So, this week we decided to do something a little different. We created a little randomized challenge to sharpen up our hand-lettering skills. To pick the theme and style of type, I filled two different cups with pieces of paper to draw from. For the word, I just used an online random word generator.
In this iteration, I ended up drawing an interesting mix: sans-serif and Victorian, with the word “fling” from the word randomizer.
The initial hurdle was reconciling these typically contrasting styles. Victorian typography is mainly known for its serif embellishments (not to say there weren’t sans-serif appearances, but for display type, a serif seems far more common) so this presented a unique creative opportunity. I decided to incorporate the characteristic wave shapes found in display type from that era, along with the bold fat face typefaces that were popular during the time period. Additionally, I envisioned some decorative flourishes reminiscent of the lavish ornamentation seen in Victorian typography. Taking all this information in hand, I started doing some very rough sketches to get a good amount of ideas out of my noggin.
After I felt a little more stable in the direction I would be heading, I jumped into Procreate!
While I wouldn’t claim to be a handlettering master (yet!), I’m always striving to improve. Personally, I like when custom type has a bit of imperfection given by the human hand. It makes it truly custom! This is why I prefer to create my own lettering guidelines – a balance between freehand strokes and subtle adjustments using Procreate’s straightening feature.
There are four guidelines I use to keep everything even:
- horizontal for the x-height and shape
- vertical for the entire character (to keep them straight!)
- vertical for the weight of the stems on each character
- horizontal for the weight of the horizontal lines on each character
If it’s a rounder letter like O or G, I sometimes use shapes to help it feel a little more streamlined. Having this system in place gives it a sense of symmetry even while being a hand-drawn piece of type. While this is fitting for this specific circumstance, sometimes I prefer unwieldy type without many rules. But this whole challenge is intended for me to step out of my comfort zone, so I’m saving that for another time.
I did a first initial drawing, and ended up scrapping it. But once I got a base for the type I liked, I started refining it with my guides and making adjustments where I saw fit. It’s really a “trust the process” situation for me, which I actually find very therapeutic. Well, outside of the fighting I did with the G in this word. I had to step away and, as my illustration professor in college used to say, “sneak up” on it in order to see the fixes I needed to make. Eventually, I got it to a place where I was happy with! Once the word itself was all finished, I added a few simple decorative lines around it, emphasizing the word itself with little swirls I made by literally flinging my pencil in a quick stroke.
Although I think the final piece may read as a bit more Art Nouveau than Victorian, I’m still really happy with how it came out. Even if I don’t hit the nail on the head with the theme, I think that’s alright, as this is an exercise after all! Practice is practice for a reason. Don’t let perfectionism swallow you whole, it’ll eat your motivation.
*This post was written and illustrated by a human named Alex.
