10 Important Lessons From Creative Lettering Artists

Hand-lettering is very intimate, personal, and soulful art.

Unlike digital fonts that are available to all, a hand-lettering designer labors to birth something new every time.

With a hand-lettering artist working for your project, you can be sure of the originality and freshness of the imagination. 

These are the very reason for which we see a rise in demand for hand-lettered logos, shop fronts, book covers, and other marketing material.

The exclusivity and personalization that goes into modern calligraphy or hand-lettered design are very hard to duplicate with projects that have been decorated using digital font types. 

For hand-lettering enthusiasts, the process of becoming an accomplished designer, be it a mural art or hand-lettering logo design, can sometimes span decades.

To make this journey more manageable (and more informative) for you, I have gathered here 10 design tips and lessons from successful and established hand-lettering artists. Tips that may help you skate over a lot of potholes in your journey as a newbie. 

1. Master The Rules Before Breaking Them.

As you start your hand-lettering learning, you will discover that the field is more technical than artistic.

Unless you know what the basics of hand lettering are, you won’t be able to go much farther.

Like most amateur artists, you may deride the following rules.

Still, as you start on this journey, you’ll soon realize that this professional (like many others) is unkind to those who don’t respect its foundational architecture. 

To truly understand the art behind the science of hand-lettering, it is crucial to learn and master the basics. That is unless you want to get stuck, adding a lot of bells and tendrils to your letters in an attempt to seem ‘artsy.’ 

Jen Mussari, an established commercial hand-lettering designer, echoes her agreement about this point.  

Jen lives in Brooklyn, where she spends her days painting, drawing, and designing in collaboration with brands big and small.

Her best advice in her own words, “I had a professor who once told me to “find a way to stay a student.” He stressed that being in a community of learning is valuable beyond the actual skills you learn, and that artists are lucky to be able to continuously pursue knowledge in our work. I have found permission to stay curious within that advice, and that desire to learn hasn’t left since.”

2. Have Guidelines, Not Rules.

As important as it is to learn and master rules, it is also essential to know when the rules are restricting you.

A true artist considers basic rules a foundation to build upon, instead of boundaries that you have to stay in.

Once you become familiar with the architecture of the foundation, it is crucial to discover what works for you and what your personal style is.  

Laura Worthington, an established and published hand-lettering artist, advocates following guidelines, not rules. 

Laura’s approach to lettering is very organic. According to Laura, she simply takes a pen or brush to paper. She begins drawing until something sparks a memory or idea. The most important thing for her is to experiment and keep the pen moving.

Her best advice is, “Don’t be afraid to fail. Sometimes you get part of the way through the design and realize that it just isn’t working, then you have to make the choice of trying to fix it or scrapping it entirely and starting fresh. Don’t get discouraged, every failure is a stepping stone to later success. Go back to your original inspiration and ask yourself what drew you to it. If you hit a creative block, sometimes trying something that is a complete contrast to your original inspiration can lead to a breakthrough. You can find inspiration in the oddest of places if you keep your eyes and mind open.”

3. Aim For Progress And Not Perfection.

As you start designing or practicing your letters, you’ll probably come across people who’ll either claim to be perfectionists or seem as they are.

When that happens, don’t let them deter you from your own journey.

Perfection is an illusion – even if it were something real, it’d have emptiness ahead of it. What’s better than perfect? Nothing. Do you really want to work with nothing? 

Hand-lettering artist Maricar C. Ramos explains it perfectly:

Maricar is also a watercolor enthusiast and believes practice makes a man perfect.

She often advocates newbies about the importance of regular practice, “Since the day I have started my lettering journey, I’ve always heard about “Practice makes progress.” It’s a piece of advice that every beginner might be tired of hearing of. Still, it really helped me to grow confidently with my works. It’s something that encouraged me to just enjoy the process of learning and creating.”

4. “Don’t Stop Until You’re Proud.” 

Something that ties perfectly with ‘progress, not perfection’ is a quote from a brilliant hand-lettering designer Lisa Quine who’s personal style is so filled with personality that you can see a sense of pride in each piece. 

When you make yourself your most honest critic, the results of what you can produce and create can be truly fulfilling.

Lisa is also a true Beyoncé fan. She says, “I’ve gotten a ton of inspiration from Beyoncé. “Always stay gracious, the best revenge is your paper” is something I try to keep in mind. I genuinely believe that being a kind and helpful person who takes the high road gets you far in life. It’s worked so far for me! Sometimes artists don’t get the best client reactions or maybe a post doesn’t perform as well as they would have hoped, but I’ve learned that staying positive and cheering on fellow artists is rewarded with great karma. Also, I get down sometimes when I see other artists that won business I was also in the running for, but there are 1000000000 more projects out there so you just have to look ahead instead of behind! Above all else, try to make each and every opportunity you have PHENOMENAL! Not everything you create will be a show-stopper, but if that’s the goal, it’ll be harder to do bad work!”

