What’s it all about?
In this workshop, you will learn the principals of good typographical structure and hand lettering such as spacing, rhythm, visual consistency, contrast, figure and ground and and shape, to write, create and send a well crafted and beautiful hand written note to someone you love. This can be to your significant other, a friend, a family member, or even to yourself!
What will we cover?
The World’s best Type Designers such as Gerrit Noordzij (the godfather of Type) and Erik Van Blakland see penmanship, with its contrast of thick and thin, as the foundation to build the visual awareness you must have in order to create good letterforms and type. In other words, typographic skill stems from knowing how to make beautiful letters via the art of handwriting (which is like drawing). The problem is that today, thanks to emails and keyboards, the art of hand writing is rapidly becoming a lost art. This is problematic for two reasons.
- Our hand writing is expressive. It alone reflects our true identity and individuality where as type churned out via Word all looks the same.
- If we know how to create a beautiful handwritten letter it will help us to be better typographers.
So with this in mind, this class explores the fundamental knowledge of letterform and word construction, by using handwriting to create beautiful letterforms. You will examine and practice how to space letters and words onto paper by hand to create visual consistency so that your hand writing is beautiful. In turn this will improve your typographic awareness in a way that is not possible if you work only on the computer. We also look at the importance of selecting paper stock, envelope and even stamp!
What we want to say, to whom and how are the premise of all Graphic Design and Typography, and writing a love letter is a fun way to build these skills. Plus gain those much needed brownie with your amoruccio (that’s Italian for lover).
Who will be teaching?
This workshop is brought to you by Melbourne’s rebellious new Design School, Old School the New School for Graphic Design and Typography. The teacher is the School’s Creative Spirit Veronica Grow who has a wealth of experience teaching Design Degree Students at RMIT the craft of typography, and also teaches hand made lettering and Typography at Old School.