The Edge

What is the best advice you ever received (lettering or otherwise)?

Everything counts, and after all the hurdles it’s simply down to integrity and whether the work is true to your feelings... if not, it’s meaningless.

What is your dream project?

No dream project – sometimes it’s easier to be creative in a frame of mind where there is less risk of disappointment...

Name 3 non-lettering artists who inspire you

Shaun le Tan, illustrator and storyteller – for reminding us how to see the world through the eyes of the child. Seamus Heaney, poet – for digging [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

In my sophomore year in high school, circa 1966. It was a B-Speedball and we started with monoline Romans. We then went to the C- Speedball and worked on Italic. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. I had been trying to make signs for my Dad’s business with my brother’s model paints (Testor enamel) and a brush from Woolworth’s. The pen made the thick and thin lines! Amazing!

What is the best advice you ever received (lettering or otherwise)?

Lettering advice, I think from Sheila [...]

Pat Blair When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen? My first introduction to lettering was a book called ABC of Lettering by Carl Holmes. I received it for Christmas when I was in grade school. I still have it! It was more letter illustration than calligraphy, but I remember a page in particular that had a lot of words designed to look like objects….. wood, flames, twigs….  my favorite were the letters that looked frozen, they had ice dripping from them. I don’t know why, but I loved them and drew them on everything! What is the best advice you ever received? Take your time. A lot of meaning in 3 words. Do [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

The first time I picked up a calligraphy pen was for an assignment in my high school in art class. I experimented with calligraphy for a couple of personal projects while in college, but really fell in love with calligraphy as an adult when I discovered the joy of writing with fountain pens.

What is the best advice you ever received (lettering or otherwise)?

I would have to say that the best advice I ever received was from my dad who always encouraged (and still encourages) me to just [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

When I was around 12 years old, my handwriting was so bad that my family gave me calligraphy books and a pen set to inspire me. It worked!

What is the best advice you ever received (lettering or otherwise)?

Slow down

Why do you letter? What keeps you coming back every day?

It is my medium, I can explore all sorts of issues through it.

What is your dream project?

I really don't have a dream project, I work with what comes along. At present my biggest [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

My high school art teacher was an old commercial artist, and introduced many of us to the broad edged pen. I was able to continue on that path a bit through college while working in the “art department” which basically was a place that instructors came for signs. The head of that department also was an old sign guy, and my fascination with letters continued. He introduced us to the Speedball D pen with the oval tip to do quite a bit of lettering.

What is the best advice [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

A few years after getting a BFA at university - as a student of a Benedictine nun. I had admired my (older) brother's calligraphy. He was studying at Carnegie Tech, which offered extraordinary lettering classes.

What is the best advice you ever received (lettering or otherwise)?

To " . . . set goals for yourself—imagine something no one has done, make it your own, and excel at it." (Stella Patri, San Francisco bookbinder, my FGME - "Fairy God Mother Extraordinaire.”)

Why do you letter? What keeps you [...]

Why do you teach? What is your teaching ethos/style?

I teach to give back. I strive to teach with clarity and encouragement, with the understanding that anyone taking a class has put themselves in a vulnerable position, and will always be doing the best they can.

You have redesigned some of the most iconic brands. How do you go about refreshing the designs, and yet keeping them identifiable?

My brand design work falls into two categories: refreshing an existing brand, or starting from scratch. In both cases, I always want to know who the product is [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

It was a Speedball pen and probably 7th grade, I don’t recall that I was aware of the word calligraphy at that time, it was just a lettering tool to help my grade school teachers with some posters.

What is the best advice you ever received, (lettering or otherwise)?

Listen!

Why do you letter? What keeps you coming back every day?

Lettering gives me joy, it might be the musical instrument I enjoy practicing and playing.

What is your dream project?

My dream project is working [...]

When was the first time you picked up a calligraphy pen?

I started playing with chisel-edged pens in college, imitating old English script. Soon thereafter, I acquired a set of metal-nibbed fountain pens.

What is the best advice you ever received (lettering or otherwise)?

The most important part of the letter is the white space (Melissa Titone)

Why do you letter? What keeps you coming back every day?

It’s the meditative aspect of calligraphy that is so satisfying, that gives me pleasure. Also, the creative process is excitement.

What is your dream project?

I’ve been meaning to do some type [...]