Feb 19, 2012 | Book Covers, Recent Posts
Title design by Iskra, a mix of Gothic and Uncial pen calligraphy
Drawn typographic lettering design by Iskra
Title and Author lettering design by Iskra
The Imajica letterforms were designed by me as a proprietary style to be used in Clive Barker's books over a period of time. They were then lifted and turned into a font for general use by another designer without my knowledge or permission, a perplexing and less than gallant appropriation of one artist's works by another.
See more book cover title lettering at Iskra Design.
Feb 19, 2012 | Book Covers, Recent Posts
I do title and author design for many books by romance authors. These recent covers for Karen Robards and Danielle Steele are a good match of lettering style with other visual elements.
Title and author calligraphy by Iskra, Art Director Lisa Litwack
Title calligraphy and lettering design by Iskra, Art Director Lynn Andreozzi
Feb 13, 2012 | Handwriting Design, New Work, Recent Posts, The Like Project UnFacebook Stickers |
© Iskra Design
To download the UnFacebook personalized “Like” stickers as a pdf go here.
Feb 10, 2012 | New Work, Recent Posts
You have probably noticed that this is the month with the red heart in the middle, and you will be consuming flowers and chocolates at a frantic rate in advance if not on the Day. Of all consumer holidays, Valentines Day ranks as one of my favorites. It is built on true emotion and complicated sentiment, starting right in kindergarten when a child starts to wonder if the little SweeTart glued to a piece of constuction paper (from That Boy) "means" something.
I promise you something very interesting is coming to Alphabet Roadtrip on Valentines Day. But in the meantime, who doesn't love an amusement park? Especially one that has a little cafe called February where you can think about life and write in your journal. Croquill pen with India ink and watercolor.
© Iskra Design
Feb 6, 2012 | Book Covers, Recent Posts
What I like about book title design is the variety of skills I get to use. It's not just about pens and brushes and lettering techniques. Each genre of book requires a different expression of historical era and a feel for the part of popular (or elite) culture the book lives in. These examples of book title and author typography are all based on traditional historical letterforms.
"Juliet" is Humanist, with a flourish. Alexandra Ripley's "Love Divine" is a very condensed and stylized version of Uncial. "The Lost Recipe for Happiness" is a nostalgic mix of small caps with ornamental italic accents. "Nelson's Trafalgar" incorporates a hand-drawn cartouche with a script that is more font than calligraphy, although it is completely hand-lettered.
The childrens' and fantasy genre books below draw from historical sources also, but with subtle differences. Each cover treatment should look unique to the author, and the typography and hand-lettering become important parts of the author and series brand. "Babe" is done with a calligraphy pen on rough paper, which gives it a soft look that goes with the sweetness of the cover colors and the rounded animal shapes. "The Knight" started as calligraphic Roman Caps but was then inked and given a more retro-typographic feeling, enhanced by the outline. The bolder serifs give it a masculine and heroic feeling echoed in the illustration.
Additional samples of the Uncial style showing how differently it can be expressed. For Brian Jaques (yes, you can fall in love with a mouse!) the ornamental serifs and quirky curves go with Martin the Warrior's character and mimic the ornamental border. "Son of the Sword" is closest to a purely historical Uncial of any of these titles, done with an edged pen on rough paper. The Uncial d is one of my favorite letters of all time.
Hand lettering and hand lettered typography © Iskra Johnson
See my book jacket portfolio at www.iskradesign.com
Designer, calligrapher, lettering artist. 