged: hand lettering, inspiration, Instagram, lettering, type, typograhy
Letters We’re Loving: 30+ Hand-Lettering and Typography Inspirations
Hand-Lettering and Typography Inspirations
Every so often, we like to get lost in the land of letters.
- Categorized: Graphic Design Inspiration, Web Roundup
- Tagged: calligraphy, hand lettering, handlettering, inspiration, lettering, type, typography
Creators. Doers. Makers. Video Series – WMC Fest Episode 1: Danielle Evans
The WMC Fest Creators. Doers. Makers. Series
Our new video series highlights remarkable makers and designers that inspire and motivate us to create greatness. This week we put the spotlight on Danielle Evans. You may recognize Danielle’s work from this year’s Ink Wars competition or her downright delicious Food and Dimensional Typography Workshop – both featured at the best creative conference of the summer, Go Media’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest!
If you’re unfamiliar, Danielle Evans, aka Marmaladebleue, is an urban Columbus, Ohio native. She derives great pleasure in walking everywhere, taking food photos on Instagram, and being ‘the cool aunt’. Her heartstrings are plucked by lettering, which she exhibits through most notably food and dimensional type. Her work is thoughtful and inventive, elevating commonplace items into extraordinary lettering. She art directs, food styles, and collaborates with personable and quirky clients to achieve authentic and approachable work for social media campaigns, editorials, and advertising.
Weapons of Mass Creation Fest is presented by Cleveland web design, logo design and graphic design studio Go Media.
Watch the Video Now:
The Creators. Doers. Makers. Series, directed by Aaron Freeder, will be back with more videos highlighting your favorite Weapons of Mass Creation Fest artists. Continue checking back here on the ‘Zine or over at wmcfest.com for more great features.
Food Typography Video
Watch Episode 2: Michael Bierut
- Categorized: Video and Podcasts
- Tagged: danielle evans, dimensional type, food, food typography, hand lettering, lettering, type, weapons of mass creation fest, wmc fest
Typography Shortcuts: ‘Custom’ Type Treatments for the Lazy Designer
‘Custom’ Type Treatments for the Lazy Designer
Custom hand-drawn type treatments are quite popular these days. Nothing says hipster-cool like hand lettering your client’s chalkboard coffee shop menu. But let’s face it – hand lettering requires a certain amount of artistic skill. And time. Lots and lots of time (and we all know not every client has a big budget).
So, what do you do? You want a custom type treatment for your client but you lack either the skills or time to do it right. You need a shortcut. You need a cheat. You need the gurus of Cleveland graphic design services Go Media’s (semi-) patented Custom Type Treatment for Lazy Designers technique!
Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1. Select a font.
This is where all our time savings comes in. Your final product is going to be 85% font, 15% customization. While selecting the font will feel like the easiest step, it’s also the most important. Don’t rush through this step of the process! I will often times spend over two hours just trying to find the perfect font. Remember the font you select is 85% of the final product and picking a font will be SAVING you tons of time hand lettering – so go slow!
In this case, the project was for a close friend of mine who asked for a tattoo of the word “Unvanquished.” While I’m a great illustrator, I’m not great at hand drawing type, so I knew my best result would be to start with a font. I probably spent about three hours finding this one font (Anha Queen VMF Pro).
Step 2. In Computer Modifications: Kerning
At this point I start by converting my type into ‘paths’ in Illustrator. I will be modifying my letters as vector shapes from here on out.
In my experience, no font’s kerning is perfect for every single word. So, once I’ve typed out the logotype I’m going to make, I fine-tune the letter spacing. When creating a word-mark I’ve found that you generally want the kerning tighter than what is comfortable for reading – this changes the word into a mark. You can see the adjustments I made with the kerning above.
Step 3. In Computer Modifications: Eliminate Redundancies
Frequently fonts will include lots of repeating shapes. Sometimes these can be ugly and a dead giveaway that your type treatment is a font and not original. It’s ok if you keep one of these shapes, but remove any redundancy that stands out. I’ll also usually use this step in the process to clean out anything that I don’t like. This font has a lot of messy flourishes, so I’ll clean those up too.
Step 4. In Computer Modifications: Play with Ascenders, Descenders and Letter Size
Fonts tend to have a certain-size perfection. All lowercase letters are pixel-perfect height, line thicknesses are exactly the same, etc. I like to play with all of this stuff to give the type treatment a bit more originality.
Step 5. Hand Drawn Modifications
While hand-drawing this font from scratch was beyond my skill level, adding some hand-drawn modifications is a fun and easy way to further refine your type treatment. For this step, I simply print out my type onto an 11×17” sheet of paper, pull out a pencil and start playing! If you mess up, just throw it away (sorry, I mean recycle it) and start over. Once I’ve got something I’m happy with I will scan that back into the computer and ‘vectorize’ the elements that I drew.
In this particular case, all my flourishes made the art a little too tall for my friend’s arm, so his tattoo artist modified my design a bit.
Step 6: Sit Back and Enjoy the View
After you’ve finished vectorizing the elements you’ve lazily hand-drawn, sit back and enjoy the view. Sarcasm aside, appreciate how, relatively quickly, you’ve been able to construct a pretty hip custom type treatment. Your client will be equally impressed and their pocket book will thank you, too.
- Categorized: Graphic Design, Illustrator, Tutorials
- Tagged: bill beachy, hand lettering, Illustrator, shortcuts, tips, tricks, typography, William A Beachy, William Beachy
Become a Master Typographer: Pro Tips – Making and Breaking the Rules
As with life, rules in both the lands of lettering and typography are made for a reason.
