In this video I’m going to take the basic forms from my typical architecture font and create a taller, more narrow version. My initial tools are still the same. I’ve used an ames lettering guide to create these templates to make this video. You’ll notice there is a third line toward thee upper middle that I’ll target for various parts of my letters. This line could really fall in the middle or toward the bottom to create various font versions. I will also use a small lettering triangle with tape on the back to prevent smearing and smudges because I’m using ink today. I’m also cleaning the triangle regularly to keep the ink from accumulating and smearing – which it did anyway. You’ll notice that these letters are composed in a more narrow and tall fashion relative to my original alphabet. I draw all of the vertical lines with my lettering triangle and all of the horizontal lines freehand. I’ll also use an ellipse template for my C and G because I simply can’t make a clean shape like this without one, however, you may be able too. It goes without mention that all of the letters can be drawn without tools, but for my purposes I like the alphabet to look systematic. I’m also incorporating a slight diagonal in all of the horizontal lines to make the letters seem a bit more dynamic. This alphabet also varies from the previous in that I’m using a thicker marker for all of my freehand lines. This thickness change can also be accomplished using the flat side of a mechanical lead. See my video how to letter with lead on this subject. Although I drew my C and G with a template my O and Q are drawn by hand. For this alphabet I’ve chosen to make the letters look a little more complete by making the majority of lines cross whereas in other alphabets I’ve allowed more gaps. The S is so tall I’ve drawn it in in three strokes which makes it look quite unique .I’m also still making most of the circular portions of my letters look l ike an ellipse. this is really just a function of the natural motion of my hand. Yours might look different. In order to take my hand lettering to a new level I purchased FontLab. Using this software you can scan your hand drawn alphabet and clean it up in the software. Then create a unique font that you can use just about anywhere like word, photoshop, illustrator, CAD, etc… The software is quite robust and I’m just getting my head around it so I decided to simply take on the capital letters at this point. I’ve standardized some of the horizontal lines and shapes and it’s coming along quite nicely. Perhaps I’ll take on the lower case letters in another video. So keep checking the description section for that. If I get enough interest in the comments section and figure out what I’m doing I might make it available at some point. I’m Doug Patt, we’ll see you, next time.
This video was not sponsored by FontLab.
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