I've created a new board "FMP Inspiration" on Pinterest to separate this project from my previous ones, and for the last couple of days I have been going through multiple websites to gather some inspiration. I'm hoping to gather as many different types of type styles as possible so that I could experiment a little more than I did in my APP Words.
Each type of lettering will be separated into multiple sections, as seen in my to-do list shown in my previous post. Here I shall cover the "Calligraphy" section.
Each type of lettering will be separated into multiple sections, as seen in my to-do list shown in my previous post. Here I shall cover the "Calligraphy" section.
Inspirational Pieces
I'm finding it quite hard doing calligraphy despite looking through lots of videos on YouTube, and that's when I realised that I haven't really looked at any closely and analysed them. So I went onto my Pinterest board and selected a few that I find most inspiring.
Dear Lillie - http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.co.uk/
This isn't strictly a calligraphy based piece but I decided to include it in this category anyway because of the way most of the words were drawn. I should've placed it in my Chalk Lettering section but... Oh well.
What really caught my eye about this piece in particular was the way they've drawn "How do I" and "Let me count". It's so beautiful and elegant because of the soft curves and the little decorative swashes, and this reminds me of those curly plants (I think they're called Curly Wurly Rush or something) which brings back memories of my childhood. This thus creates a very personal and 'warm' atmosphere to the piece, which reflects the message written. The swashes also make the type appear slightly delicate as it thins out the character slightly, which could mirror the delicacy of the subject matter.
This typeface has a therefore feminine appearance due to elegant swashes and letterforms, but it is granted some 'strength' through the use of shading. This shading is very similar to that used in chalk lettering and gives the letters a bit more structure as well as making them stand out a bit more. This shading only applies to the main body of the letterforms, and not to the swashes, emphasising their fineness.
I have seen quite a few pieces where they used a similar typeface although perhaps without the shading - an aspect carried across from chalk lettering - so this could quite possibly be a current typographic trend. By including something like this in my design will make it seem modern as I'm flowing with what's in fashion.
There is a high contrast between thick and thin strokes in this serif typeface which is an aspect in Modern font styles, e.g. Didot. Such fonts are used in high-end fashion magazines such as Vogue so I instantly thought of a very elegant and classy feel to this piece.
The one serif font that really caught my eye was the "love" because it's done every so slightly differently. Not only is it in a different colour - pink, a very feminine colour - the 'ends' of the serifs appear to be drawn like those cartoon crossbones you see on children pirate flags. That's what I thought of when I saw it anyway. It could also be the top of the heart? I would go with the heart idea as it matches the theme a bit more, but this just shows that the wrong sort of connotations could be produced by a little thing like how serifs are drawn.
Conclusion:
I really, really like this piece, and it's mainly because of how the script typeface was drawn. The delicate swashes makes it look really elegant, and I would love to do something similar for one of my quotes. I can see myself doing this with micron pens or just biro rather than my dip/fountain pen though.
This is thus perhaps not the best example of a 'proper' script hand-lettering, so I shall find some more for inspiration.
Hardink Calligraphy - http://www.hardinkcalligraphy.com/
Here is an example of the trend I had mentioned in the previous analysis; there are the very elegant and hairline swashes, and the “free” appearance to the type. This was most definitely hand-lettered because of how some of the words entwine or overlap each other. Those that aren't are very close together so that it looks like the words are part of a jigsaw, and when put together they form the final image.
This jigsaw isn't entirely structured which creates a sort of flow in the words as well as a relaxed appearance. None of the letters had to be aligned, and yet this doesn't look messy because there is an invisible – but flexible – barrier to control the words. This makes the writing a lot friendlier and as if the calligrapher had done it spontaneously.
This spontaneity is also shown by the way that none of the words sit on a straight line so it's hard to see if the x-height is uniform as well as the cap height. It does seem to work, though, in this case because everything doesn't appear to be uniform, but it wouldn't work if everything was sitting on a straight line. This strengthens the idea that it was hand-lettered.
The first connotations that came to mind were wedding invitations as I saw quite a few using this sort of style. It's very delicate, feminine, and something that would appear in a love letter or something that fits in this category. The feminine aspects are shown by the soft curves of the letters and the little loops in some of the swashes, as well as the contrast in thick and thin strokes. This contrast between the strokes is very subtle even with the high contrast because the type as a whole is very thin. Nevertheless it does make me think of Didot and other fonts used in fashion magazines.
The way that this font has been done is, as I've said before, hand done, but it also shows that the calligrapher had possibly just tweaked their own handwriting slightly because of how 'comfortable' it looks. There is hardly a tremor in any of the lines so she had done it rather swiftly and with plenty of practice. It looks almost too perfect to be true, and I sometimes doubt that it was hand-lettered but taking a look at more of her work she says she does do it by hand.
Conclusion:
This font has a very feminine texture to it, and would definitely suit a quote associated with love and harmony. Once again I could probably get away with doing this with micron pens but I shall try it out with my dip pen anyway.
It is definitely a trend to do this kind of style so even though I would love to do it I want to add my own "flavour" to the design.
Jackson Alves - http://www.jacksonalves.com/
This is a different sort of calligraphy to what I've previously looked at, and I thought I'd include it here to provide a bit of variety in this post. I was initially going to do Blackletter in a separate section but I guess it does fall under calligraphy.
Blackletter is a font that I find very difficult to read but I'm able to see the words here very clearly; whether it's because the words are quite big and there's a bit of space between each letter, it works. If the quote was any longer I think that it would be too squashed and the calligrapher would need a bigger piece of paper!
Whatever space there is is slightly filled with some sweeping swashes, but unlike the previous design the swashes here aren't extremely elaborate and do not really overlap any of the surrounding words. This is perhaps another reason why it's easier for me to read. I quite like how there are hardly any swashes because it allows me to focus more on the words that do have them.
It's hard to differentiate between uppercase and lowercase letters, because the cap-height is fairly similar to the x-height, and this goes the same for the ascender as they are very short. This gives an overall squashed appearance and I had mistake 'home' for 'nome' as h's ascender was very short. However, I've noticed that most of the ascender lines are slightly angular to differentiate it slightly.
The use of Blackletter makes me think of medieval/illuminated manuscripts but also of medieval Germany. It has that dark and gothic appearance, as the sharp serifs reflect the sharp edges of gothic architecture. Due to this connotation I would have to be very careful of what quote I use so that I don't bring up any conflicting connotations.
Conclusion:
I do admire people who could do Blackletter, and I think that I'd quite like to experiment with it. However I know that I do not necessarily have much time – as I have to produce at least 4 quotes – but I shall try my best!
Overall Conclusion:
I find it a lot easier to generate ideas now that I have analysed a few pieces, and as I'm going to do all of the type styles in different sections I'll be able to have time to experiment. For example, after I have completed my analysis of calligraphic typography I can then try it out before moving on to analysing other type styles.
I shall keep adding to this document whenever I find some inspirational calligraphy.
Learning Outcomes:
[4] Developed research skills in the area of contemporary professional practice.
[6] Developed skills of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.
[8] Developed their ability to scan and organise data, abstract meaning from information and communicate knowledge in a variety of formats.
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