In many cases, it’s best to stick to the books. However, in other cases, it’s quite alright to bend (and even break) the rules.
Illustrator and Hand Letterer Darren Booth points out that following rules too stringently can negatively affecting lettering work. He says, “I fear (rules) negatively affect my hand-lettering work. I typically approach my hand-lettering like a standard drawing – with shapes and forms, and I keep going until it feels right.”
Pro Tips
We asked some of our favorite hand-letterers, calligraphers and typographers which rules they love to follow and those they love to break. Read on for their pro tips and leave your recommendations in the comments below!
Do Mind Hierarchy
In any project using typography there will always be a hierarchy. Hierarchy is so important because it can completely change the context or readability of a piece if the wrong word or words are emphasized. I always look for ways to create a more visually interesting piece or try to communicate a message by using hierarchy, but you have to be careful that you are not sacrificing any readability or else your message can be lost or completely misunderstood. – Jeremy Teff, Designer, BLKBOXLabs
Experiment
I have more of an illustrator’s approach than a graphic designer’s approach to lettering. My words form a picture to me and I tend to go by eye rather than follow rules of kerning, etc.! I say, start loose and experimental – play with brushes and materials, make a mess before you hit the computer – there is time to tighten things up further down the line. – Kate Forrester, Freelance Illustrator & Calligrapher
Work towards Harmony
When customizing type, be aware of each letter and its neighboring letters. Making a few small adjustments to one letter can potentially disrupt the flow and balance of the word as a whole. The goal is for all the letters in the word(s) to work together in harmony. – Bryan Patrick Todd, Graphic Designer
Think: Less is More
The idea of “less is more” works on numerous levels, but it’s a rule I love breaking as often as possible. It’s wise for logos and branding, it’s ideal for effective speeches and slogans, and it’s necessity in many ways to product design – a specialized product that does less is almost always better than something that “does it all”. With all of that considered, less is not always more. When I’m commissioned for a label design or a t-shirt design, I absolutely love it when a client says to go crazy with it and make it as detail intensive, intricate and ornamental as possible. I’ve heard plenty of quotes that say good design should be virtually invisible and that things should be reduced to their most basic purpose and function which is fine most of the time. However, I also believe that design can and should be beautiful, toiled-over, and something that makes someone stop in their tracks when they see it. – Jason Carne, Freelance Designer
Keep it in the Family
I would say: If you’re not confident yet in your ability to judge a high-quality typeface from a bad one, check to see if it’s part of a type family that includes other weights or styles (Think bold, italic, light, etc.). Typefaces that have a family to back them up are not only more flexible for your projects, but they also tend to be better designed, so you’re less likely to look back at your choice and cringe in a couple years when your eye for type has improved. – Alison Rowan, Graphic Designer
Understand the difference between calligraphy, lettering and typography.
Calligraphy is the written letter, lettering the drawn letter and typography the arrangement of typefaces. Our written language has its basis in writing and different tools create different styles of letterforms, for example a chisel tip for blackletter, a brush for brush script and a pointed pen for copperplate. If you are interested in getting to know typography then the best place to start is with calligraphy, to establish what authentic forms look like and from there you can experiment with lettering and gain a greater appreciation of which style of typeface to use in a given context. – Ged Palmer, Graphic Designer
Begin with a Sketch
I always begin with a quick sketch on paper. No matter what the the project is, I find that this is the best way to establish whether an idea or composition works. – David McLeod, Graphic Designer
The one rule I always follow is to sketch and draw the idea always. Every visual in your mind translates into a drawing. And the one I often break is not sticking to the original drawing. The mind keeps getting ideas constantly and more often than not the final outcome is quite different from what was originally in mind. – Sabeena Karnik, Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Typographer
Make it Visible
At school I remember a teacher once telling me that the best typography is that which is invisible. Maybe this might makes sense when it comes to way-finding labeling perhaps and conveying sterile information. But on the other hand, when it comes to communicating a concept or an ideas with layers of complexity through type, its treatment can enhance the communication of a particular emotion or tone which to do effectively in many cases requires that the typography be anything but invisible. – Luke Lucas, Graphic Designer, Typographer
Keep it Loose
Over the years, with practice and research I’ve learned some basic rules that help with readability or where a letter’s thick variations should be, but I prefer to let the concept or composition drive the letters. Concentrating on rules to follow could make my work feel contrived. My one important rule to follow when it comes to lettering is to keep it loose and build a piece up more like a painting than creating perfect letters that spell something out. – Mary Kate McDevitt, Hand Letterer and Illustrator
Don’t Get Lost in the Details
Try not to get so lost in the details that the lettering becomes hard or impossible to read. Believe me, it happens sometimes. It sounds silly, but zooming out periodically to see how the details are affecting the piece helps keep perspective. – Bryan Patrick Todd, Graphic Designer
Don’t Stretch or Squeeze
Never, and I mean never stretch or squeeze type. Type designers by nature are super obsessive down to the smallest detail while remaining “big picture” thinkers. If type has certain proportions, it was made that way for a reason, even if it’s not readily apparent to you. Think of it this way – to everyone with a good understanding of type and how it should look, your stretched type looks about as good as a stretched out collar on a shirt. If a typeface isn’t working how you think it should for a certain application, either research more typefaces and find one more suitable to your needs or go the extra mile and create something custom for the job at hand. – Jason Carne, Freelance Graphic Designer
Consider cultural and historical meaning
Comic sans on a gravestone would look a little strange, no? Style of letterform carry a lot of meaning and these meanings are normally associated with the cultural and historical roots of where they came about. That said the 26 letters from the roman alphabet have gone largely unchanged in 2000 years. So by breaking down the essential nature of the forms and then experimenting with subtle changes you can adapt these ‘abstract forms’ to communicate an intended message. – Ged Palmer, Graphic Designer
Push the Legibility Rule
Given the opportunity I like to push legibility. As long as the message can still be read, I’ll manipulate character forms or break words over multiple lines if it will add to the image. – David McLeod, Graphic Designer
So. What rules do you live by? What ones do you love to break? Share with us in the comments below!
Learn more about our contributors:
BLK BOX Labs | Dribbble | Behance | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Vimeo
Kate Forrester | Twitter
Bryan Patrick Todd | Twitter | Instagram | Behance | Pinterest | Dribbble
Jason Carne | Behance | Instagram | Dribbble | Facebook | Twitter | Lettering Library
Alison Rowan | Twitter | Facebook
Ged Palmer | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Dribbble | Behance
David McLeod| Behance | Instagram | Facebook
Sabeena Karnik Behance | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Luke Lucas | Behance | Twitter | Instagram
Mary Kate McDevitt | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr | Dribbble
Darren Booth | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Dribbble
All cover image photos courtesy of Ged Palmer
- Categorized: Graphic Design, Graphic Design
- Tagged: design, hand lettering, lettering, tips, typography
Hand Lettering Tutorial Release: How to Letter with Jason Carne
Hand Lettering Tutorial: How to Letter with Jason Carne
Hey there Go Media Faithful! Love lettering like we do? You’re in luck. Today on the Arsenal, we’re releasing the hand lettering tutorial you’ve been waiting for!
Today, we’re expanding our knowledge base thanks to one of the best: hand letterer extraordinaire Jason Carne.
Jason’s no joke; he has worked with international musicians and touring artists such as Def Leppard, Protest The Hero, and Boyce Avenue as well as global apparel corporations like American Eagle Outfitters.
And now, with the click of a button, he’ll appear in your living room.
The goods
Today’s release, Hand Lettering Tutorial: Techniques from Conception to Completion with Jason Carne, demonstrates how to create a hand-lettered piece from conception all the way through completion in Adobe Photoshop. Jason guides us through his very detailed process, while reviewing laws of lettering, favorite tips, tricks and tools that he attributes to his success as an artist.
If you’re ready to learn to get your own ideas on paper, as well as valuable lessons like the process of creating unique letters, coloring techniques and preparation for print –
We promise Jason’s process will awe and inspire.
Take a peek at some images from the tutorial
- Categorized: Graphic Design
- Tagged: hand drawn, hand lettering, handdrawn, tutorial, video tutorial
Introducing Hand Drawn Lettering Elements: All American Grit
Looking to deliver your client design filled with character and an organic quality only achieved with hand lettering?
Lacking the tools or time to do so?
You’re in luck.
Calligrapher Laura Di Piazza’s first Arsenal product, Hand Drawn Lettering Elements: All American Words, delivers you all the goods you’ll need to bring the human aesthetic you (and your client) desire.
Open up this new product and in moments you can add beautifully crafted words into your work, taking your design from awesome to awe-inspiring and emotive.
Say hello to Hand Drawn Lettering Elements: All American Grit
The pack includes 130 following words in various styles and scripts: work hard, craft, rugged, u.s.a., industries, brotherhood, america, american, craft, pride, honest, genuine, superior, quality, tough, vintage, goods, handcrafted, handmade, original, est., magic, fine, custom, trademark, union, blue collar, artisan and supply.
The lovely lettered words are available in an organized, layered Photoshop document.
As a bonus we’re throwing in three paper textures from our Paper Texture Pack.
Here’s a little bit about the pack from Laura herself!
“This lettering pack is all-American! It includes words that we associate with America’s strong work ethics and American-made pride. During my recent travels to Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria I encountered some people’s opinions about American-made products and the general impression was that American-made is usually equated with ‘well-made’.
As a calligrapher I mainly engage in non-modified lettering, where the first go is the only go for a word, sentence, paragraph or page. And if it doesn’t come out the way I intended I either accept the results or do it over. The lack of editing has helped me to relax and embrace a certain flow when I letter.
The tools I used for this pack include the Japanese-made pointed pen Nikko G nib (originally designed for Anime artists), German-made Haff ruling pen (originally an architectural tool) , homemade cola pen (yes, the writing tip is made out of a small piece of a Coca Cola can), various square edge brushes and the beloved American-made Sharpie.”
Let’s take a peek, shall we?
- Categorized: Graphic Design
- Tagged: arsenal, hand drawn, hand lettering, illustration, lettering
Become a Master Typographer: 19 Expert Secrets to Creating Custom Lettering
Your guide to a custom lettering logotype
“Typography is indeed the most essential and powerful tool a graphic designer has,” notes designer Albert Trulls. “As designers, we have the possibility to add emotional values to the messages we compose by making them, for instance, more or less complex, more or less attractive. That is the reason why choosing carefully a specific typography to represent a message or word is fundamental, as it will strongly affect its perception.”
Creating a custom hand-lettered logotype.
One way a typographer can communicate a brand is through custom hand-lettering.
