The ABCs of Non-necessity [Imagination Required]
When was the last time did something for the purpose of just doing? Perhaps allowing yourself to slowly sip a cup of coffee instead of flying out of bed to start a whirlwind day. Forget hurry, hurry, hurry. Imagine taking the time to do something not on your to-do list, but just for the pleasure of it.
I recently took a Saturday morning to attend a hand letter-writing workshop. Just for the fun of it. So instead of reading blogs on UX Best Practices, and Methods on Design Thinking, I thought, let me step back and create something, DO something that raises the inner child level of goodness.
But, before I talk about the workshop, I want to make sure that we are on the same page. Let’s talk about..
The importance of typography
In the article Why Apple Abandoned the World’s Most Beloved Typeface , Apple finally stepped up its game, and replaced Helvetica Neue with San Francisco font, which Apple basically designed for the Apple Watch, specifically to allow for better legibility.
“The system font was designed specifically for legibility on Apple Watch. At large sizes, the font’s slightly condensed letters are set tight to take up less horizontal space. But at small sizes, they are spaced more loosely and have bigger apertures in glyphs like ‘a’ and ‘e’ to make these easier to read at a glance.”**
Designers are nodding their heads at terms like “glyphs” and “apertures”, but non-designers may start to glaze over at this point.
So here’s another typographical example that illustrates the importance of kerning, (a way to adjust spacing between letters) which is a typography foundation must for designers.
Now that we’ve established the need for good typographical sense, let’s move on to the sublime journey of letterform exploration.
Don’t let yourself feel bad about trying new things
As designers, we are constantly challenging ourselves in learning more about our craft. So, I was a little skeptical in taking this hand lettering 4-hour class, and wondering to myself if it will be worth it.
As soon as I sat down, my inner design pleasure-meter was already starting to perk up. On the desk were new brush pens, including a Tombow calligraphy pen, and a small piece of chocolate. Things are looking up!
There is something absolutely satisfying in learning something new, and I marveled at each new fun package. I started judging myself for being giddy at getting new writing tools (show me a designer who doesn’t love new art supplies), then let all those feelings go and just went with the flow (pun intended).
We started right away, with mark making. The only techniques I had to remember were: up stroke (less pressure), down stroke (more pressure). Repeating that mantra in my head was almost relaxing, and easy, provided I didn’t judge the strokes! As soon as I started to relax, the up and down of the strokes were less jittery and became smoother.
Some typographic principles that we explored:
Rhythm and Bounce
This includes a baseline shift, adding movement to text.
Balance and Composition
As people, we are attracted to balance and good composition. There is some exaggeration in the letterforms here, adding more interest. Also, the ligature of “ov” makes another interesting composition within the word itself.
Our class was then prompted to experiment with words and phrases — something snarky and/or true. Since I wanted to explore letter arcs, I started with a capital “P” and, well the rest you can see here.
So, aside from calligraphy, what did I learn?
Allow your inner child to shine
This class taught me that working with design on a daily basis can be exhausting if we don’t indulge ourselves in supposedly non-essential learning. It allowed me to marvel at the deeper meaning of letterforms, while having fun!
One of the most gratifying aspects of parenthood is being able to revisit experiences as if for the first time. As I teach my 3 year old how to write her name “M-i-l-a”, my heart grows as I watch her wonderment in holding the pen, and seeing flow of ink on paper. It’s magical seeing her joy and sense of accomplishment. We should remember to nourish our own curiosity and it may just lead to a fantastic journey.
Links and Resources:
