Famous Artists Course Fomous Artss Schools, Inc., Westport, Connecticut Lettering tex Albert Dorne Fred Ludekens Norman Rockwell Al Parker Ben Stchl ‘Stevan Dohanos Jon Whitcomb Robert Fawcett Peter Helck George Giusti ‘Austin Briggs Harold Von Schmidttee A good Knowledge of leering can open many doors for the frst geutng started in commercial art ‘Lea through any magazine, newspaper, oF booklet — look at any of the thourane of packages in 4 supermarket or a druge ‘Hore ~ oF at television commercial, billboards, calendars, book jrckets, greeting cards, catalogs, show cards and circular And you will se that 3 good part of almost all these ‘evoted to the printed word. For almost everyone af the count less advertisements, package designs, or ether kinds of printed matter you ee every day there was fst design or layout — and Fe was worked on by am arto who could leer. No wonder the tit who can leer well has a real advantage in securing dio job or getting freelance work from local stores andi lusty. Leteing isthe great door opener tothe art profesion. ‘Many members of your Faculty were accomplished Ietcering smen in the early stages of dheir cavers — and all of them con: tine to have a Keen interest in letring as it relates to thera ‘Al Parker designs the letering forthe sory openings he ils textes In addition to his many other artstic achievements, Allert Dorneextned living at etering when he started and is fan authority on lettering and typography ia adverdsing and ‘books, Jon Whitcomb entered the art profesion by leering signs for theatres, Fred Ludekens has designed and arcdivected ome of the most efective posers and adverdsements in the ‘country, and Robert Faweet was leering artist a5 well as an ‘Masrator atthe beginning of his career More and more tolay the commercial atts in every field is ‘aled upon to consider his drawings in relationship to the lay ‘out ofthe entive page, and this, ofcourse, i easier if you have & goad Knowledge of and feeling for the design ofthe printed ‘word. Certainly, ability in lewering proves its worth to the free Tancer, who i often called upon to create the whole Iyou, com: plese with at and leering, Your shill a «lewerer ca lead to 8 aver as layout artist, designer oF an art diector~ orf your then fs in another direction, this skill may very well help you Mart earning money sooner and help keep you going wnt you have established yoursell in your chosen field of art. Leteing biliy wil come in handy in more ways than you cam imagine Beauty and legibility ‘Skil in lettering is not only vale set to any ast — it ‘source of many rch stations Probably the greatest ofthese isthe aesthetic thrill you feel a you see the graceful shapes of Ieers come into eing under your hand, forming words Which sensitively interpret the character of the layout and the mesage ofthe copy. In many peers of leering you have an opportunity to vary the qaditional Teer forms and crexte your own per sonal interpretation. As you will lear ffom this Feson, the ‘humerous ses of alphabets in various sizes and weighs, give you almost unlimited range fr seltexpreion ‘Never lee the charm of originality of your leters interfere with ther ability to communicate, The principal reson people read is to gin information and by making your lettering very legible you mike it eaier for the reader to understand the rmesige you have for him. Advertisers and publishers are seek lng people who can help them tell dalr story wo the public in leering that fe both clear and pleasing. Here i a rich oppor tunity forthe art who can combine beauty and legibility i his lettering. Mind you, there is no confit between these 0 ‘qualities, for our mow enuf alphabets are also our most, cil ren. Before you can create auractive and readable leering styles you must learn the fundamentals of design and readability. You ‘an do this best by limiting yourslé forthe time being tothe study ofa fee ofthe fins and most wely used alphabets and to the principles of spacing letters, words, and lines which we will each you here. We will alzo tll you the methods and ma terials used by most good leering arts. We will show ex amples ofthe creative liberties you may take in ltering, but we ‘ill watt unk later lesons to explain the imaginative we of leering and type. So consider this lesson as the frst and. most Ise step in the use of leering Layout lettering and finished lettering “There are two broad! fields of leering in which you may work layout leering and fished leering. We have divided the iewon into two corresponding sections Tn the fist section we will tach you the fundamentals of layout leering. This the kind of leering you will do on layouts for advertisements, magazines, booklet, catalog, tele ‘isl, and other forms ofthe vial and graphic ars “The second section of our leon willbe devoted to showing yos hw to make Snished etering for eeprdtin. 