As Von Glitschka, Illustrative Designer of Glitschka Studios notes, “Few things can brand a product, business or service like a custom hand-lettered logotype. Illustrative lettering is the perfect balance between design sensibilities and illustration. A unique personality and identity can be imbued from illustrated letterforms that a standard typeface could never achieve.”
Just what should you consider when you’re creating the perfect custom hand-lettered logotype? Von and friends Jeremy Teff, Creative Director of BLKBOXLabs, Jason Carne, Martin Schmetzer, Albert Trulls Muntañà and Alison Rowan are here to share with us some ever important tips.
1. Start in analog.
“All of my hand lettered typography starts in analog and I solve the visual aesthetic in that stage before I ever attempt to build anything digitally.” – Von Glitschka
2. Break the Rules
“Custom typography is a great way to leverage illustrative skills in the context of a design oriented project. And don’t be afraid to break the rules that have been created for more rigid forms of typography like complete fonts. For example, I mix and match uppercase and lowercase all the time. Some people are very strict in their approach to typography and this would step on those sensibilities. Hand lettering should always have the freedom to do what ever looks best regardless if it makes a die-hard typophile cringe.” – Von Glitschka
3. Pay attention to color.
“Color is almost always last on my list of concerns when it comes to doing anything hand-drawn because it’s the sole digital step in my process aside from texturing occasionally. A general color palette or amount of colors should always be in the back of your mind when brainstorming and penning your rough drafts. This way, you can at least flesh out a certain vibe to the piece you’re creating. However, it’s not what is going to make your design a good design. Color choice can only enhance an already sound design, it can’t rescue a poor one.
In my work I try to attach time periods to my colorways to establish a visual foothold in a certain era; paints from 100 years ago had a different look to them than what you see in the stores today, and they were just as different in the middle of the last century. Researching advertising and home decor from certain decades can give you a good indication of what color styles were popular in the time period your design is trying to reflect.” – Jason Carne
4. Explore with Pencil
“My initial explorations are done very loosely with a regular pencil. A thin lined pass to set general proportion (The bones) then I do repeated passes beefing up each letterform and refining them as a whole. (The flesh) I’ll use several layers of vellum and a light box to continue to refine my design and perfect the details of it until I have a solid rough worked out.
Once I have a solid rough I’ll then re-draw my designs with a mechanical pencil in what I call a refined sketch form. This will serve as my road map for vector building. I draw it like I’ll build it and keep shape in mind.
I rough out pencils, refine those drawings so I know what I need to build in vector format before I begin building. My drawing always lays the foundation so I have a clear idea of what the final will look like before any bezier curve is created. I’ll of course improve things along the way when needed but I try to work out my design in analog first.” – Von Glitschka
5. Find what program works best for you.
“When we have a piece ready for the computer it is scanned, brought into photoshop and cleaned up. After some touch-ups in Photoshop it is brought over into Illustrator to vector. For some marks we use the live trace option to capture as much of the original artwork as we can, while other logotypes need a more polished vector feel like the Hero mark below. Depending on the use of the mark we will sometimes apply texture in illustrator but most of the time we apply texture in Photoshop if it is needed.” – Jeremy Teff, BLKBOXLabs
“I never use Photoshop for logo work. Resolution independent art is a must in visual identity IMO.” – Von Glitschka
“I vectorize my hand drawings using the pen-tool in Adobe Illustrator. A funny fact is that all the designs you see in my portfolio are traced using the touchpad on my laptop. I only recently bought a Wacom Intuos board which I´m not 100% comfortable with yet, but I realize it is just a matter of practice and patience.” – Martin Schmetzer
6. Get to know the company
“Understanding the company you’re working for very well is a must, but understanding what certain types of letters are meant for and knowing what effective layout is consisted of is equally important. Knowing that a heavy, industrial slab serif type letter is good for a tool or machinery company and not for a lingerie company is important stuff; style dictates impression. Even variety within a certain type of lettering can impose an array of different emotions with the viewer. For example, scripts can be equally effective for an automotive manufacturer (Ford, Studebaker, etc.) or a chocolate company (Russell Stover), but for different reasons that lay within their subtle nuances. You have to understand what makes a letter style elegant, or what makes it powerful or just what makes it tick before you can effectively decide what makes a good choice for the company you’re working for.” – Jason Carne
7. Explore with tools
“It all starts with a pencil and paper and spirals out of control from there. We have a box full of various types of brush pens, brushes, sharpies, markers, basically anything that you can make a mark on paper with. Tracing paper is very helpful when you need to make small adjustments to sketches quickly and refine a logotype. I would say a sketchbook, sharp pencil and a decent set of Micron’s is really all you need to begin with, the rest of the brushes, pens and paint are really about execution, variety, and exploration.” – Jeremy Teff, BLKBOXLabs
8. Integrate Symbolism
“Symbolism can add great value and meaning to a hand lettered logotype when done carefully and thoughtfully. A small amount of symbolism can go a long way. The supporting mark below we created for American Estates has some very simple symbolism in it, the brand is big on being American made and has a patriotic tone carried across it, we wanted to introduce that in a simple way. We sculpted the A to reflect a star, by pairing the star and the name itself the consumer instantly understands that the products are American Made and the company they are buying from is proud of that. The Onyx Coffee Lab logo was created to portray the same hand crafted feel as the coffee they roast, a small amount of symbolism can be seen in the “O” that forms a drop just over the rest of the the logotype.” – Jeremy Teff, BLKBOXLabs
9. Weigh your options
“The weight of the letters when creating a logotype can be very important to its personality. When you are thinking of how to portray a client’s image or brand you have to understand the message they are trying to convey. Thin lines can be delicate and give an image of softness, while bold marks tend to convey strength and stability. When we created the American Estates signature mark, we wanted a mark that projected simplicity and honesty, a mark that you could imagine seeing scribbled on the back of a pocket book from a generation ago. The line weight is fairly consistent but is very rough like you would imagine the signature of a man working with his hands all day would be. We felt the thinner irregular line weight really captured the essence of what we were trying to portray.” – Jeremy Teff, BLKBOXLabs
10. Keep evolving as an artist
“I turn to a huge amount of references, from classical to avant-garde periods, to find what is best for the project. I like to do this research process while I work on the concept / idea. I consider that, in this way, the concept, the references and the shapes come together seamlessly, strengthening the result.
