This Exercise will focus on creating lettering: “a specific combination of letterforms crafted for a single use”. This quote is from a recent article that will help you in Understanding the difference between Type and Lettering. After reading that article, read about the roots of calligraphy in Asia and the Middle East, which in turn inspired European illuminated manuscripts. All of these have a great influence on contemporary designers like Herb Lubalin, Louise Fili, Jessica Hisch, Luke Lucas and Michael Bierut.
Adobe Illustrator is the perfect tool for creating custom lettering, so let’s jump right in. We will start with existing letterforms, since this is a beginning course in using vector tools, but you will then pencil trace to create a new and unique set of letterforms.
Step 1 – Look at examples of ‘Word Posters’ created by Herb Lubalin, Louise Fili, Jessica Hisch, Luke Lucas and Michael Bierut. Each of these designers shows examples of designs composed entirely from a word or phrase.
Step 2 – Pick a word or phrase that you would like to illustrate.
Step 3 – Using a font or combination of fonts, create a design that will be the basis for your ‘Word Poster’. Resize individual letters, re-arrange them or use Type on a Path to form your composition. IMPORTANT: DO NOT DISTORT ANY LETTERFORMS BY NON-UNIFORMLY SCALING OR SKEWING (you do like typography, right?)!
Poster Size – Make your Poster any size you want, but it cannot use more than Two Colors. White (the Paper) is not considered a color, Black is considered a color.
Step 4 – Print out your design, and using a fresh sheet of paper, trace in pencil the letterforms, adding and elaborating on the forms in a way that ‘locks together’ the letterforms so it becomes hand-crafted for a single use.
Refer to the examples above for what this means, it can be interlocking the letterforms, extreme thicks and thins, cutting or overlaying the forms. Think back to High School when you would mindlessly draw out names on your notebook, turning a person’s name into a piece of art.
By starting with a font, you are establishing a basic ‘look and feel’ based on well-drawn letterforms. As you trace them, think to yourself the feeling you’d like to create to make the lettering ‘yours’. Are you nostalgic for the 70’s? What would your letterforms look like if they sort of had ‘bell bottoms’? Does your quote lend itself to a ‘floral’ kind of embellishment? Big hair from the 80’s? Look at design and typography from era’s that you identify with and pay attention to recurring forms to consider how to elaborate on your letterforms.
Step 5 – Scan your sketch, and place in Illustrator ( see Tracing a Drawing Module), locking the layer. Create a new layer and using the techniques you learned in Exercise 1, Exercise 2 , Exercise 3 create a vector version of your poster design.
Use the The Clockwork Method described in Vector Basic Training. Pay close attention to the Build Complex Shapes example in Chapter 5, figures 5.15 through 5.19.
Additional Learning Modules below provide additional examples to get you started.
Step 6 – IMPORTANT: Keep your pencil drawing in the layered file that you turn in on Canvas. If there is NO Pencil drawing (meaning you did not trace, draw and create a vector version of your sketch) you will receive a ZERO for the project.
Step 7 – IMPORTANT: Do NOT simply IMAGE TRACE your sketch. IMAGE TRACE (aka Live Trace, Auto Trace) tends to produce crap vector work, it will be obvious that you did so and you will receive a ZERO for the project. This project is about learning to use pen drawing tools to create elegant forms and demonstrating that you have learned from previous exercises.
Step 8 – Once you have finished your lettering you may complete it using no more than TWO COLORS. White (the Paper) is not considered a color, Black is considered a color.
Step 9 – Upload the layered file to Canvas, with your sketch included on it’s locked layer as instructed, before the due date.
Related Learning Modules
Pen Profile (Variable Width)
Spiral Tool
Expanding Objects and Type
Making Alignment Guides
Tracing a Drawing for Lettering
Basic Modules if you are having problems
Type Tool
Image Placement
Layers
Pen Tool
Pencil Tool
Blend Tool
Frequently Asked Questions
“How complex should my design be?”
The answer is shown in the examples on this page and in the book. Your design should demonstrate that you have learned the techniques in the textbook (The Clockwork Method) and that you can extend the elegant forms found in typography by re-creating the forms using your own drawing as a basis.
“Where can I see examples?”
Links at the top of the page contain examples to use for inspiration. Google their names to find more examples of their work. Also, historic examples are shown on the article pages, Google the era and region for additional examples of historic lettering.
“Can I ignore the examples and do my own thing?”
You can definitely ‘do your own thing’ but you cannot ignore the examples or the textbook. This exercise is asking that you draw and elaborate on typographic form in an elegant way that demonstrates your skills with the Pen Tool. Quick, sketchy, child-like lettering could be great for some projects, but not for this one. For this Exercise, we are asking that you incorporate a more structured approach that shows mastery of the Pen Tool, careful interlocking of the letterforms and has some relationship to the history of lettering, logotype and calligraphic form.