07/10/2019 Hand Lettering Basics: A Tutorial for Beginners - 99designs

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Hand lettering basics: a

tutorial guide for beginners
—
by Andrea Stan
7 months ago | 15 min read

Learn design Design tutorials

E
veryday and everywhere, you are surrounded by letters and written
messages. From logotypes to posters, billboards, t-shirts or book
covers, letters not only tell a story but evoke certain emotions as well. What
if, instead of using an already existing font, you could draw beautiful hand
lettering that’s full of personality?

by Andrea Stan aka Mky

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Even if you’ve already dipped your toes into the infinite universe of hand
lettering, or you’ve thought about trying it out but weren’t sure where to
start, you are in the right place! We’re going to take a look at the essentials
that you need to start this wonderful journey of hand lettering.

I’ve been hand lettering for a little over a year, and it all started when a
weekly challenge popped up on Instagram and I decided to enroll. I
previously played around with calligraphy, but I wasn’t really sure what the
difference between that and hand lettering was. I had zero experience, never
taken a class, never watched someone do it live. I just thought it would be
fun—and it was! Since then, I’ve been lettering almost daily, and learning
this skill has been one of the best things I’ve ever done!

By the end of this article, you’ll know the basics of hand lettering and have
the confidence to create your own pieces!

What is hand lettering?

—
Many people out there confuse hand lettering, calligraphy, typesetting and
type design and use the term “type” or “typography” to refer to all of these.

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Example of a pretty typeface designed by Jessica Hische

Type design

Type design is the process of making typefaces which all of us can use. A
type designer creates systems of letters, making sure that all letters of the
alphabet work together in endless combinations.

Typesetting simply means arranging type that’s been created by a type

designer in a given layout. This might be as simple as a black and white
newspaper or as complex as a typography-driven brochure.

Back in the day, this was done by hand. Today, we do it all on a computer.

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Dynamic and unique typesetting by the famous Russian designer Alexey Brodovitch

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is flawless, gorgeous handwriting. After many years of practice,

calligraphers use muscle memory to perfect their style so that the next time
they gets commissioned to create a wedding invitation, for example, they
can perfectly write all the copy on the first try. Although hand lettering often
imitates calligraphy, the process behind the two is very different.

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Flawless calligraphy on envelopes by Jodi Tellier

Fun example of a lettered piece by Andrea Stan

Hand lettering

Finally, hand lettering is the art of drawing letters and can take on many
shapes and sizes, from traditional-looking letters to intricate, detailed and
not-so-obvious looking ones. This can be done in any style, on any material,
with any media.

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Even though there are no rules in hand lettering, there are still guidelines
that we need to take into consideration.

How to start hand lettering

—
Before we start, let’s take a quick look at how hand lettering can be used.
You might be surprised to see just how many ways there are to use this art
form!

Coasters by April Moralba

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Pins by Ann Chen

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Murals by Pandr Design Co

Logo designs by VU design

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Book covers by Mky

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Magazine covers by Lisa Taniguchi

1. Get your tools

You don’t need any fancy tools to be a hand-letterer. When I started to get
into lettering, I thought I needed the most expensive and professional pens,
judging by all those super-duper shots from Instagram. I bought a bunch of
brushes and pens which I probably used… five times?

The only tools you will truly use are a pencil, paper, eraser and ruler. If you
want your lettering to look calligraphic, consider using the proper
calligraphic tools (such as brush pens or nibs), but you can do just fine
without (more on that later).

If you want to bring your lettering in the digital medium, there are a few
ways to make it happen. To start digitally from scratch, use a graphic tablet
or an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to draw. Or scan your piece, and edit it in
Photoshop or Illustrator by using the built-in tracing option or by tracing it
yourself using the Pen tool.

2. Know about letter construction and relation

Guidelines are very important in the process of drawing letters. They help
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you keep your letters in proper proportion so they’ll have a harmonious

relationship between one another.

by Mky

The ascender line shows how long the ascender of a lowercase letter should
be (like l, h, b). The cap height is the height of an uppercase letter. The x-
height is the height of a lowercase letter and the line that holds the crossbar.
The baseline is where all letters rest. The descender line shows how long
the descender of a lowercase letter should be (like p, j, g).

In some cases, you’ll have to slightly ignore these guides and make some
optical adjustments.

Here is a technique I’ve learned from Martina Flor. No matter what style of
lettering you use, there are a few basic shapes that we work with—shapes
she calls “mother forms.” We have rectangular shapes (like the letters H or
E), triangular shapes (like the letters V or A), rounded shapes (like the letters
O or C) plus the combination of all of these.

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by Mky

If you have all these shapes on the same baseline, all the exact same size,
the circle and the triangle would look significantly smaller than the
rectangle. Why? Because the square touches the baseline and cap height
with its entire border, while the circle and triangle don’t.