This is just a way of working – a process among others. I firmly believe that having a creative process, being determined and self-critical, are the best ingredients to evolve, learn and find better solutions. Often, it is more important what you learn in the creative process than the final result.” Albert Trulls
11. Let Ideas Steep
“When I first get a project I’ll sit on it for a good week or so before I do anything. I have to let information and ideas steep. I call it slow boiling. Once I’ve done this I get a pretty clear picture of various directions I can go with it that would be appropriate and work well. I then start thumbnailing and drawing out ideas.” – Von Glitschka
12. Find a balance between skill and imperfection
“Many hand-letterers, including myself, will tell you that the minor imperfections are what truly makes the work we do worthwhile; it’s what distinguishes our craft from the work of those who rely on digital methods and software to create and design. However, imperfections due to laziness or ineptness are not what it’s all about. The design should look human, not sloppy, and there is a lot of work I see that walks a fine line between those two. There’s also a fine balance between being highly skilled and overly mechanical too, being too precise with hand drawn work while impressive, ultimately defeats the purpose of having the natural human element present in the work. Sometimes it’s better to put down the eraser and let the design evolve naturally without trying to dictate its course at an obsessive level. ” – Jason Carne
13. Observe.
“A form of research that we feel is absolutely necessary is observation, you have to experience what your client is selling, making, or creating, only then can you really understand their message. We spent an afternoon shooting photos and video in the American Estates shop and it really helped to develop their brand image. Much like the wood he uses the rough and scared hands of Jesse told his story. Their furniture is solid & strong, but not perfect and it’s those small imperfections that really make their products so unique. The two hours it took to observe and be a part of their process was worth a month of research.” – Jeremy Teff, BLKBOXLabs
14. Research
“Research plays a large part in any branding or logotype project. It is a very important step in creating the vision of a brand. We research design trends for that specific market or time and try to apply our own twist on them or stay away from them as much as possible. For many clients that want a very specific look and feel, it is important to research the root of that design style. Research is best done in books and in the real world, though some research online is necessary, we feel it is best to view original sources as much as possible. – Jeremy Teff, Blkboxlabs
15. Start with a blank page.
“Start with a blank page—no lines, no grids. Let the text influence the style you choose, and the form it takes. The most emphatic lettering isn’t always drawn in straight lines, and with ruled paper we have a habit of forgetting that.” – Alison Rowan
16. Look for inspiration
“When looking for inspiration, I try to gauge style based on the specific project at hand. For this one their whole personality was geared towards Rockabilly with a sinister twist so my solution has a flair towards gothic too.” – Von Glitschka
17. Value Simplicity
“Simplicity plays a major role in creating a great hand-lettered logo. Just like their super clean vector counterparts, logos that are simple and clean tend to be the most memorable. Less is always more. It is easy to over think or over draw a logo type, in the end what matters most is the mark is legible and conveys the message the brand is trying to represent. Most of the time the more simple mark will always be a better solution to the challenge you are facing.” – Jeremy Teff, BLKBOXLabs
18. Experiment with graffiti
“I’m a self taught letterer and came in contact with hand drawn typography through graffiti. I believe graffiti is a very good way of experimenting with the alphabet and learning how the letters are put together. You don’t have to follow any guides or rules and can twist and bend the letters ’til you tamed the word into something your own and unique.
When you draw the same name/tag hundreds, even thousands of times you also realize how you can modify/tweak each letter to make it look different every time. I´m sure this have been a big help to me in my lettering work today.
As a graffiti writer I always aimed for symmetry in my letters, something that follows me ’til this day in my hand drawn typography and logo designs, which you can see examples of in my behance gallery.” – Martin Schmetzer
Last, but not least:
19. Take your time.
“Sweat the details, spend the extra time and really dive head first into your work with the intent of producing work better than anything you’ve ever done before. Make that serif sharper, fix the angle of your shading, get the curves smoother. Rushing your work doesn’t benefit the client you’re cheating out of a better design and it doesn’t give you a better piece to put in your portfolio. Sweating the details doesn’t mean getting crazy with ornamentation and adding anything superfluous, it just means that you should be 100% certain that every part of your design is on point, consistent, and the best it can possibly be before delivering it. Also, proofread your sketches…that should go without saying, but it still needs to be said sometimes. There is nothing worse in the world of hand-lettering than spending 4 hours inking a word that isn’t spelled properly.” – Jason Carne
Thank you so much to my contributors! Please check out their work below:
Von Glitschka | Glitschka Studios | Twitter | Lynda.com | Behance | Full Project
Jeremy Teff from BLKBOXLabs | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest
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Become a Master Typographer: How to Choose the Perfect Typeface
- Categorized: Graphic Design
- Tagged: design tip, hand lettering, tips, typography
Become a Master Typographer: How to Choose the Perfect Typeface
Choosing the Right Type: 10 Considerations
A critical question we often ask ourselves and know other designers contemplate when working on any given design is, “How do I choose the right font?”
