Freehand Lettering

The use of freely written letterforms is a sure-fire way to add charm and appeal to logotypes and wordmarks. The friendly tone and alluring rhythm of casual scripts and other varieties of freehand lettering continue to play an important role in contemporary visual communication. 

This two-day workshop will provide an introduction to freehand lettering, with an emphasis on its use in branding, advertising, and editorial design. Practical skill-building drawing exercises —highlighting assorted writing tools and techniques— will guide participants as they transform pen-written studies into refined pencil renderings, ultimately realizing finished wordmarks as vector artwork. 

Workshop presentations, demonstrations and materials will examine the fundamentals that contribute to the successful creation of hand-made letterforms. Individual one-on-one critiques will provide further guidance as students acquire a practical foundation for producing and implementing freehand lettering in various design contexts.

The following materials are required for the workshop:

• No.2 pencils (conventional or mechanical)
• Pencil sharpener, if applicable
  eraser
• Pad of tracing paper, at least 8.5" x 11"
• 12 inch ruler
• Sharpie® Fine and Extra Fine marker
• Adhesive tape for posting sketches

Note: 
Additional items will be supplied for an extra materials fee of $10, payable to the instructor at the beginning of the workshop. Please note that although participants may choose to focus on the manual exercises introduced during this workshop, comprehensive vector-drawing instruction will be covered. With that in mind, students are encouraged to bring a laptop with a licensed copy of Adobe Illustrator installed.

Classroom notifications will be emailed prior to the course start date.