1 le in ‘ues instruction om leering show cards “To the ats, leering means drawing leer with some kind ‘of pencil, pe, or brash, Another way to pt lever on 2 page i by pring ther with ype The area crate of designing with type or sting type cle typography. Lettering ad typo ‘apy deal withthe same fundamentals of the design of eters fd organizing them on the page dough the proper use of space between Teter, words and lines of words. $0 what you lear about leering will be equally valuable fn your study of ‘ypograpy in later levons. In this son, den, we use the word leering in its broadest sense to include all methods of putting words on paper ‘You may think that if leering can be as rewarding. and creative as we have describe it, eh it must ao be very com- plex and diftule to Tear, On frst examination it does appear Eompiex, but i yu fallow sep by sep the methods we teach yon will find it to be basically rather simple. You will see and Appreciate this simplicity mow readily in Tayout lettering, for hete the too you tse does a great deal to help you frm the Teter. You will son be surprised how eaily and quickly you ‘an lewer if you practice regularly withthe corcet tol So turn the page now and start exploring leering ~ one of the ‘most fascinating and practical forms of art.Layout lettering Layout leterng is the term we use to describe all lettering on layouts A layout ia preliminary sketch or design which shows sere the healines, printed matter (called copy) lastrations, trademarks, and other elements are to goin the advertisement tron the page. and what se ar character exch of thes element isto have: Unsally the layout fs done in penal but for specs [purposes any medium may be wed, The layout serves as 2 ude for making the finished lettering ax well asthe other Rise and the specter alo follows i when setting the type ‘On the facing page isan example of yout lettering in an ad sertiing layout. Unernesth this you see the fined leering Bnd the completed advertisement ay de was reproduced ina ‘magarne, In this fst section of the leon we Will show you hho to draw the lettering for Iyouts. Before we do this, how ‘ever we mst explain ome fundamental facts about the alphabet. ‘The basic alphabet We ae all about ux seemingly countless styles of leering. Ac tually all ofthese have a great deal in common. AIL alphabets are but variations of one simple alphabet which we call the etace en nee ‘Wher we my slphabet we mean the 25 capita eer, the 25 tll esas ad the 8 figten Ot 8. Cape the tr prfer “Toa ue fr capa ees The small ters re cal wer faa, eee a ypsetr Keep the nthe ower ene of hin pe Fe Logg ets ls ange oa had ey re toe {ines eed to sper ce x the ferene ence spn nd lowercase ee lyn your mind and don't make the (opal laces nee ef carting tha toad ec cs itis when yor do leering Roman and gothic 1s most important for you wo learn how to draw exch cap and lowercase letter and number ofthe basic alaet before you tty variations. Actually all the variations of the alphabet are Av fata just two groups ~ the roman and the gothic eters are mae of parts called stroke. In roman alphabets some of the stokes ate thick and me are thi, ‘The type which you are now reading & 4 roman alphabet cid Baskerville, Notice the diference between the thie apd thin parts or strokes ob the letes In contrast, all of the strokes of gothic levers are about the same thickness. The headings and sabheadings on this page are ein Spartan lak, a gothic alphabet. ‘A word about the simple method we shall use ere to help you lor leering, First we will each you the basic alphabet, then we ill demonserate howe to make it into the “thick ane thin” roman alphabet, After that we will explain how co make the gic alphabet, We will ako teach you sept, which you llealy know to some extent beeae you can rite. Learn these thee simple kinds of lettering, toman, gothic and script, and you'll he sinprived at howe many dilferent alphabets you can Teter with He research Tm the graphie arte and printing, a short word for alphabet fs face, andl well weit often, Baskerville, we have sen, i a roman (Gee: some of the other roman faces are Caso, Bodoni. 2 Garamond, A few of the gothic faces are Standard, Venu, and Franklin Gothic "You will find it very helpful to have a type book which dis plays the many different faces available, Type hooks ean be pur ‘thane Uarough your bookdealer. Many printers and eypestters ‘supply them fee to thelr customers. Materials for layout lettering Layout paper comes in pads of various sies. The most widely wud i 19 by 24 inches, which i lage enough for fll page new paper and double page magarine ads. Another popular sie fs 14 by 17 inches. For the purpose of this lesson the best kind is auslizing paper, a thin white bond. Tis wansparent enough PeuIyHeeT Pang undementh, Repulse bond paper is eKom sed eae i shard tose through, bu its tough and useful trhen you have to work in opaque oF transparent watercolor. Do not use the smooth yellow tracing papers and velums— they ae fine for some purpores ut not for layouts. Fach company ‘hs is one special ypes of layout papers. Experience wil teach ‘you whic is est for eiferene purpowes. (Except where we ind fate otherwive, the examples in this lewon were done with pen tdlon vsualiing paper) ‘Most layout letering scone directly on the viualaing pad, Ocessonally. when doing a very fnshel and detailed layout sone ltcerers prefer to work on eight or ten sheets tacked to the ‘raving board. Never work om a single sheet placed directly on your desing board Al Kinds of peneils can be used in making layouts. For large eters you will want 2 salt and meumgrae sketching oc penters pencil with a bread fat lead. Then, for mediumsize Fevers, you'll want ane or more round pencils with fairly large round leads, generally called layout pels, though each com pany gives them diferent name, Of cours. you'll als have use for regular drawing pencil of sarying degrees of hardness for the smaller letters. For study and pracce for this lesion we commend that you use lead pencil. For rally black letters you can use charcoal pends, Later on, you may want (0 try Such novel mediums a fle pens, rushes, grease pencls, and pastels Tn layouts where large letters are wo be in color, se Nupaste sticks, Do smaller leters with colared pencil Layouts must be tread accurate in size. So use a good ste ‘edge Taquare and 4 triangle to square your layouts and, for Scurate dimensions, a ruler marked with inches and picas. A pica is primers messorement you wll use often in Layouts Six picas equal one inch °N pair of dividers is wetul for dividing a line imo eqat spaces and scaling up dimensions (fom a layout. Just how this FS done wil be expla Inter in the lesson, Erasers such as Arigom, ruby, and, especialy, Aneaed erasers area must. When jo is nished and cleaned up, spray i with i fisative o beep it from smudginga The fastest way t© get there to | is to yee finest Way fly is by poueLas a he fastest way to get the re is to FL y...the finest way to= 7 enous aut lettering ABCDEFGHIJK WVENE@I! G12 FEL ae Lower-case letters abodefghtjktm nopgrstuvwxyz 1234567890 The basic alphabetThe roman alphabet Pe Throo kinds of letters i ee Ne SLTOKES LETTERING Strokeseno mous Arias Count Lettering The basic STRESS Chisel-point roman lettering The tool helps form the letters “The ides to! to use when learning to drave the roman alphabet isa caxpent pencil with square chisel point, The diagrams on the facing page explain how fo make this point, and the correct position for using i. BY always holding your pencil so the chisel point forms shout a thiiydegree angle with the hot: ronal guide line, your thick and hin strokes will automatically come where they should, Don't make the mistake of twisting and curning your hand as the 22 strokes turn —hold your pencil atthe same angle at al times Do your layout leering on a viualising pad with a firm working surface. ‘Sharpen your pencil often on your sandpaper so your strokes will always have sharp, clean edges ‘Sit comfortably at your drawing board with your work directly infront of you Don't bend tov close a all times you shouldbe able to see all of your work So erenne nd relate cach letter to the entire yout, Keep your pad straight on the boar lunles you are touching up, ia which case you may prefer to carn the pa 1 My eal ee ese eee later a WSs ate oper i adie al otVg BBS c line A AWVXYZ Wwe OS10 Pa V7 Fomous Atits Course Lettering Drawing the thick and thin roman alphabet Here we show you how to draw the basi stokes of the very in portane shiek and hin roman alphabet ~ important because i Fs the alphabet upon which everyone ofthe hundgeds of roman faces such a Cason, Bodoni, and Garamond are constructed. Iwill be a simple matter to render any of the roman faces ‘hen you know each character or lewer of this alphabet. “The thick and thin alphabet is made by drawing the b alphabet of page 6 sith a chisel point pene You will use only the six basi stokes shown on page 9 and above. Remember to hold the front edge of the chisel point at an angle of thirty IFO embed ry tone pal Agrees to the horizontal guide lines. Numbered arrows show the sequence and direction in which to make each stroke, The ‘examples on ths page were made wih a small sketching pencil Sandell down ton chisel point oneeighth ofan inch wide. They fe reproduced the same sve they were draen ‘Daw ove guide lines forthe eqps and a third Tine as «guide for the tops of the lowercase leters. These lewers are about twothinds high a caps, We sy about beause there is no set Tule for the proportion of lowercase letters to caps. Ie varies slightly sith Milerent faces2 the mou widely used all ares atthe end of the most widely used roman thin strokes made wih chisel her roma faces because pointadness, and length pt to copy them in every i tmreta oe erpiaea tie Here fr the Gist excepton to our rule of holding the angle, When you draw the thin diagonals or verticals, as point slightly to avoid undue thicknes inthe stoke, Fo Your penell st thirty degrees "The sequence of 3 AABB CC DD EE FY Ge Mall jt KK LL MM NN OO PP OO Reo Ti VV WWXX YY ZZ ne ata thivey degree ‘or N, er the chisel wercase Cision, Keep ees ste same a for the roman alphabet on pages 10 and 11eon WV Fomevs