So many factors go into this decision, however thanks to the help of some friends, including Creative Director Michael Prewitt as well as Art Directors Craig Weiland and Harley Peddie, we’re here to share with you ways you can choose the perfect typeface for every project.
How to Choose a Font
1. Ask yourself: “Is the typeface appropriate for the subject?”
Before venturing into your design, investigate the mood, personality, and attitude of the project.
Then, as Michael Prewitt notes, ask yourself, ‘Is the typeface appropriate for the subject?’
“This question,” he finds, “is the king. Every typeface conveys certain ideas, emotions, and associations — even fonts that are not display faces, designed for body copy. Typefaces may be strong, graceful, elegant, brash, businesslike, quirky, playful, traditional, understated, fierce, etc. They may convey a certain period or historical/geographic context, such as Old West, Roman era, Victorian, Art Deco, 1950s, Art Nouveau, High-Tech/Sci-fi, etc. They may be designed to look very geometric/precise, flowing and curvy, hand-written or calligraphic, distressed or grungy, or traditional serif or sans serif type for copy. So it’s important to ask what you want the font to say, and what do you not want it to say. Think clearly and fully about this point, because you don’t want to be one of those designers who picks a font because it’s informal, but fails to consider that the job calls for ‘elegant and informal,’ not ‘drawn while smoking weed informal’ — or maybe the other way around.”
Adds Craig Weiland, “A designer has to be aware of the basics of type usage. Serifed type is often used for long copy, like books and magazines. This is because the serifs make the characters more recognizable, and the text easy to read in bulk at small sizes. Serif body copy usually pairs well with sans-serif display type. There are mountains of exceptions, but you have to understand the rules before you can effectively break them.”
The process of choosing the perfect typeface not only comes from experience and education, but also through trial and error.
Weiland continues, “I test a lot of fonts when I design a logo. I’ll sometimes go through 20-30 different faces looking at how the characters relate to each other, the overall mood presented by the forms, readability at large and small sizes, how I might use color, how the letterforms create negative spaces and how I might use them, and so forth. I have to have a solid understanding of the attitude I want to project. For instance in the massage logo example above, the attitude communicated is strength, confidence, power, pride. A massage parlor should be welcoming, warm, relaxing and soothing. The typeface chosen must broadcast these attributes, or at least not be in conflict with them.”
2. And…Is the typeface technically appropriate?
Another aspect of being appropriate is technical, Prewitt points out.
“Some typefaces are too thin for the size at which they will be used, or maybe too heavy for the ink level on a medium that could allow bleed-through. Thin fonts will tend to choke (plug up) when printed reversed out of a dark background. For web fonts, readability on screens and devices is important. A font that will be screened onto a small object like a pen needs to have enough thickness that it won’t quickly deteriorate when the item is used.”
3. Be aware of trends and clichés in type.
As with any other design, trends and clichés should factor into the design decision making process. Great designers can stay up to date by hungrily consuming the world of type around them, following fellow artists, social media sources, inspirational blogs, etc.
Prewitt notes, “Every decade, there are fonts and type styles that become popular and that become passé. There are trends in type that are affected by many things, including styles of clothing, popular movies, cultural movements, and more. The more you are in touch with trends in society, the better you will be at choosing typefaces that will resonate with current thoughts and feelings. This does not mean you should focus only on the fonts everyone else is using; but if you understand why those fonts are popular, it can help you find new typefaces that will stand out and still look contemporary. In the same way, you can avoid typefaces that have become synonymous with past fads.”
“In the 1990s, a font called Officina Sans was quite popular,” Craig Weiland recalls. “It was used everywhere someone wanted to project ‘contemporary office chic’. Today, I can’t use it at all. It’s worn out… it only projects ‘we think it’s still the 90s.’ You can’t pick up things like that if you aren’t paying attention to the design world around you. As a designer, you are (or should be) always paying attention to design in your environment and media. If you notice a cool typeface in something, like a movie poster or a billboard, see if you can track it down later using Google searches or WhatTheFont, so you can add it to your arsenal for future use.”
4. Look for a typeface that excels in the small details.
Prewitt begs designers to ask themselves, “How well do the letters flow together? Is there some little flourish, or ligature, or other detail that would give this typeface some extra class, without going too far? If you are designing something like a company logo where you are using just a few letters, a font that has a really nice letterform for one or more of the letters you are using could really make the design. Look at the punctuation and non-Latin characters. A well-designed font will include many glyphs besides the Latin alphabet, and they will be well-designed and not generic-looking (the punctuation will be in the same style as the letters, etc.).”
He notes, “People without a background in design will sometimes say that every roman typeface ‘looks like Times New Roman,’ or every sans serif font ‘looks like Arial.’ But the more you study typefaces and become familiar with them, the more you will see that even the most basic typefaces can be great designs or poor designs. The details make all the difference.”
5. Think about how different typefaces will work together.
When marrying typefaces, designers should tread carefully. Like coupling two people (or more) together, typefaces have personalities, and these must mesh well together in order to live in perfect harmony.
Prewitt agress. “Most designs involve two or more different typefaces. Some fonts work really well together, others are too similar and clash, or too wildly different. The fonts should complement each other, and they should all support the message of the piece.”
