In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector

The steps that I established for myself are straightforward: (1) research and brainstorm, (2) explore thumbnails, (3) sketch, and (4) create the final artwork (and, inevitably, (5) revise). But it’s the pacing of them that was key for me. It took time to figure out how long to spend researching and what kind of research I should do, how to pull ide

The Clothes When I first started lettering, I cared more about the clothes than anything else—I used the same basic skeleton over and over again, tacking on serifs and swashes where I saw fit. After a few months, I started to realize that all my work had a sameness to it. Instead of creating distinct lettering styles, I created one style, with many

To find the extrema on any letterform with curves, draw a box around the exterior of the letter and another around any interior counters (the negative space inside the letterform) and look at where the edges of the letter shapes touch the boxes—those are the extrema.

Symmetry in letterform design doesn’t mean perfect mathematical symmetry—you make adjustments to each letterform to create balance between the letter and the white space around it. B, P, and R may all look very similar, but the upper bowls of the letterforms are often different to adjust for letter density and white space.

Visual research is something that should be a part of your day-to-day life, not just something that you do at the start of a project. Be a sponge; absorb everything around you. Read books that have nothing to do with design and lettering, visit art and science museums, pay attention to fashion, stop to admire interesting graffiti or amateur sign pa

Deciding on a lettering style or styles can be difficult if you’re constantly envisioning the end result instead of making small decisions as you go.

I put pen to paper in my sketchbook or another notebook and let the ink flow freely, making word-association lists and writing down anything that comes to mind, no matter how outrageous, off-topic, or specific it may seem. You never know what will spark a great concept later. I don’t make pretty mind-maps. The less attractive and organized this lis

When my list is complete (usually after an hour or two) and I’ve exhausted all my brainpower, I scan the page for obvious ideas. Sometimes “obvious” works conceptually, but usually I try to dig a little deeper. Perhaps the combination of two obvious words yields something fresh and new. Maybe combining something more generic with something specific

Crossbars do not need to fall at the same height. If you’re shooting for perfectly centered crossbars, it’s likely that they’ll all end up in different places—the A will be lowest (to account for the small amount of white space in the interior apex of the letter), the E will be a little higher than the F (because the F has so much white space below