Att Course % Lettering aa bb ce dd ce ff gg hh ii jj kk 11 mm - Tn opp eae ss 0 UU VV WW XX AVENE ZZ {122-33 44 55 66 77 88 99 && 7? I Don't make these mistakes os tbe Pe ate & ae (| a ae aSPAIGING SPAIGING SPACING SPACING HERITAGEGet good color BEONTS5 E WORDS FORLEGIBILITY d¢ SPACE WORDS FOR. LEGIBILITY _ SEPARATE LINES FOR LEGIBILITY SEPARATE LINES FOR LEGIBILITY Word spacing and line spacing for legibility COLOR 1S IMPORTANTWw How to do layout lettering (On these two pages step by step we show you how to do layout letering. You won't altays make the three preliminary t you see here — sometimes you may do oniy one and at ‘aye four oF five. Tt doesn mater hose many you make importanc using fs co get a good tracing, The tvacing has mich todo withthe anise excellence of your finished layout ‘We show the Taquare being we forthe verticals ad hori zontal. This is am excellent way to get good crisp, straight Tines especially on a very finished Job, but itis not a must Two sor 4 te 8 ring con tides oe Many lettering men make all the strokes Srchand, though they may tly on Tagaare lines on the tracing underneath to help them get thelr Shished ney straight. You should stoke your Iharizontal lines and setifs along the Taquare edge. I gives a neat, cratsmanitke appearance t a Tine of roman leering. “Always Keep your penci well pointed 20 all your lines took ‘equally crisp. The chisel point wil draw every stroke needed to “Completed letter. Don't hesitate, however, to make ‘with a pointed penci PLAN is IT spaces tte et pd, Dow wr Hh de Ug te steed yt pie =o ei toed wk «Spe pe neeoe A ae oe differen size letters, Use harde: pencils as the sizes get = a ‘and always Keep your chisel point sharp for crisp letters, ayn pn Also practice letters with narrow strokes and wide strokes Lightface Medium weight Boldface Peaternoecatiace fondensed face WEIGHTS MAY CHANGE PROPORTIONS wnox~w CHANGENT oe a ABCDEF GHIIKLA MNO PORSTUVIATZ Hi 3 45678 90& ? abcdefgh pe aea2 Gothic letters So far you have been suing how to draw roman alphabets— ‘which are made of thick snd thin strokes and may have seis. Now we are going to each you the alphabets made of strokes of ‘equal or almost equal width and without serif. These alphabets te called gothic. They ae aso referred to as block eters and Stndod et Contant ‘Snvserf, To te right you se a Caslon B and g contrasted with 4B and g in two gothic faces Standard and News Goshie Condensed Like the roman, the gothic has the same stuctate 35 ‘our basic alphabet In fact the basi alphabet on page 6 is gothic a very lightace gothic. Gthics can be boldface, medi fim, o ight. They canbe condensed, normal, or extended (expanded), and they can alo be italic Gothic faces can be sued in many ways. They are excellent schere bold impact is needed because they can be made exterve ly heasy or condensed without becoming hard to read, as isthe ‘cue with roman letters. On the other hand, the lightace ‘othe can be use tocexpress great decay and restraint ‘When you draw gothic lewes, always turn the chsekpoint pencil in the direction of the stroke so it will have the same Frid duoughout, ‘This fs quite diferent from the procedure for thick and thin iewerng Standard — a gothic alphabet ABCDEFcuHIJKLMNO FO PQRSTUVWXYZ 12345678908!? ~ Optical illusions and distortions AKMNWY amr AKM NWY amr11 A|GMIR|T)alg|m|r|t A|G|M|R|T|alg|m|] r}t A|G|M/R}|Tja]g}mj rc} t A/G|M|R| Tyalg|mjr|t AIGIMIR!Tialgimir!t A|G|M|R|T\a\g\m/r|t A'IGMR|Tiagmir\t A\G/MR\|Tjag/mjrit A|G|M/R|T\aigim|r|t A'IGMIR|Tialgimir'tvenom W7 Fone ida 28 Lettering From rough to finished layout letter The only foolproof lawn food! ™Golden Vigore The only foolproof lawn food!“Golden Vigoro The only foolproof lawn food olden Vigoro The only foolproof lawn food!Golden VigoroSWese e URE eS enterlning. Sp Tre _ Opring sale Seat nce a er iemoos Arie Court Lettering “WT Indicating copy Only imporcane headlines and subheads are Itered in 2 layout the vty sll type or copy fs usally inieste by one of the ‘ethos shown here, Copy indication should be earied to the te degre of inh 3 the lestering, Always indicate your opy Insc way that sggests the sie, weight, and character of Copy indication should have the same overall vale 26 the type. Te shoul never be 3 pronounced i texture or value that it detract trom other important yout elements. When there Is ‘much cop, have several penile sharpened xo you can switch to ‘fresh one as 2 point becomes dll thus Keeping the copy ua form in appearance. the ype to Bese inthe ihe od. meio een wd eh fo the sine tthe type Thin i done by giving the Hines he correct weigh ny ing hem the ceed dsorce sper. Use dk lnes {er bellace types end phe lines for fone iter wpr. Un dnt. tees for Inte tapes se hte tise tee {spe To inde type wi more pee ‘teen ln den your Bare eters pei Sor) lafece types Teint ype with more 1 Eee dn ‘1a a conutunn london a oo {9 promot oto taetan Ure gn i ale mice Coalenthe of the oporie mont Ordon mals to alan dodo moe Top at mcont we onthynole naa onp mor oatmonds holon tony ta noe