“Improvisation” calligraphy with Japanese Brush © Iskra
I have been having a great time in the studio recently exploring new brushes, forgotten brushes, strange inks and archived papers —and exploring the connection between music and calligraphy. I think this was done while listening to tango, probably my favorite group for that, Gotan Project. Check out my my recent work on Instagram and see more of the process involved in lettering design.
Numeral Composition 1 © Iskra Design
Sometimes a project comes along that allows me to blend my fine art background in printmaking with graphic design. The cover illustration for GIA Reader was a wonderful opportunity to mix it up between media. The brief was very open: use the numerals 25, to indicate the 25th year celebration of the organization. Make it beautiful and make it art. (Please, more art directors like Tommer Peterson!) When you have a wholistic and adventurous thinker/creator as your partner in crime it makes for great synergy. See the complete project and process here.
I have been returning lately to the art of quotation, the heart of calligraphy and lettering design practice. Here are looks at a little fragment of wisdom from a book I read that wasn’t a self-help book but a collection of stories. This ladder could be your career, or your love life. The missing rung could be a missed opportunity, or a missed deadline, or a missed letter from someone you love. It could be a missing bit of faith in something greater, or a missing parent, or even the bus on the way to a job interview. And about the ladder? — who’s holding it anyway? I like quotes that give you some room to imagine.
When I find an inspirational quote that I like I can’t just do one version. I have to try quite a few, and see how the voices sound. How does ti change if it is all lowercase? What could be capitalized? What shape should it take? Freestyle brush writing is one of the hardest styles, because there is no manual that will tell you just exactly how it should look. It’s art: it’s abstract, dark and light and how things interlock. And most importantly, do you hear a voice coming through? Nothing tricky here, no ten different styles in one piece of illustrations or drop shadows, just the words offering a bit of quiet encouragement in the day.
Ingredients: One book, “God’s Gym,” by John Edgar Wideman. One brush, one ink, three papers, and a full wastebasket. Practice . . . . .
(Yes, the first line of this quote really was about love, isn’t nearly everything? This is love month after all. The wording is not a typo, it was written that way.)
I had a project recently to create concepts for a logo for a state agency. The client asked for some non-corporate ‘wild-card’ options. I used the project to remind myself of the beauty of the pure process of calligraphy. Sometimes corporate work can be inhibiting, and the mind can second-guess the hand. I gave myself permission to get into zen-mind, go slow, go fast, go with the rhythm of the brush. This is design through gesture. It was a beautiful day. See more brush calligraphy like this, in styles influenced by Asian traditions, in Asian Style Calligraphy in Advertising & Design.
I read the news, every day, from many sources. It makes my heart and head hurt ten different ways, but I have always felt like part of being a citizen and a human is to know what is going on. To stay open — and not-quite-numb. One of the ways I deal with the craziness of this world is through my lettering. I had really hoped that “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” was a phrase that would fade and be irrelevant in a short time. It doesn’t seem like it will lose its relevance anytime soon. Rest in peace Dontre.
Designer, calligrapher, lettering artist. Read more 