Use a Sketchbook to Explore Letterforms

The biggest challenge you might face after you get accustomed to creating lettering layouts may be what lettering styles to use where… Victorian, faux calligraphy, serif, sans serif, etc.

I believe that between creating lettering layouts, the process of letterform exploration should be ongoing. I recommend designating a sketchbook JUST for this task.

This is my sketchbook that is restricted ONLY to explore letters… No layouts, no drawings, just letters and letter decoration…

This is my sketchbook that is restricted ONLY to explore letters… No layouts, no drawings, just letters and letter decoration…

This sketchbook will give you an opportunity to do three things:

  1. Help your hand/eye coordination as it pertains to letter construction.

  2. Take lettering inspiration that you find and create alphabet exemplars from them. The more you do it, the better you’ll become.

  3. Have a library of lettering styles to refer to where you can go for inspiration as you pull together lettering layouts/compositions.

I’ll see you guys next time, happy lettering!

—ct