Discovering the Art of Hand Lettering

In this post I’ll introduce you to the art of hand lettering and explain why designers are turning to the use of their hands to bring art back into design.

As a designer growing up in the purely digital age, I’ve never known professional design without some sort of program guiding me. Sure, I had art class where we used paints, markers, oil pastels—a large variety of mediums—but I grew up in the generation who thrived in Microsoft Paint. If you were a creative child or teenager in the 90’s, it showed in your PowerPoint presentations or even your AIM profile. I know, I know—it sounds ridiculous! But at the time, it was what we knew. I’m embarrassed to admit I would spend h o u r s designing my presentations and profiles. Everything had to be perfectly set in its place. Font and clipart choices were a huge decision. And colors? Don’t even get me started.

Teachers were encouraging the use of these programs provided because they were the future, and as you may know, those teachers weren’t wrong. While now available in many different offerings, they are still extremely relevant. Everything we as designers create is made in a program of some sort and considering what can be achieved in mere hours, they’re truly amazing. I’m sure you’re familiar with Photoshop, Illustrator and/or InDesign, which have been providing us with the speed and convenience to make anything we, or our clients, want. But there are limitations to what you can achieve with them and as a society, we have completely lost touch with the idea of something being handmade. I’m not just talking about designers—we’re all guilty of this. This digital age has provided us with that convenience to the point where we expect results and we expect them fast. But designers around the world are making a push to bring the humanity back into design. Design with personality, imperfections and a sense of uniqueness that cannot be achieved anywhere else. To successfully bring art back into design, designers are turning to hand lettering.

What is Hand Lettering?

Hand lettering is exactly what it sounds like—the act of drawing letters by hand. Without the use of a text box or font, hand lettering artists often turn to pencils, pens, brushes or digital tablets to bring their work to life. Derived from the study of typography, every letter in the composition is reimagined in a new, original way and every choice in the design, from concept to letterforms to colors and textures used, has a purpose. While many artists stick to the basics of typography, there is much more room for exploration and creative freedom when designing individual letters.

Much like digital design, lettering can be completed in different ways from small to large scale mediums. While it’s impossible to cover every medium, hand lettering is commonly done with pen or pencil on paper, a stylus on a digital tablet, or even large scale applications including chalkboards and mural design. Completed in these manners, hand lettering can come to life through in-store signage, packaging or apparel design, or even an Instagram post. I mean, look at all the amazing examples scattered throughout this post. And just because something is posted online or isn’t a tangible object in your hands, doesn’t mean it wasn’t done by hand. That’s the magic of combining traditional techniques and digital applications. Lettering is completely unique to the artist who created it and because of that, it’s almost impossible for it to be created the exact same way twice—even when done by the same person.

So…Why Not Just Use a Font?

Don’t get me wrong—I love fonts. I weirdly love fonts. And while originally created and perfected by artists, fonts are so widely available to such a large audience, the marketplace is now completely saturated with them. Often times, because of their availability, certain fonts are not used in the correct context which have led to them losing their impact and lacking authenticity.

Of course, this is not to say you should stop using fonts and you should start pursuing a career in hand lettering. Fonts are impactful when used correctly, but artists and designers are growing frustrated with the manufactured look and feel of these assets. So much so that they are turning to their hands to create the exact look they envision and are trying to achieve. Something that goes beyond the traditional programs so commonly used in the industry.

Bringing the Art into the Science

Similar to writer’s block, creatives can get into a rut where it just feels like you’re not as creative as you feel you could be. For a graphic designer though, there’s a limiting factor to what our clients are seeking out. They’re not always looking for the most creative solution, especially when it’s a simple problem—“change this graphic out and update the text, please!” Throw some analytics into the mix and the designs begin to feel more and more templated and designers themselves feel more and more trapped.

Of course, when working in an agency, we have our best practices and tools to bring great success to our clients; but as we make our way towards the merging of the Art and Science of Marketing, we are exploring ways to better incorporate creativity into the marketplace that so desperately needs it. Something as simple as creating by hand rather than turning to our traditional design applications, can start to break down the walls we’ve been surrounding ourselves with for the past decade. Taking the time to think through truly original ideas and solutions, instead of completing rush jobs, works to push creative boundaries or destroy them altogether. Because if we can give our clients something done by hand, it will feel more human in return. And sometimes that can make all the difference between a creative success and a creative failure.

Conclusion

Creatives are looking to really start creating again—and creating something from scratch. Much like our clients, we want to feel proud of the work we put into the world. We want people to feel the love, time and energy we pour into our designs because I promise you it’s there. When given the ability to create something by hand, every decision made and the execution of the piece has conceptual reasoning behind it. Doing so allows the design to be completely original, memorable and easily recognizable and that is what makes this art form so incredibly special.