6. Make use of your options.
“On my work computer I have over 3,500 fonts,” reports Prewitt. “I have my favorites, and there are some I have never used and probably never will use. But it’s great to have a diversity. Many designers, especially beginners, tend to use a lot of the fonts that came with their system — such as the fonts that come with Adobe products. There is nothing wrong with many of those fonts, except that they are sometimes overused. When a font is overused, people may connect your design with other designs that are completely unrelated, or they may see your design as clichéd. Besides that, when you use default fonts, you have to realize that lots of amateurs are also using the same fonts, and that can give an amateur feel to your work.
Even though I have lots of fonts, they are all sorted into groups and styles, so it is fairly easy for me to find just the font I want, without perusing the whole collection.
It is also helpful to collect pictures of good fonts for future reference. Probably you don’t have the budget to purchase every font that catches your eye. But if you save it to Evernote, or Pinterest, or some other place, you can refer back to it later when you have a hot project that needs a great typeface.”
7. Consider the cost
Designers should considers clients pocketbooks when choosing an appropriate font, as Harley Peddie reminds. “Unfortunately, clients still squirm paying $100 to license a typeface when they’re so used to getting this stuff for free, especially with webfonts from our good friends at Google.”
8. But…avoid freeware fonts.
Per Prewitt, “Although professionally designed fonts can be pricey, they can also be exceptionally well designed. With commercial fonts, you usually get better kerning pairs (very important), more alternates, more ligatures, and more styles/weights that pair well together. With freeware fonts, you often get very bad kerning and sometimes even font errors such as overlapping paths that can cause problems in production. Also, many freeware fonts come with usage restrictions that will prevent you from legally using them in some projects. This is not to say that all free fonts are bad. But you have to be careful about which ones you use. Also be aware that there are often deals where you can get pro fonts for cheap or even free. Some free fonts are designed by professional designers or foundries, and so you could expect them to be high quality.”
9. Time
Time, too, can be an issue in choosing the perfect typeface. Peddie adds, “Sometimes you just gotta get it out the door, so instead of spending hours lost in the wonders of independent foundry sites, you dust off Univers one last time.”
10. Pick something (appropriate) from your arsenal.
What exactly to start with?
Prewitt comments, “The ‘starter fonts’ question is difficult, because everyone has their own taste in fonts, and different styles of projects that they do. Personally, I like Minion and Myriad quite a lot, although these fall into the category of somewhat overused. They are neutral enough that I find they are good base fonts to start a new project with, and I might replace them with other typefaces later in the design process. Besides those, I would recommend any of the following: Adobe Garamond (or the Premier Pro version), Arno Pro, Chaparral Pro, Chronos Pro, Didot, Encore Sans Pro, FF Absara, FF Acanthus, FF Milo, Gloriola, Helvetica Neue, Rayuela, Ronnia, Vista Sans and Vista Slab, and Warnock Pro as good starting points. None of these are display fonts and are not particularly exciting; but they are good sturdy fonts with a wide range of supporting roles.”
He adds, “I would recommend against using any typefaces that have been heavily overused in desktop publishing: Algerian, Avant Garde, Benguiat, Bank Gothic, Bradley Hand, Brush Script, Cooper, Copperplate Gothic, Curlz, Impact, Kristen, Mistral, Souvenir, Times New Roman, Papyrus, Vivaldi, Zapf Chancery, Zapf Dingbats, etc. Always use Helvetica (or Helvetica Neue) instead of Arial.”
And last but not least:
“Don’t ever use Comic Sans.”
Cover Photo credit: Brenda Gottsabend | Flickr
How do you find the perfect typeface? Add your thoughts in the comments below!
For further reading:
100 Top Resources for Typography and Hand-Lettering
- Categorized: Graphic Design, Graphic Design
- Tagged: advice, design, design tip, font, hand lettering, opinion, typography
100 Top Resources for Typography and Hand-Lettering
Best Typography Resources
Some of the questions we hear asked often around the design community are:
- What is the best way to learn about typography?
- Where do I find the best hand-lettering/type inspiration?
- Who are your favorite letterers?
- What are the best typography and and lettering tutorials?
We decided to pull together some of our very favorite typography and design resources for you today. Here’s what you’ll find below:
- Some of our favorite hand-letterers and typographers (some modern day experts on type, you might say!)
- Online educational resources
- Awesome type and hand-lettering tutorials
- Best sources of type and hand-lettering inspiration we’ve found
- Super inspirational found-type collection posts
- Books about type and hand-lettering
Off we go!
Talented folks
Online Education:
An introduction to typography: some basics from our friends at Tuts Plus
Font Shop: Improve your design skills with typography tips and tutorials.
Font Feed: is a daily dispatch of recommended fonts, typography techniques, and inspirational examples of digital type at work in the real world. Eat up.
Fonts in Use: an independent archive of typography
Designing Type Systems – a post by Peter Bilak
Learn Lettering: a course by Sean McCabe
Jessica Hische’s Thoughts: Jessica shares answers to frequently asked questions
Lettering for Designers: One Drop Cap Letterform at a Time: a Skillshare Class by Jessica Hische
Lettering Made Simple: Efficient Methods for Custom Type: a Skillshare Class by Brandon Rike
Nice Web Type: is one place for web typography, following experiments, advancements, and best practices in typesetting web text. Handcrafted by Tim Brown
Sean McCabe’s Podcast | Recommended Resources
Stephen Coles Answers to Type Questions: 9 pages of Stephen’s answers to your burning questions about type
The First Steps of Hand Lettering: Concepts to Sketch: a Skillshare Class by Mary Kate McDevitt
Typedia: a community website to classify typefaces and educate people about them.
