My love for lettering is longstanding. I remember my first lessons in Calligraphy, my first pen,all the wonderful nibs and colored ink. I loved playing with all the different lines and marks discovering what I could create. Truth be told I probably spent more time drawing then practicing my letters~I could never resist adding an extra flourish to the tail end of maybe a flower or two to dot an i.
It would be fun to find the menu I designed for Le Select Bistro, the grad invites and even our wedding invite – all hand drawn by me way back. I know I will come across them someday, but for now they are tucked away in an old journal in some box stored in the garage at my parents place.
I recently came across this inspirational resource Typography Sketchbooks by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico on the lovely Wit and Whistle blog. It’s filled with page after page of gorgeous lettering from the sketchbooks of over 90 talented designers. I will be adding this to my bookshelf very soon!
images courtesy of amanda wright of wit & whistle
If you are looking for a bit of your own hand drawn typography inspiration have a look at the work of these designers.
Some work of Amanda Wright ~ Designer of stylishly quirky paper goods.She has a very strong and simple style. I also really enjoy her blog Wit & Whistle.It has a little bit of everything to stir your creative juices.
How does that grab your eye!? I love Linzie Hunter work. Her website is full of beautiful images sure to inspire.
Another of my fav finds is from the desk of Katie Daisy.
I love Katie Daisys very intricate hand lettering and illustration.I am drawn to her soft palette and love for all things flora and fauna.Her work is created with a mixture of watercolor and acrylic. Her website is a must see.
If you love the look of mix and matched fonts, have a look at this tutorial by Fontaholic. Their image sums it up for you.
This month Tigerprints competition is all about hand drawn typography. Have a look here to see all the latest entries. Dont despair there is still lots of time to enter – Nov 11th is the deadline.
Its Art Everyday month ~ Hop on over to Leahs blog for more info on Art Everyday.
See you in a few days!
spaark.wordpress.com 
Julie – fab’ post. Thank you! Lots of good links for me to go and investigate. 🙂
Hey Julie, thanks for the inspiring post and all the links to the great stuffs! Will you be entering the competition? Loving all the details and textures of your hand drawn letters! 🙂
Enjoyed this post a lot, Julie. Beautiful typo everywhere. Inspiring, indeed.
Fab post. Had a look at the links and lots of lovely visual stimuli.
Love this! Thank you for the suggestions and references. I’ve been piqued by typography lately and felt it was over my head. Can’t wait to check all this out! Xo
What eye candy! I love typography- which is funny since I have the handwriting of a doctor (but am not a doctor…).
Wow! You have a definitely talent with letter creation ~ marvelous ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^ on Blogger ^_^
Nice! Almost makes me think I could do it … almost. 😉 Who knows, I may give it a try. Love the last tutorial, especially because it breaks it own rule #3 yet still looks cohesive and fantastic!
You should definitely try-its kind of meditative because you already know the shape it has to be…just have to figure out the filling!
Fascinating post with great links! I love playing with lettering and trying out different shading styles (cross-hatching, polka-dotting etc). You’ve picked out some great inspirational examples. I’m going to be trying some of these out as soon as I can find my ink pen again).