Push Your Boundaries

Posted on October 12, 2015 by jackstandbridge

This has been a very busy week for me, so there’s no new design this time round, but that means that it’s time to revisit an old piece!

This is another piece that I would like to see made into a poster or something similar in the future when the situation calls for it. Along with this one, at some point, I hope to produce 2 or 3 pieces in a similarly sarcastic style, which will poke fun at the slightly over-used phrases that seem to crop up time and again in the lettering community (looking at you, “Hustle Hard.”)

This piece was also done to keep my vectorization muscle toned and sharp. When it comes to vectorization, the size of the text makes no difference, really. When making the original hand executed version of this piece, the larger letters took more time than the smaller letters, simply because there was more ink to put on the page. In a digital setting, however, it’s the other way round. The section that took the longest on this piece was the “I can’t tell you what” line of Copperplate, which on the original only took a matter of seconds, in fact, seeing as it was executed in actual calligraphy. That being said, there are a few tricks you can employ, especially when dealing with a script like Copperplate. The way it is constructed is so geometrically precise that many of the shapes can be recycled from one letter to the next, or even from one design to the next. In this case, once the basic oval, lead-in curve and lead-out curve were vectored, it was only a matter of applying them to the right situations and then adding in the rest of the bits and bobs that make the letters different from each other. To give you an indication of what that all means, take this example: the oval that makes up the O is the same as the first stroke of the A. The second stroke of the A is the same as the lower half of the T, and the first stroke of the Y is the same as the second stroke of the H. In this way, you can save some time and also assure consistency across the piece.

Once that’s finished, it’s simply a matter of splashing on some colour and some vector textures to give it more natural look, and it’s finished!

On Refining Pieces (Feeling Good)

Posted on October 5, 2015 by jackstandbridge

So in the process of lettering, producing pieces isn’t the only thing to do. Sometimes it’s necessary to revisit older pieces, or just work on them over an extended period of time. This week, I wanted to share with you an example of a piece that I have taken a little further than the old ink-on-the-page stage. The Feeling Good ambigram I produced several weeks ago was a hit on Instagram, getting featured by several popular typography curation accounts, and it was something that I wanted to develop a little bit more by taking it into a digital setting.

Here you can see the result of the vectorisation process, which is a stage that is used to iron out all of the little inconsistencies that occur when producing something by hand. Of course, some letterers make these inconsistencies part of their style, and see it as the appeal of hand lettering, and while that can work for some, and certainly fills a particular niche in the design world, my style is one that focuses on precision and high quality, robust letterforms that will function well at all sizes, display a high level of consistency across the board and survive the test of time.

The great thing about taking an ambigram into a digital setting is that once you have refined the letterforms on one half of it, it’s simply a matter of flipping the design to create the other half, ensuring absolute consistency across the design. This piece was always almost mathematical in its approach, even when it was still just ink on paper. The exact curves of the G/D combination in the ambigram are taken from the perfect circle and oval of the O’s between them. The ovals in the Copperplate letterforms are all informed by the same geometric shape, which has been refined in this digital version of the piece, conforming precisely to an exact standard.

Here’s a little look into what happens under the surface, where you can see what goes on with the manipulation of Bezier handles:

Going forward, my goal is to steadily accumulate more of my pieces in digital versions that will be ready for production as letterpress prints, posters, or t-shirts, depending on what seems most appropriate for each piece. If you’re interested in owning a copy of this piece, then the chances are that you may see it become available in the future. Then you, too, can feel good, no matter which way up you are!

Highland Drachm Whisky Label Case Study.

Posted on April 20, 2015 by jackstandbridge

This week I’ve been working a logo design case study for whisky bottle branding. It’s given me the chance to do some more exploration of the digital side of logo design, as most of the work was put in at the vectorization stage. After some initial pencil sketch designs to get an idea of the right direction for the piece, I quickly transitioned to working with the piece in terms of nodes and Bézier handles.