ene, wan: a Lettering ©? taht you hove CG ae Finished << So far inthis lesion wh do letering on Tayouts from roughs to comprehensives, Now in eis section we are going to explain ancl demonstrate, sep by sep, how carey this work o it final stage ~ the Bnished leering for reproduc ‘ion om the printed page ‘Arts speciale in nish lettering becawe {can be a profitable protesion and isa challenging artic discipline. The lcterer must be sensitive to the subtle variations im se Ties, furves and eights of the vatious pats of each Teter and he rue work pl A the same time, he has the stisaction of seeing exciting, welldesigned words take shape under his hand as he puts down on paper the Aeieae Hines aa fim ofthe letters he ses in his mind's eye Skill in Gniahed tering is an iporeant requirement for such special fields of art as posters, packaging, an book jacket design- nstakingly to draw them correctly ing For the layout mar orart director this skill sa valuable ast Some of the procedures sd took lor making fished lettering are similar thove for making layout leering Here we explain the additional materials you will nd wef The most popular letering pens are: Gill. No, 290, which tas fine point ans Heafble, making t very useful for various Kins of seript: Gillote No. 170, which has a metium point aad is more rig ana Gillott No. 3, which isa lightly thicker, even more rigid pen, Fine flexible pens should be wel only on papers with a hard sutlae, or ee these pens are apt co catch on the paper and make ough edges. Pens of compatable size and ‘characteristics made by other pen companies may also be se Through practice and experience you will arn which points ave best for your particular need. A penbolder about as thick ts pend! i recommended, A good ruling pen is 8 must, Desirable but noc absolutely cevential is a compete st of mechanical drawing instruments “You will need a No. 2 or 8 sable Brash of best quality fr retouching with white pain, For brush leering of scrip, have several Larger ss ‘ny good standard grade black frida ink is saistactory. Extra dens ink i wed with the brush By some lettering men because fe produces goal black letters with just a single coat of ink For itouthing, use ® good opaque white wate color such as Peamo White or Talens Hi White. Yu wil also use lampblack cor ory black ocasonally ‘Mos finshed leering is done on kidSnsh Strathmore Brie tol board, It comes in various weight or pies dhe most popular ‘being three ply Some lettres use plate finish rather than kid. Many other Kinds of paper can be wed. Experiment to find those most stable fr your needs ‘Cleanliness important for both your drawing instrament and your finished product, Work that is smudged and scined isnot weleome anyshere 30 use a slip sheet under your hand. lean your pens frequently as you work so they wil always ‘make the clean, sharp lines which ate the basis of good leering, aN aHow to do finished lettering ‘When you are asked to do finished lettering, the at director generally gives yous comprehensive layout he has made which shows you the character, se, ind weight ofthe lettering. In some cases be may be abe to give you only 3 rough tough’ layout and describe the character he wants the finished eter ing to have: When this happens ice best for you to make a comprehensive ui rendu wo exablsh the character and weight ofthe words in clear de {Bi Work Tom this just as you would from the art director’ comprehensive “To the llc i a greatly teduced repreduction of typial ar director’ ‘comprehensive layout. On ths andthe following pages we show you how to take the fished! lettering forthe headline "New Products.” When there fre several good aye to do some of the steps. we demonstrate thes, too. ‘We begin by showing you the ways moat frequently wed to scale up” or enlarge the layout leering to a convenient working se for doing the Finished let Finished lettering is often drawn one-half larger than reproduction size amd many letering men make their work twice the siz. Our demonstration Telow shows you how to ensage the layout lettering to twice the epradue tion se, Where the reproduction size i extremely small it may be necesary to work atthe times the sie, but avoid this if posible. When you make aD your finished letering so much larger, i is dice to judge comeetly how ie will Took when reproduced 1 Sheer Frain sty rt in et ‘et ton he dt a —S—_ -Aew Products tof env hg lyn ning Sma Ws mane y ng ornare ee} arb Seger morn ey og Prod S=ase—_ Prod ae operon ier: hist eahar hd Ion oan. th Sian 1 hip of Senn ng yi eres ee prin ‘anding vo those on he loo Teg. eee cl re oe aerst ee CieraOther methods of tracingae36 Broad-pen and brush lettering As you have seen, our roman Jeers were evolved with 3 fat tool. Up to the time when printing was invented, all of our ‘broad fat pes books were lettered by hand. The wool used Iroadpen lettering conunues ticularly on the many’ oceasions posters, signs, ertfests, chats Jobs. These may be for local charities, clubs, or businesses — they may be gratis or for good fees ~ but essentially they are the sort of things that have #9 be done quickly and ae not intended for reproduction, at least in any large quanti “Thee jabs often mike excellent contacts forthe beginning arts and they can be a wuree of civie satisfaction for the ex tablished arts, Todo them in the limited time ususly aval able itis mos heiptl to be able to handle ome of the broad pers skilfully, One of the purposes of these to pages is 12 fe you guidance on how to do thi quick but most effective ROUND BRUSH CUT SQUARE SQUARE STUB POINT FOR CARTOONS SoA ed ba fn oft da SS and wae Kind of lecering. Natorally i will eke some ime and practice to achieve real speed, ‘Broadpen or brush leteing fe not only wseful ~ it ean alo tie a highly creative art. Broaden leucring such as on the facing page i known as calligraphy, which literally means ‘peau writing” Calligraphy tas 2 long edition, and a Anowlelge of this artis valuable to the artist interested in cither layout letering oF finished lettering because it furnishes few idexs for attractive leter form “The broad pen, you se, Is a highly creative tool, With the vations pens available you can devise all kinds of novel and ‘exciting lettering effects, Furthermore, each of the diferent pens fan produce many alphabets both standard and of your design. (Actually the term "brood clades brushes which can be wed in ar the pen, to achieve a wide arity of interesting elects)A useful script alphabet ABCDEFGHIG KLMNOPORST UVWXYZ abedefghijkimnop qrstuvwxyz \ 12345607890" Keep pens and brushes clean!38 Fomovs Artists Course Lettering lesson or ee Brush script Bush script is 2 more casual and spontaneous version clferent papers and styles of handwriting ill you find the ones that suit you best Here we demonstrate how to make the kind of Tn the fist step 5TE pot Vis Liphlir spottyShow-card writing show-etlleteres often refer wo thelr profession as “show card reiting.” The term is an apt one, for an experienced ltteer of Show ears i so skill ard at that he scams Hiterally to write his signs ‘Theve fs a wile market for his skill nearly every ore in every community has noe for show cards and signs of vatious ins and ses, For the artist who leters wel, ths can be gone! way to ald to his income ~ or fe may even be developed inc a regular business Many students find that feelance show-card writing help. tem to improve thir skill fm leering 50 they will be well ‘sjuipyed 10 do lettering for layouts oF Snished lctring for tepraiction. Show cards are so varied in their requirements fi the design & v0 often Tele to the leuering artist chat they Alford you a fine opportunity to experiment with the design of diferent kinds of letters and Inout. ‘This ean be an excellent tray for you to develop and apply your abiley to create new Tecering forms and elects You can siecenflly combine your ability to draw and make pictures with your leering. Many customers will wane dhe xtra toveh your illustrations can give their show cards. Tools and materials Table. Most show-and writers prefer to work standing at a wast high sable with the tp slightly slanted. A regular drawing Table can be adjusted to serve very well. There should be ‘wool or metal srip along the Front edge projecting atleast & halFinch above the surlace, to prevent the show cards from Siding off Tt alo serves as 4 support for the Taare when {you rule or pant lines and prevents dhe Tsquare from rubbing find stmearing the wet paint on your show eas. Brushes, Tivo hinds of brushes are usd the rigger, which isa ed sable lester brosh with around ferrule, and the single stroke brs with » fat ferrule The brash you will wwe moxt generally isthe tiger brash Ie comes in sizes ranging from No. | (ery small) up to No, 12 (large). To begin with, 2 No.2 and 4 No. 8 will serve mow of syed ean ct ad oe ovate sev your purposes Ifyou do a Tot of showeant writing you wil ‘want to get some OF the other sires, t00. or large levers we a singlestroke ltering brush. These Iranes vary i with from ¥y fa Fach to T14 Inches, The Ist quality brushes are made of rel sable and ate quite expen sive An economical subaicite is mde of ox hair. Good sizes to sart with ae dhe Y inch andthe I nc. Take care of your brushes was them out thoroughly after each use and dry them with a soft Fag ‘Lettering surfaces Show cats are written on a great variety ‘of srfacen, ranging from thin paper through cardboard to thick wallboard. The most commonly use surface is white cards Doar, which comes in shets 22 % 28 inches 30 x 40 inches, oF 28 x-Ud inches, and in many cols. The thickness varies from {to 1 ply the 14 ply being the thickest and stfest. ‘The thick ‘board is nosenary only for cards that must be rigid or very Tange, Other surfaces sich as allbeatd, map board, mounting board and railroad or poster board can be wed. For Large signs and banners which willbe fastened toa wall use a whitepaper. Te comes i vols 10 ¢o 100 yards long and 18 to 36 inches wile Pens. The most commoniy wed pen is the Spedball, These pen come with ure, round, oval and