Lessons
Intro & Sample Projects
09:40 2List of Words & Creating the Map
03:32 3Low Contrast Sans Serif with Width Variation
10:06 4High Contrast Serif
13:56 5High Contrast Script
16:59 6Any Style You Like Using Only Straight Lines
06:06 7Unicase with 3D
12:30 8Serif with Inline Stroke
08:13Chiseled or Beveled Sans Serif
16:49 10Slab Serif with Drop Shade
08:08 11Representational Letters
04:09 12Heavy Weight with Pattern
03:48 13Light Weight Script: Italic or Upright
06:48 14Reverse Stress Lettering
06:49 15Varied Baseline or Cap Height
03:19 16Bifurcated Tuscan With or Without Spurs
08:55 17Varied Weight Strokes
04:17 18Final Embellishments
11:00Lesson Info
Any Style You Like Using Only Straight Lines
Now that we have done all of that serious technical business of proper letter form construction for the next one. It's really time to start playing. So for your next prompt, you khun dio any style of lettering at all that you want, the only rule is that you can on li yu's straight lines no curves anywhere in here, eh? So you got all sorts of options you could go through and you could say, all right, I'm gonna d'oh a drop shade made out of straight lines and that's it, you'll leave out the letter forms so these lions and I'm drawing in super late right now, I would go through in a race later. Oh, let's put in an ass that you can see a curve like this. Okay, so I'm only using straight lines. There's my l my eye right here, there's my curved asked, um so I can do this or I could make it super scratchy and I'm only using straight lines let's see there's my ass. You can do your owes almost like diamond shapes. Um, or what I think I'm going to do for my piece is straight up shutter shades, s...
tyle. So I picked the word lettering, which I'm going to do down here to do like this, um doesn't have a lot of curves and the word lettering so I somewhat feel a little bit like I'm cheating but uh not that much so the first thing I want to do is figure out this is a long space the space that I want to occupy it goes all the way down like this um and it's l e t t e r I n g so I got mine letters and I want to figure out how to space them evenly so before before I even start to block in where my letters go I'm I'm literally just going tio r before I start to actually drawn my letters I'm just going to block in where they go so feel like halfway down is about there so I want to be doing basically four above and four below that on because I'm stacking hey, how working o e t t e r I and jean yeah that's a little tight so yeah before I'm even putting in the letters at all uh I'm just putting in some boxes to indicate where they would go so little bit bigger l e t t you are okay, so now I can start to block in where these go um you can always go back teo if you've got your map underneath um you can always go in and block things in on that two and go over that with sharpie as well, so you can see that through. I prefer to simply work really lately on top. I'm not too concerned with thes lines still being there. It's, not smart, the end of the world. Um, okay, so now I just need to build up my letters with the and I got a little bit tripped up. I wanted to make sure that most of what you saw was the diagonal. So rather than do four lines going this way first, uh, then that wouldn't leave me a lot of room for the diagonals. I did the diagonals as long as possible, okay, so I hope you had fun with that prompt. Uh, give you a little bit of, ah, a break from the technical looking stuff.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
DOlores RUsso
I like the way Annica tells you what you are going to do, then she demonstrates it and then you do it yourself. She knows her subject well and her lesson objectives are clear and to the point. How do I know.?..I'm a teaching mentor also an art teacher and sign painting/lettering artist. I watched this hand lettering class in order to review and to learn how someone else approaches this "not very interesting subject" as some previous reviewers have suggested . I happen to find it most interesting. I love being able to write and communicate using my art and teaching skills. One reviewer criticized the way Annica instructed with "um" and a clicking noise. But the one criticism that really stood out was the F-word which unfortunately seemed to take precedence over all else for some. Granted you wouldn't want to illustrate a word that children or parents might interpret as being acceptable. A good teacher would not demonstrate that but observing Annica I can see she is a beginning teacher who might need a little guidance. So consider this "guidance" Annica - you are a teacher and you represent all of us teachers. We aren't in our 20's or even 40's - we've been in the trenches and we know that beginning teaching is very challenging. But you must remember that you are a model for children that we hope you expect to grow up to be good decent human beings. Some adults need that guidance as well. And yes, children will already know these words (pay attention parents) but it is not up to you to teach it to them. You, the teacher, are to teach to the highest professional level. As for the "um" and the clicking noise at the end of a sentence - that is something you can correct easily - try to record your lessons and listen. Remember - you represent the most respected of professions, your language must be accurate, acceptable and reflect the knowledge of your subject area, You did a good lesson in hand lettering and covered the most important concepts for a beginner to know. It's a shame that some of the reviewers refused to watch the rest of your lessons and some of them even complained about your silence as you did the letters. Perhaps a little more understanding on their part could have been more beneficial, particularly since one of them was a gifted educator (my Masters also), and did not recognize the cognitive mind working and literally submerged in your lettering skills. This is a fine class and I hope you continue to do more. You are organized, give a lot of information and demonstrate impeccably. Good luck...from your Mentor Teacher.
Heidi
This class was exactly what I needed to re-gain confidence in hand lettering. I majored in illustration 10+ years ago and while I did take a typography class in school, it's been many years and I was feeling rusty and nervous about hand lettering. This class refreshed my memory on various typography principles and gave me ideas on various styles I can reference to create my own lettering. I love the format where I can watch her example and then try it for myself - it's like training wheels and works perfectly for me as a visual learner. Annica is obviously a pro at what she does and she's also really good at explaining what she's doing and why. I am really happy with this class and thankful to Annica for sharing her knowledge and experience.
a Creativelive Student
Rating this is difficult because there are positives and negatives. I watched the course and enjoyed it, but there isn't enough information and education to validate purchasing it. For a graphic designer or someone who knows typography and wants to have a fun challenge around hand drawn lettering, it's fine. However, it's not a course for absolute beginners because the presenter speaks about typographic principles and assumes the audience knows the names of the parts of type when giving directions and doesn't provide enough explanations. There is no history given as to why letterforms are drawn the way they are, whether as traditional hand lettering, calligraphy or even in sign painting, other than the passing recommendation for viewers to research this. All of the comments here are correct. I too was surprised to see the F-word in a featured piece and the lack of contrast when watching her draw was a problem. CreativeLive needs to vet new presenters and perhaps have them do a dry-run of the lessons to critique them. Additionally, her"umms", "super" and "super fun" fillers are tiresome. I think the presenter is talented and has a lot to offer but this felt more like a design challenge rather than an educational course. It would have been useful to primarily show professional applications rather than so many self-directed projects. There is another hand lettering /calligraphy course I watched part of previously that was a better "101" course, to which this course would be an appropriate follow-up.
Student Work
Related Classes
Design Projects