February 21, 2013

the handwritten project

today i decided to take a break from flowers, because after working on the same project for a few days, i like to take a step back, not think about it, and then come back and look at my work with a more critical eye. so i tried something i have wanted to do for a while. my hand lettering skills are pretty basic, not to say non-existent, so i normally use fonts made by others instead of coming up with mine. the other day i came across illustrator Madi Barret's blogpost about a great online tool called MyScriptFont that lets you create a font with your own handwriting (you will need a printer and scanner). so i gave it a try today, and you can see the result below. not really happy with it yet, and it looks a little different from my actual handwriting, but i think it's a good start.



(note: when trying this at home, be aware that the template has two parts. you need to fill out all the spaces in the first part, while the second is optional, and there you can fill only the characters of your choice. i wasted a lot of paper until i figured this out!)

recently, i started keeping a font journal that i call my "little book of fonts". whenever i see a font i like in a magazine or catalogue, i just cut it out and stick it in my notebook.





i am planning to use these fonts as starting points for any hand lettering i do in the future, because i really don't know where to start sometimes.

and finally, i know there will be times when i really want a font i have seen, and no hand written type will be able to replace it. so here's a very handy tool that i use to identify a font and purchase it: myfonts.com has this great feature called WhatTheFont, where you upload a font you have scanned, and it identifies it for you and offers other similar fonts as well. this is what i did when i was searching for the ideal font for my logo. i had bought this book for my daughter, and i loved the fun, immediate, and handwritten feel of the type they used. (and yes, she does wear diapers...)

do you wear diapers published by blue apple books

i wanted to buy the font, but had no idea what it was. so i scanned just one word, and uploaded it to the myfonts.com website. in less than a minute, at last, i had found what i was looking for!





as i was working on this post, i got distracted, as usual, by other blogs i follow. i am glad i did, because today Esther Cox, a designer and illustrator based in brighton, uk, has also blogged about handwritten type, and it's always a treat reading her posts. her blog is full of witty insights, thoughtful discussions and inspiring photos and links. just click here to see what i mean! enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. I have enjoyed so much reading this post :-) THANK YOU!

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  2. I love your little book of fonts. I'm going to start doing that. Thanks for the mention Alik. You are too generous in your description!

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