oblong tps. For large Singlestroke letters there are Cols ball baring lettering es ‘which range in width from Yq of an indh to-an inch. AML of thew pens ae sold in es of varios ses which contain a folder {ul of helptu suggestion on their we Show-card colors. Showa pins, sometimes called poster paints come ina great variety of color and are available in Pounce, ounce, sind ounce jars Keep the jas tightly vere when not in use otherwise the moisture evaporates an the paint becomes tao thick, In this cnc, ade a Bue water to thin it to its correct consistency. For en letering, dilute the poster paint or use ove of the many goed inks made especially for tewering pens. (Other materials. You wil neod 3 yardstick, a Tsquare, and ‘mat knife for cutting your boardsas al ( ee Making show-card letters | iL “The mos widely we ler inshowsard wring re : 2 ba \\ gothic alphabet or variations of them. This is beeanse Gf ther impicty andthe ease and speed with which \ Sees they can be dane. Or this page we show you the fun: ctl phat) flamentals of raking the straight andthe curved strokes ofthe ge alphabet. When you have learned * to do thee basic strokes you cam combine them to make all the gothic letter "The thick amd thin strokes of roman letters are made by holding the brush in the same position as ive explained for making Cision eters You use the ‘rush very muchas you do the chisel point pene Belore painting, dip the bresh in your color and then work it out toa chivelpoint edge by stroking it tap an oven a palette made ofa piece of smooth Cardboard or glass. When the brush has the desired point, apply it to the drascing surface. Ar you see in the pictures at the bottom of this page, there ate Several ways of using the brush, We urge you to work in the manner that js mos convenient and natural for you so long as you follow the baste prineiples we explain for making the diferent alphabet. Always keep your hand movement a free a: posible, spe cialy when your hand Is resting on the surface of the show card, The movement of your brush should be produced by simultaneous actions ofthe fingers, wis nd arm o that your stokes flow freely at all nes. SSYou can crete ay tren: ees vith the showeard et “These fet are greatly nfuenced by the amount h which you load your brush, Bor ‘we demon: 42 Creating different show-card eres effects 1 BALLOON TL R a. heavy RRR/ARIETY in design Variety in design VYAIRTETY ¢z design leriety re CP” \INAAENY IN DESIGN VARIETY in design VARIETY in design Variety in de sign Creative lettering “There is no Himit to the ase of imagination and sensitivity in Aesiging 2 Hine of leering. Always begin a job by studying fevery aspect of the Inout ia which your Ketering isto appear, So that it willbe appropriate and fly expressive of the mood find character of the wibject matter. Obviously you would not want to use coarse, heavy lettering to express a very delicate, Feminine subject, or delicate lettering to express 2 strong, dra matic theme. "Not only must you choose a syle ofleterng that is consistent withthe sibject, but you mast ako relate your lettering t the ther design elements in the layout. Sometimes you may do this swith leter whose line of movement is harmonious with dhe other elements, of you may fnd it desirable to design levers that will provide 4 contrast reli from he other elements For example, in an ad which contains alot of gracefl, tree Aowing forms — perhaps silhouette drawings of delicate closing accessories — you might fel a need for rather fim, slid letters tha will act as balance coal the vinual activity in the drawings. ‘On this page we show you a few examples of the many ways in which three words canbe teated. I space permitted, it would be posible to show dovens of other treatments We want to emphasize how such creative freedom, you will have in ap- pronching most leering problems. This statement, however, is pot intended to weaken the emplusis we have placed on the hed to understand thoroughly the fundamental letter forms andthe principles of correct Jeter, word, and line spacing. ti absolutely necessity for you to have a complete grasp of these baie fundamental before you can take creative liberties with them siccesfuly. Our purpose in this eson has been 10 teach You these fundamentals so that you will hve 2 sound founda tion on which to build all kinds of creative lettering ~ creative lettering that expreses in its design the content and subject matter ofthe page on which it appears and atthe same time is ‘quiekly and eaily read. 4County {bardusgy‘FAMOUS ARTISTS COURSE ‘Student work ‘lesson 17 Lettering HOW TO PRACTICE AND PREPARE FOR THIS LESSON ‘She purpose of this lesson is to teach you the fundanentals of lettering. This includes the typical alphabote, letter and vord spacing, layout and Tinished lettering and crestive var- iations of standan alphabet: Lettering is a craft as vell as an art, so the more you practice the nore you vill benefit from this lesson. Only by making your hand re peat and refine letters and vords many tines cen you