The goal of the piece was to create something through which I could explore some aspects of coloured work that would produce a usable end product. In terms of the lettering on the piece, it’s a blend of rustic, traditional and modern Roman Capitals. The mixture of styles gives an impression of not only modernity but also timelessness and an artisan influence. This piece would be ideal for a smaller company looking to update their branding as part of growing their business and reputation while maintaining the impression of hand craftsmanship and traditional techniques.

Here’s a little preview of the piece as it would appear on the label of a bottle:

Case Study: RS Monogram Logo design project

Posted on September 22, 2014 by jackstandbridge

A case study of a recent logo design commission for a swing band.

Goals

To create a logo in the form of a monogram incorporating an early 1920s aesthetic, and to embody a classy and professional style; at the same time to be simple enough to undergo any scaling necessary and unique enough to be easily recognisable.

To create script lettering to surround the monogram and for the two pieces to function together and independently of each other in white on black and black on white contexts.

Direction & Style

I started out with exploring as many Art Deco and non Art Deco ideas for the monogram as possible, to discover ways in which the letter forms interact with each other in different styles. From there, I could begin to apply what I had found to create a custom style that satisfied the criteria while remaining unique to the project.

To better steer the project, I researched examples of logotypes, typography and monogram/cypher usage in the 1920s-40s, as well as the principles behind the Art Deco movement. The geometrical influence that guided the movement, particularly in its expression through typography was something I incorporated into the design while still retaining forms that are quickly and easily recognisable in the context of modern typographic principles. A modern audience will perceive the Art Deco aesthetic but will not be distracted by any jarring elements, creating an effective use of the logo while still conveying what was originally intentioned.

Revisions and Refinements

After vectorization, the last part of the process is to make numerous revisions and refinements to both the monogram and the script text to make sure they they are not only the most fitting in terms of style, but also scalability, simplicity and legibility for a contemporary audience. During this process I ensured that the monogram functions well in different contexts including the possibility of use for social media branding.

Versatility of the design elements

The two elements of the piece were designed not only to be used independently of each other, but also to be able to interact with each other in a variety of ways. Below are a few examples of how the elements can be used in conjunction with each other in a variety of contexts.

CD Case Layout Examples

Uniqueness & Memorability

One of the most important aspects of a monogram for these purposes is a clean and simple design. This piece is designed to be memorable and individual, while still staying true to an authentic aesthetic and classy, clear cut style.

Where Words Fail Music Speaks

Posted on September 15, 2014 by jackstandbridge

This is a little piece I threw together this week. When I say little, I mean it! It’s pretty small. The x height is about 5mm, which for calligraphy isn’t so tiny, but compared to the lettering pieces I usually do, it’s quite small.

What I was aiming for with this piece was to go for a relatively simple calligraphic style and try to capture the feeling that I’ve seen in lots of progress pictures of lettering pieces that seems to get lost in the final piece. During the design stages the letters are often sketched out, and perhaps filled in lightly with pencil, but usually have darker outlines. Once the piece is inked, the feel of the letters and the overall impression of the piece becomes very different. Having the outline stand out somehow makes the piece feel a lot more spacious and delicate.

This piece is in fact a quote from Hans Christian Andersen. Being a musician and an awkward English person, I often feel that words can fall short whereas music is something that provides a different kind of connection between people. I saw the quote and decided that it would make a nice piece in a calligraphic style. Compositionally it suits a piece that is all in the same style rather than a grand, type-mixing poster. The message itself is about the inadequacy of words, and yet the message is in words itself, so it also suits a relatively understated style.

Recently, I’ve been digitizing more pieces (some to come in a few weeks, too,) so I thought I would quickly throw this piece through the digital assembly line to add a splash of colour. I have a few coloured inks, so I should quite like to add some colour to the physical piece, but the colours didn’t really match up with composition, so I will have to wait until I get some other colours. Here’s the digital version:

Jack Standbridge

Hand Lettering

Tag Archives: Vector