Week 1 - Type Crafting

#calligraphy #lettering #roundhand #crafts

Reflections

Having to do lettering in school is something i always hoped for! Not because i have done it before but it is something different from the usual school works which often be in digital while lettering is something traditional and hands on, which is quite fun if you have the interest in learning. Although i have learned almost everything what huei hoon have covered during the lesson. I was surprised that I didn't get to learn this when I am learning on my own. Firstly, using pencil to practice the drills as shown below - practicing the upward stroke and the downward stroke of the letter forms. Secondly, learning the hierarchy of styles when just starting out and not just jumping to the harder ones. I learned that we should learn roundhand first before moving on, so for the past week i have been practicing on my roundhand. I have done italics, Gothic, copperplate but not roundhand so it's still a first for me. This lesson also kicked start my routine of learning the basics of the various styles, because I know i have to learn roundhand first, then italics, then Gothic etc. Mastering the basics is what I am currently focusing on before breaking the rules. But it will be a long way still to go.

Brief

To create a calligraphic label design based on a currently product in the market.

Research

Been focusing on doing the roundhand style and since it is my first time doing it so i went on to youtube to search for some tutorials and learn the basics such as the number of pen width and pen angle which i did discovered - 4 pen width at 30 degress angle when writing. Here's the video that i watched here & here.

I have also research on other calligraphers which i didn't knew of. such as the works of John Stevens - He is able to do a varity of styles and also found some of his videos on youtube. here & here - The brush lettering - fraktur (something similar to gothic but more complicated and more fun to do which i have tried before in the past.

Using pencil for the first to practice the upward stroke and downward stroke which I find it is very useful for beginners whom find it hard to work with markers or inks at the start. I did struggled when I just started so it's good to practice with the most simple tool.

Tools used to create the cola pen using aluminium can and tape.

The blue one is made in school, while the one behind is the one that I done before. Using Cola pen is fun because this pen is able to get different kind of stroke width ranging from the smallest to the largest. Depending on how you angle cut your aluminum tip.

The above piece of works were done during lesson using the cola pen creating in class and the cola pen that I made on my own before hand.

Tools: Custom cola pen and custom bamboo pen.

Some of my practice on Roundhand Calligraphy.

Tools: Chinese ink & Custom Bamboo pen.

The practise i had for the past week on my roundhand calligraphy. Since it is my first time doing roundhand it will takes a while to learn - 4 pen widths at 30 degress pen angle. And also different letter will have larger width such as A, C, D, G, H, K, M, N, O, Q, R, V, W as compared to the other letters. Therefore it will take a while to getting used to it and not let my past experiences of doing other lettering styles affect the way i learn roundhand calligraphy.

Product

The product i have chose is Carlsberg. I have decided to use italics and try to achieve the shape and form based on the original logo of Carlsberg. I did not do excatly on the stroke widths but just keeping it consistent through out.

As seen above, I have tried about 20 plus times but scanned 18 of them as seen above. Every single one looks very similar but they are different in terms of pen angle and all the little details.
The one that is labeled with a 1 is the final choice which I have decided to use after doing it so many time. Doing italics is 3 or 4 pen widths at 45 degree pen angle if I am not wrong.
Tools: Chinese Ink & Pilot Parallel Pen