Type From Scratch

Part II: Interviews

handlettering — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:53:50 +0000

In Part II of my study, I conducted interviews with current sign painters. It was my first experience with the interview process, and it proved to be a very exciting and helpful way to learn. The first interview was with a local sign painter, while the second was online with a west coast sign painter. With the local sign painter, it was a little scary approaching a stranger to drill them with questions, but Mr. Davis was very supportive and interested in sharing his knowledge with me. It’s very inspiring to meet someone so willing to share their experience with you, and by meeting him in person, I feel like I now have a physical resource for future research, who is also famliar with me. Conducting the online interview was just as helpful, I am very grateful that technology makes it so easy to communicate with someone on the other side of the country. By doing so, I got a completely different setting for my information that was very useful.

Part I

handlettering — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:45:24 +0000

For Part I of my study, I had the privilege of working with Maxine Gaither, a local calligrapher. With Maxine, I learned the technical basics of calligraphy, focusing on Chancery italic script. In Maxine I found both a great resource and friend, and I left with the ability to produce an acceptable uppercase and lowercase Chancery alphabet. I also had a good introduction to the world of dip pens, homemade pens, steel brushes, and the like, which really increased the scope of what I might try in future projects. Basic calligraphy served as a great foundation for this study; it is one thing to identify and analyze the many parts of a letterform, but it is not until you are creating letterforms in a controlled manner– by hand– that you really start to notice the twists and turns of each stroke.

An Introduction

handlettering — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:55:44 +0000

I have created this blog to document my Spring 2009 independent study. The following is my proposed syllabus.

INDEPENDENT STUDY:

HAND LETTERING & SIGN PAINTING

By Heather Moulder

The purpose of this study is to learn and explore the art of creating typography by hand, without the aid of computers. This study will not be entirely work/skill based; it will include a study of the social context of hand lettering through the art of sign painting. The study will be divided into three parts.

The first part will explore the foundations of hand lettering, by studying basic italic calligraphy. Objectives here are to become familiar with the parts and construction of letterforms and to learn to construct a basic italic alphabet. The product of part one will be all materials produced in the course of learning the italic alphabet, as well as one finished italic alphabet.

The second part will be a research component focusing on present-day hand lettering in the form of sign painting. I will conduct interviews will at least two local sign painters and if possible, more painters via e-mail. Objectives here will be to explore the context of sign painting today, especially as it is being exceedingly replaced by more modern ways of printing. I will try to discover how these sign painters learned the trade, as well as their views on the longevity of sign painting. I will also record any sign painting tips the painters may have. The product of this part will be a research paper documenting all that I learned during this process.

The third and final part of this study will be a project derived from all that I learned over the course of the study. The objective of this project will be to display a working knowledge of sign painting, and integrate it artistically in a more conceptual piece, or practically in a more functional piece. This could possibly develop into multiple smaller projects; the concept for the final project will be determined towards the end of the semester. The product of the final project will be presented on final exam day.

A Loan

handlettering — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:22:00 +0000

John Baeder's "Sign Language"

Along with the progress I make, I figure it might be of interest for me to share with you the things that inspire me to study this stuff in the first place. Last semester, after noticing that I had a soft spot for handmade type, my graphic design teacher loaned me his copy of this book, John Baeder’s “Sign Language”. It’s full of snapshots Baeder took depicting ordinary, everyday signs from around town that he happened to find intriguing. I had never realized that someone else was as interested in boring old handmade signs as I was, and was actually kind of disappointed that he beat me to making a book about them. Nevertheless, he helped me realize that I did have a definite interest in these signs, and presented to me the idea of these signs as folk art.