In recent times, seeing messages and short texts written with very artistic and attractive-looking letters has become very common.
In recent times, seeing messages and short texts written with very artistic and attractive-looking letters has become very common. But the result is not the same as that obtained with calligraphy. To draw these letters, in different types, thicknesses and colors, a technique known as lettering is used. Do you want to know what we talk about when we refer to her and the types that there are? Find out everything you need to know about lettering and what it is below.
What is it and what is it for?
To be clearabout what letteringis for and what it is, as we have seen, it must be clearly differentiated from calligraphy. This basically refers to all the techniques and elements that make a person’s way of writing characteristic. But lettering is rather an activity characterized by, rather than writing letters, drawing them. A process, therefore, that is much more laborious than calligraphy. Because in lettering you don’t draw a single letter, but complete words or phrases. In addition, the letters that are drawn are not improvised, but have previously been designed with different types, so that when they are joined to form words, they look good and fit together.
When done by hand, lettering is done with brushes, markers of different thicknesses and materials or special pencils. The letters drawn with this system can have different shapes and colors, and can even be decorated with other small drawings. This encourages them even more. However, designs can also be created by lettering through graphic design programs or specially prepared software tools.
The answer to the question about lettering and what it is, can be deduced what it is used for. Having a high artistic component, it is common to find designs of all kinds, both on sheets and printed on clothing, created from letters drawn in graphic design works. Also in advertising or marketing. Even in business signs on the street that want to have a component that differentiates them and gives a personal touch to their brand.
Which has benefits?
Because of how lettering is done and what it is, its benefits in certain fields are quite remarkable. In advertising , itallows you to give a personal touchto brands and product names. Also slogans. It is highly appreciated by brands and companies that want to give a personal and different air to their marketing and advertising tools and elements.
In addition to professional fields, lettering is also experiencing in recent times and an important boom as a hobby. Fans of graphic design, and even calligraphy, go a step further with lettering, and go on to create drawings with letters and compositions of them forming words and phrases.
digital lettering
As we have mentioned, in addition to by hand, lettering creations can also be made by computer. To do this you need to use a graphic design program, such as Photoshop or Illustrator, both Adobe programs. But in general, you can use almost any tool that offers the possibility to draw freely with brushes of different thicknesses and colors. In addition, you can do it not only by computer. You can also make designs with lettering on a tablet, thanks to the number of drawing and design apps out there for them. For both Android and iOS. Of course, digital lettering requires a certain skill and mastery of both graphic design and the software tool that you are going to use. In addition, of course, to have some practice of hand lettering.
brush lettering
Brush lettering is one of the different types of artistic expression. Perhaps it is the one that is most similar to writing by calligraphy, and is characterized by drawing the letters with strokes in which curved lines predominate. They are also characterized by having a fairly long stroke, and by being done with brushes, as their name indicates (brush, which means brush in English).
However, you can also use brush lettering pens that have a brush tip, available in different thicknesses. There are even two thick ones, one fine and one thicker, at each end. In recent times these markers have grown in popularity, which makes finding them quite easy. Of course, both the markers and the brushes have to have an acrylic tip: nylon.
With the brushes used for drawing letters with this technique, various types of paint are used: watercolor, paint of various types, etc. Ink can also be used. The base, on which it is written, can be from paper to a fabric.
To create letters with this technique, only two stroke formats are used: ascending and descending. The first ones are done from the bottom up, and they are also done with hardly any support from the brush on the paper. In this way, a line characterized by its fineness is achieved. As for the descending strokes, they are done from the top down. They are noticeably thicker than the upstrokes, which is achieved by stronger brush support.
chalk lettering
Thistype of letteringis ephemeral, and it is the one that is done on a board, mainly with chalk. Hence its name. They use it above all in shops, cafes, restaurants, on blackboards where they want to highlight some type of information. For example, an offer, the special dish of the day, or some outstanding product that they have for sale. In addition to these blackboards, it is also very popular on visual social networks, such as Instagram or Pinterest.
These are the main types of lettering, which is considered almost more of an art than an elegant writing system. To be able to take advantage of it, yes, especially at a professional level, it is necessary to have advanced knowledge of composition, design and other graphic design techniques. You can learn all of them in higher education courses, such as the ESDESIGNOnline Master in Graphic Design. So if you want to be a graphic design professional, and master lettering, train yourself to have all the design bases you need for it!
