Hand lettered

- [Instructor] Hand lettering can make for great Expressive Typography. There's nothing like what I call "The Mark of the Hand" to create a powerful, unique impression. Think about harnessing various tools and media for a memorable visual effect. Dig into your brushes, pens, paints, inks, or any other art materials. Here's a great hand-lettered example from Trevett McCandliss. The childlike cursive script perfectly expresses the back-to-school theme, and the bits of color suggest a coloring book. So charming. Trevett McCandliss had even more fun with this hand-lettered children's fashion spread. The lettering takes its cue from a terrific mid-air action photo. The word jump literally jumps out at us. The remaining text creates a great shape. It's a tour de force of action and playfulness. "Calligraphy" can often rise to the level of expressive lettering. Here is calligrapher Karen Charatan's joyful expression of Spring. Charatan works in traditional media, as well as on her iPad. This example was created digitally. Charatan's dark and moody expression of "Ash Wednesday", feels as if it were created from actual ashes. This was also created digitally, although it looks like brush lettering. Consider how effectively these pieces immediately express a mood. Here's an example of Charatan's expressive calligraphy, written with a pen nib that she made by cutting up the tin from a can of cat food. She calls this a "Meow Nib". Let's not forget about one of the most widely practiced forms of expressive lettering, "Graffiti". This could be the subject of a whole separate course. Graffiti artists frequently incorporate letter forms into their art, especially to sign with their "tags" or street names. These are highly stylized and highly expressive, and often impossible to read. The artist Jane Gennaro wrote out this illustration by repeating the words, "Pulling my hair out". Even before you read a word, the image looks extremely agitated, which is the point of the text. The words in the image combine to convey a frenetic anxiety. In this piece, handwriting is so much more expressive than typography could ever be. Hand lettering to create expressiveness might also include something like this, adding original art to make a combo letter with typography, Trevett McCandliss completed the"K" for A Perfect Ken with lovely locks of Ken's iconic blonde hair, the perfect touch for this editorial spread. Your artistic skills can be a great way to create expressiveness for your projects. Have fun with it.