5. Pay Attention To Legibility, Not Looks.

It is possible and understandable to get lost in the art of the whole process.

But keep reminding yourself of the bigger picture. Unlike personal art, what you’re looking for when working with client projects is more than art is functionality as the piece is going to be used for a specific purpose: a brand logo, a shop front, a banner design, or similar.

So make sure what you create is functional, legible, and adds value to the business. In words of Mhelanie Hernandez –

Mhelaine is a lettering artist based in Phoenix, AZ.

Her excellent advice is, “Just start! Lettering can be intimidating, but if you start now, you’ll be better today than you were yesterday.”

6. Inject Some Emotions.

When creating brand identities or logotypes for businesses, it is crucial to add emotions through designs.

Structuring letters a different way or adding few tinsels and bells can change the meaning behind the words quite emphatically.

If you are working with a graphic designer who’ll be creating the logo and you’re in charge of only the lettering, it is essential to create work that shows a united front and effective meaning. 

As Olga Zakharova, an illustrator and letterer, says –

The advice Olga will pass on to fresh lettering artists is, “Everybody started from zero – there is no man who was born with the knowledge on how to draw letters. Everybody who is successful now were at point zero. If they could do it – you can too.”

7. Don’t Be Discouraged By Other People’s Work.

People will tell you that comparisons are harmful, and they’ll be right. But it’d be denial to say that all of us don’t indulge in it every now and then. Especially when we see an art piece that is painfully beautiful and demands us to look at it with reverence. 

But before you feel discouraged and start to wonder if you’ll ever create something as beautiful, ask yourself to remember that you don’t know what their journey has been.

Everyone struggles differently, and no one lives a life that hasn’t seen some downtime. 

Bob Ewing, a successful graphic designer, and letterer have the ideal recipe to brew when somebody else’s brilliant work pushes you towards self-doubt.

Here’s Bob’s best advice, “Draw a lot, it really is that simple and that hard. Anytime you are learning something new, it just takes time and practice. It’s easy to scroll endlessly through social media and see all these beautiful things and glance right over the fact that behind each one of those pieces is a messy process with a great deal of effort. So, don’t be discouraged by other people’s work. You have to learn to appreciate what you can offer to the world through your own work. So practice and practice a lot. And don’t be afraid to try new things. When you are first learning something new it is far easier to let yourself explore more because you don’t have that experience to pull from. At times I have to force myself to try new things or different techniques. It’s that cli·ché of getting out of your comfort zone, and it really is true.”

8. Inspiration. Dissection. Creation. Make Something New.

Your approach to design should be as different as you are.

It should be an accurate representation of you as a person and an artist and must follow a path that you have forged for yourself.

Learn from your mentors, but don’t forget to venture out and see what else is out there. 

Hand-lettering guru Stefan Kunz explains his four-step method of letter-creation that he has developed all on his own, after years of studying, teaching, and learning. 

9. Envision It Before You Can Execute It.

Artists do not create work out of nowhere; there’s always something that inspires the imagination and gets the creative juices running.

And envisioning is a large part of imagination and creation. 

Perhaps that is where the stereotype of artists staring off into the air comes from.

But here is at least one place where you’d like to prove the stereotype right. Stare off into the air. See what no one else can see.

Envision it.

Look at it in your mind’s eye before you can draw it on paper. 

Annica Lydenberg puts it simply.

Annica is an accomplished lettering artist, mural painter, art director, and illustrator.

She expresses her style and inspiration through her website, Dirty Bandits.

Her advice, “Don’t worry that every job is everything; some will be good for your portfolio, some will be good for your bank account, some will be good for your soul.”

10. A Piece Of Advice For Hand-Lettering Newbies.

Apart from ‘practice makes perfect,’ what advice would these hand-lettering masters give to the new artists in this field? Something that has a more practical and concrete application that leaves little room for confusion. 

Ged Palmer, a brilliant hand-lettering designer from London, has the best advice:

“I think the best place to start is by buying the @Speedball textbook, some chiseled and pointed nibs and work your way through that patiently, learning styles. Buy a small desktop drawing table so when you are sketching you can sit upright. Focus on breathing and posture with your work. Don’t add unnecessary fancy bits and ligatures everywhere, good lettering should look elegant and natural without the bells and whistles.”

Wrapping things up.

Learning the art of hand-lettering is a labor of love.

It may evolve from a love of graphic design or just starts more organically and directly as a love for hand-lettered words.

No matter its origin, at the heart of it, it’s a need to add something very personal to the design and make it that much more valuable to everyone who uses it or looks at it. 

Hopefully, with these lettering geniuses sharing their tips with you, this labor will become much less intense and much more productive. 

What are your current lettering struggles? Were any of these tips helpful to you? Let me know by dropping a comment below!