One of my new year's resolutions is to learn lettering, so I signed up for a weekly design challenge to keep me accountable. The first task was to surround my name with things that bring me joy. So, now you know my name. I haven't introduced myself...I'll do it soon, promise. Some of the things I really love are going outdoors, art in all it's forms, design, snorkeling (and anything beach related), herbal teas, sunny summer days (which are most days in the Caribbean) and the eighties. I used to listen to Depeche Mode, The Cure and Joy Division a lot in those times. I'm shamelessly admitting a bit of my taste in music, although I do listen to other stuff too.
Process
To start, I grabbed a dotted Leuchturm notebook I got as a gift in 2016, a speedball manual with font specimens, a mechanical pencil, eraser and a fine point 0.6 marker.
In all honesty, this was my second try because I smudged the first one. I started the layout using a mechanical pencil and a lot of elbow grease. I highly recommend a dotted notebook for this, it will help a lot with proportions and composition.
After I was happy with the layout, I went over it with the fine point 0.6 marker
Finally I finished my homework and I've posted it in my Instagram account: @creativista_ (underscore included) and I'm trying to upload it to my Steepshot account as well.
Take outs
- I need to practice drawing individual letters with pencil first. I haven't done pencil drawing in a loooong time
- I would love to hold a steady hand to make perfect straight lines and I might have to use a ruler next time
- Maybe practicing actual calligraphy will help me develop confidence in my gesture
- I have to work on the letter spacing and modulation of thicks to thins (the word "snorkeling" is truly killing my perfectionist designer soul)
All those take outs made me feel like a newbie and I am pretty happy about it, because I love challenges. I'm sure I will get better as I keep creating and it's just a matter of putting the time to master this technique. Let me know what you think in the comments, or if you have other ideas to help me in my journey.
Have a nice weekend and thank you for reading my post!