Even if technically they are the same size, optically they’re not. This is when
you’ll use your eyes and instincts to enlarge those letters just a little over the
baseline and cap height. How much should you enlarge them? Well, that’s
up to you! In time, you’ll find it easier until you’ll do it without even thinking
about it. The same rule goes for the lowercase letters, too.

3. Learn the anatomy of letters

Before you dive into the actual lettering, it’s important to know the most
commonly used terms, so that next time you’ll be able to call the ‘little thing
on the end of a lowercase letter’ by its proper name—a terminal. Once you
know these terms, you’ll be able to talk with anyone about this topic.

Here are the ones you’ll use the most:

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by Mky

4. Choose a lettering style

This is where we go wild! As a letterer, you have to know all the different
styles so you can choose the one that fits your current project the best.
Knowing the basic styles will help you create endless variations of the same
letter.

We still have some rules to play by, but your imagination can go crazy!

The most important rule to keep in mind at all times is legibility. You can
create the most ornate, fancy looking E, but at the end of the day, if it can’t
be easily recognized as an E you failed. Since there’s not just one right way
to draw an E (except for its basic skeleton, which can still be modified), it’s
up to us to decide how to draw it.
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Perfect example of dynamic and festive serifs by Alix Northrup

Ready? Here we go!

Serif lettering

A serif is the small line attached at the end of a letter’s stroke. Initially, it was
invented to help with legibility but designers and letterers have pushed it
and reinvented it many, many times, creating some really funky and
interesting serifs.

Within this category, there are many other styles. We’ve got old style serifs,
transitional serifs, didone or modern serifs, glyphic serifs or slab serifs.
Whoa, right?

Let’s take a look at what all these look like:

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by Mky

And here are a few examples of all the ways you can use them:

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by Mky

Sans serif lettering

Simple yet bold sans serif lettering. Play with your x-height for a more
dynamic look. Artwork by Olga Muzician.

“Sans” means without. So this category of lettering contains typography

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that has no lines attached to the ends of each letterform. Sans serif lettering
is often used to convey a more contemporary style.

Even though these letterforms have a more basic structure than serifs, there
are still a number of creative ways to do this. You might think there’s not
much you can do with something so simple, but let me prove you wrong!

by Mky

Let’s see a few of these in action:

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by Mky

Script and brush lettering

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Super clean and sweet monoline script lettering. Sometimes less is

more! Artwork by Jenny Nyman.

Script and brush lettering refers to letterforms that are connected to each
other. This can be very formal looking and elegant, playful or even super
trashy. This style imitates calligraphy, but instead of drawing the letters with
a single movement of the hand like you would in calligraphy, you draw the
letters from many little pencil strokes to build that look.

The most important rule to keep in mind is that a letter’s upstroke is always
thin, and its downstroke is always thick. Up thin, down thick. You minimize
the pressure of the pen on the ups, you push and create more pressure on
the downs. Up thin, down thick. Up thin, down thick. That’s just four words
to memorize!

You can also play around with a brush pen or different nibs to get the feel of
the stroke so that you’ll know what you have to imitate.

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by Mky

These are the three basic lettering styles. Tweak them however you please,
and get to some really crazy, funky looking letters.

Make the letters very slim or very fat. Invert the weights to get that groovy
feel. Add a super heavy weight contrast. Use really crazy serifs or flourishes.

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by Mky

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Great example of combining all lettering styles in one piece by Jessica Molina

There’s really no limit to what you can achieve. Just have fun with it!

5. Add dimension, details and decorative elements

Now that you are more familiar and comfortable with the basic style
categories, let’s take a look at what we can do to make them more
interesting and decorative.

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Super fun example of how dimensional letters work by Flavia

Salvadori

Adding dimension and shadow

When we talk about dimension, we’re talking about three types of shading:
the drop line, drop shade and drop shadow. You can create these by drawing
the same shape behind your main one. Simple as that. If you got
comfortable with creating these you can play around with them and make
some really interesting shadows to make your letterforms even more
expressive.

For example, you can create a vanishing point and connect all the edges of
the letter (or word) to the same point, or you can have some really heavy,
bold shadows, playing with the positioning.

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by Mky

If you have all your dimension added you can go ahead and add even more
depth. Decide where your light source is coming from and draw the dark
parts in wherever the light wouldn’t touch your letter.

Lovely piece that uses subtle and simple details on the letters by
Alexiane Davenport

An easy way to figure this out is if you imagine your letter is an actual object
on a table. Look at different objects in your room, both rounded and
rectangular, to get a feel of how the lights and shadows play on it. It takes a
little practice to get it right, but hey, practice makes perfect!

Add details

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Sometimes you will need to add some details on the letters themselves. Add
anything from a simple inline to intricate flourishes and shading. Let’s take a
look at just a few examples:

by Mky

There is no rule for how to add these, except for keeping the letterforms
legible and relevant to your project
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legible and relevant to your project.