Understanding The Difference Between Type and Lettering: a must-read by Joseph Alessio on Smashing Magazine
Webtypography.net: the elements of typographic style applied to the web
Woodtyper: notes on large and ornamental type and related matters
Typography First: A web designer’s guide to typography
Tutorials:
Hunters & Gatherers Hand Lettering Tutorial: Techniques from Concept through Completion – on Go Media’s Arsenal
A Crash Course in Typography: The Basics of Type – on Noupe.com
A Crash Course in Typography: Paragraphs and Special Characters – on Noupe.com
A Crash Course in Typography: Principles for Combining Typefaces – on Noupe.com
A Crash Course in Typography: Pulling it All Together – on Noupe.com
DD Tutorial: From Start to Finish: from sketch to vector illustration
How to Design A Font: {Part 1} Get Inspired! – by Katie Major on the GoMediaZine
How To Design a Font: {Part2} Draw Up A Storm! -by Katie Major on the GoMediaZine
How to Design a Font: {Part 3} Make it Digital! – by Katie Major on the GoMediaZine
How to Design a Font: {Part 4} Finishing Touches! – by Katie Major on the GoMediaZine
How to Make Any Font a Handmade Font on Creative Market
Old School Type – Line Gradients by Jeff Finley on the GoMediaZine
Ornate Lettering Process by Jeff Finley on the GoMediaZine
Typography in ten minutes on PracticalTypography.com
Vintage Typography Tutorial – by Bobby Haiqalsyah on the GoMediaZine
12 Sources of Inspiration for Creating Your Own Lettering or Typeface Designs on the Go MediaZine
Inspiration:
Found on dailydishonesty.com | Pinned on Go Media’s Pinterest
Daily Dishonesty: lovely little lies from a hungry graphic designer
Daily Drop Cap: a font project by designer Jessica Hische
Designspiration: search found type, lettering, script, calligraphy inspiration
FontShop: Improve your design skills with typography tips & tutorials. Free downloads & goodies galore!
Friends of Type: original art for inspiration
Designspiration: a resource to help discover and share great design
I love Typography: articles, free fonts, found fonts
Fonts in Use: an independent archive of typography
Ministry of Type: a weblog by Aegir Hallmunder about type, typography, lettering & calligraphy
The Art of Hand Lettering: found type on Tumblr
Typographica: Type Reviews, Books, Commentary
Read me:
Posts:
FOUNDFONT™ and the Art of Typographic Archaeology – on the GoMediaZine
20 Beautiful Custom Lettering Typography Designs – on BlogSpoonGraphics
30 Beautiful Hand Lettering Typography Illustrations – on BlogSpoonGraphics
40+ Excellent Hand-Lettering Inspirations – on the GoMediaZine
30 Inspiring Hand Drawn Lettering Poster Designs – on BlogSpoonGraphics
34 Inspiring Typography Designs– on the GoMediaZine
Showcase of 20 Inspiring Typography Poster Designs – on BlogSpoonGraphics
Crash Course in Hand-Lettering – How To/Tools and Tips
Books:
About Face: Reviving the Rules of Typography
An Essay on Typography
Detail In Typography
Fonts & Logos: Font Analysis, Logotype Design, Typography, Type Comparison
Getting it Right with Type: The Dos and Don’ts of Typography
Jan Tschihold, Master Typographer: His Life, Work and Legacy
Just My Type: A Book about Fonts
Letter by Letter
Logo, Font & Lettering Bible
Logotypes & Letterforms: Handlettered Logotypes and Typographic Considerations
Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age by Steven Heller, Louise Fili Reprint Edition (2012)
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works, Third Edition (3rd Edition) (Graphic Design & Visual Communication Courses)
The ABC’s of Bauhaus, The Bauhaus and Design Theory
The Elements of Typographic Style
The Non-Designer’s Design Book (3rd Edition)
The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of Good Design (Classic Typography Series)
Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students
The New Typography: A Handbook for Modern Designers (1st English translation)
The Typographic Desk Reference
Treasury of Alphabets and Lettering
Type and Typography
Type: The Secret History of Letters
Type, Volume 1: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles
Typographie: A Manual of Design
- Categorized: Graphic Design, Graphic Design, Graphic Design Inspiration, Web Roundup
- Tagged: hand lettering, lettering, type, typography
Become a Master Designer: Rule One: Limit your fonts
Part One of Seven Easy Principles to Becoming a Master Designer.
Rules about Using Fonts:
Ok, “master designer” might be a bit of a stretch – but you can at least become a “proficient designer” by following 7 easy principles. This will be the shortest, most informative series of blog posts you’ve ever read on how to become a better designer. Please note: these principles CAN be broken… these are not laws, they’re just general guides that all of us designers at Cleveland design firm, Go Media, typically follow when putting together a design.
Follow these simple design principles and you’ll be on your way to artistic excellence.
Principle One: Limit Your fonts. A big part of putting together a good design, as you’ll see, is making sure the over-all look is consistent. The best way to accomplish a consistent look to your design is limiting the number
- Categorized: Tutorials
- Tagged: design tip, designer, font, fonts, hand lettering, lettering, rules, student, tutorials, typography, William Beachy