acquire the skill a good letterer must have. So do the folloving exercises as often fas you can. 1. To lear the basic alphabet on page 6, 7e- nove the page from the binder and insert it un der the top sheet of a Visualizing pad. Draw Light horizontal guide lines with « penct] ant ‘Tequare, then trace the letters until you thorougaly understand the caps and lower-case letters. Next, on another sheet of peper, arav guide Linge and practice drawing the let- ters without tracing then. Follov this sane procedure of first tracing and then drawing frechang, to lear the thick and thin ronan al- phabet on pages 10 and 11; the Cason on pages 32 end 13; the italics on page 21; the gotaies fon pages 22 and 23 and the script on page 24. (autnough, as explained on page 4, a steel T Square end triangle are ideal, you can do your work for this lesson with the T-square and tri- langle you already have.) 2, With @ chisel-point penei1, as shown on Pages 16 and 19, letter headlines or senten- ces in different sizes of Caslon, Casloa itel- ies, gothic and script to gain experience in putting the correct anount of apace between letters, vords and lines. A good vay to check your spacing and the "color" of your lettering is to look at the tracing upside dow or turn the sheet over, hold it to the light and see 4 in reverse.” When you examine your letter- ing this vay, you vill easily see vhere you ave "holes" or dark areas. 3. Select sone of your better pencil letter- ing done for the above practice and, folloving ‘he method shown on pages 32 through 35, make Finished Lettering tron it. 4, Beperiment vith some of the tools shovn on page 29, Practice troad-pen lettering by first tracing over the alphabet on page 37 ant ‘then Araving it freohand. in addition to the Hunt pen, try some of the tools on page 36. 5. Attor you have gained reasonable sicili and ‘confidence in lettering in Caslon, Casion italics, script and gothic, experinent vith the more free and creative styles or levtering, such as brush seript on pages 36 and, 39 and creative lettering on pages 43 end 4b, {SHE ASSIGNMENTS YOU ARE 10 SEND IN FOR GRITICISN ASSIGWONT 1. On visualizing or layout paper, ‘etter im pencil the slogan: aN FUELS FOR INDUSTRY Better Proucts for the vorlat Plan the slogan to fiL1 s¥o Lines, each one about 8 inches long. Teter the four words of ‘he firet Line in upper-case Neve Gothic (see page 23). Do the second line in Ceslon. Nake the vords "Better Profucts” in Casion lover- case italics (page 21) vith the first letter of each word -- the Band P -- capitalized. Letter the rest of the vords in lover-case Cacion roman (page 13). Render the slogan in Tour steps as shova on page 28. Starting with ‘the rough-rough, refine your lettering with atep-oy-svep tracings on successive sheets of paper, Use chisel-point pencils Zor your ren= dering. Send in the final shree steps of lettering, the rough, seni-roush, and com. ‘Trin then to a convenient size, ani mount then neatly on an Aix Vetneh piece of board or heavy paper. Mark this vork -~ ASSIGNED 1. ASSIGNMENT 2. With pencil, on a sheet of 1 ‘x Tbeinch visualizing peper, do an example of Layout lettering consisting of two words: Regal COLANEAR, (over, please)Student vork -- Lesson 17 Me first vord, "Regal," should be done in formal seript and look’ tke the lettering you see on pages 2h and 25. The first let ter should be capitalized -- the rest of the vord lower-case. Make the word about Anehes tong. Base your lettering on the formal seript alphabet show on page 2. Tee second vord, "COLAWEAR," should be 8 inch- es long, and lettered in upper-case Caslon (see page 12). Do this as single stroke chisel point layout levtering, Center the word "Regai" above "COLAWaAR. Marke this sheet Assia 2 ASSIOWUNT 3. ‘This is on assigmext in fin- ished lettering. SLip Assignment 2 wnder the Eop shect of your tracing pad and carefully refine the letter spacing and the letter fome, Following the dizecsions beginning with step Page 2 3, page 33. Continue to follow the step-by- ‘step procedure through step 9 on page 35. Notice that the finished refined letters in Step 9 on page 35 are quite different than the Diecking in shown in step 2 on page 33. Your finished lettering, in ink, should be done on fa piece of 11 x linen Brictol board oF snoota- surfaced illustration board, Mark this sheet -- ASSIGN 3. Your instructor will study your work to see if you: =+Know the caps and lover-case letters ‘of Gaslon, Caslon italics, sorapt and gothie faces. Have developed the skill to dra ‘them in peneil for layouts ond to render thon in ink for Tiniched art: --Can space letters, vorde and Lines effectively. TOGORDUT: Be sure to letter your nase, address ‘and student number neatly at the lover seft-hand comer of each arcignnent. In the lover right corner, place the lesson aumber ant assiginens uber? Your lesson carton should contain: cheek before mailing ‘Assignment 1 Assigment 2 Assigment 3 1 Return shipping label £{1led out completely Mail this carton to: FAMOUS ARTISTS COURSE, WESTPORT, COMI, caaz-3