Adding decorative elements

At times, you’ll want to fill the empty space around your letters. Again, keep
the letters readable at all times.

by Mky

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Make sure you don’t go too crazy with the flourishes and little decorative
elements. Or if you choose to go crazy, do it in a way that fits your concept
and style.

Gorgeous example of flourishes. Notice how, even though the artist went crazy with them, they don’t make
the word less legible or the overall look crowded. Every little curve has its place and purpose. Artwork by
Vera Drmanovski.

These flourishes and swashes can be part of your letters or stand on their
own. Either way, they can help balance out your composition and make your
letters stand out.

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You don’t have to go crazy with decorative elements to make a piece

wonderful. In this case the designer uses an illustration and little hearts
to emphasize the written message. Artwork by Soniaydesigns.

5. Draw expressive letterforms

Let’s do some actual lettering!

As a hand letterer you need to be able to express feelings and emotions

solely with the style of the drawn letters. For example, you most probably
won’t be using a decorative, circusy slab serif for the title of a fancy event
invitation (except if it’s a circus conference?) or a sophisticated script
lettering for a sports magazine cover.

Practice by trying to illustrate random words with the help of letters. Pick
your word and think about what feelings can that word evoke. Write a list
with everything that comes to your mind when you think about the given
word. You can write objects, feelings, styles, anything. The longer the list,
the better.

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You don’t have to use each of these ideas, but it’s useful to see them all and
use the ones that fit your concept the best.

After you feel like you got everything you need, start drawing. At first, focus
solely on getting the idea from your head to the paper. Don’t get precious
with your sketches. Don’t focus on details, and don’t get sad if you mess it
up. A sketch is supposed to be messy! Try to sketch fast, without
overthinking it and listen to your instincts. Sketch out more than just one
concept for the chosen word so that you’ll be able to choose the best.

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by Mky

A little trick about sketching is to always start with the skeleton of the
letters and add weights after. You’ll have a solid foundation to build on so
you’ll be able to concentrate on the very construction of the letters.

Also, try to not only draw the word in a certain style, but use objects to
represent it. For example, you might build the word ‘bones’ from little letter
shaped bones or draw actual melting letters for the word ‘melt’.

After you’ve narrowed it down to one concept per word, keep sketching and
refining. This is where you add dimension, flourishes and decorative
elements. Reference your list to use relevant elements!

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by Mky

Now, instead of using one style to define the word, use many different styles
to give the same word different meanings.

Follow the same pattern: choose your word, write the list and get sketching!
Again, don’t get precious with your initial sketches, just let your ideas flow.
Think about the many emotions one word can evoke. You’d be surprised to
see how the vibe of one word can change just by drawing it differently.

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by Mky

Pretty fun, isn’t it? You can repeat this exercise daily and you’ll start to see
improvement sooner that you might expect. Don’t forget to keep your letters
legible, but allow yourself to make mistakes!

Bring hand lettering to your own designs!

—
If you made it through this tutorial, you’re awesome and one step closer to
mastering the art of hand lettering. Be proud! I know that getting started
can be intimidating, but you’ll soon find that hand lettering can be such a
fun form of art.

You probably have the urge to jump into hand lettering head first, and start
drawing intricate, detailed quotations. But first, get comfortable with
drawing a single word. You can’t build a house if you don’t have strong
bricks, right? With these basics, you have endless possibilities to draw
letters and improve your skills.

Once you start creating, share your work with the world! Remember,
everyone started out as a beginner, and everyone needs their fellow artists to
give them a little nudge every now and then.

>> Ready for the advanced class? Read our tutorial to hand lettering quotes and
sentences.

    

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The author

Andrea Stan
Andrea (aka Mky on 99designs) is a
freelance graphic designer from Romania
with a focus on logo design and a love for
lettering and doodling patterns. The top
three things she couldn’t live without are
plants, sunshine and (loud) music. Check
out her profile here.
Tags

Learn design Design tutorials typography

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Advanced hand lettering tutorial: quotes and sentences

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Andrea
7 months ago

Wow amazing article! I’ve been doing lettering for a while and reading a lot about it
and tutorials and this is a great summary and super well explained!

  Reply

Bharath
4 months ago

Just awesome.

  Reply

Clemence de Robert
4 months ago

AMAZING article thanks!

  Reply

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Kaleab
4 months ago

Thank you!

  Reply

agus agus
4 months ago

very very good article. i like it.

  Reply

heizenberg
4 months ago

I always find those articles fascinating even though they don’t appear very often.
Well, it certainly adds value to them.

Really like examples, especially the Neologism one. Vera did great job. Also sketch to
end product is mind blowing. Thanks !!!

  Reply

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