Starting lettering can be difficult. Starting anything new can be difficult. You want to do things the correct way, but you are just not sure where to begin. By documenting my process on how I create my lettering I hope I can help guide you to create lettering.

Before you start lettering I highly recommend finding books or online resources of lettering artists that have a style you really like. Combine different styles you like to help create your lettering style.

The next thing I recommend is to become familiar with some typography terms. From my experience,  you don’t have to learn every single term.

Below are all the typography terms. Because you have access to Google, you don’t have to remember what each term is as you start, but it is a good idea to become familiar with a few.

Few Type Terms You Should Begin to Know

Kerning, Baseline, X-height, Cap Height, Stem, Counter, Ascender, Descender

Visit this website to learn more type terms: https://www.supremo.tv/typeterms/

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How I Work 

The first thing I do is sketch out ideas. I am not concerned with the styling of the letters at this point. I only focus on the arrangement of the words. In this example I try to decide the exact wording I want to use for this phrase and in the end I chose ‘Discipline Achieves Mastery” with “Talent” crossed out on top of “Discipline”.  Once I have my letters arranged, I think about the style of each word in the phrase. The style of the words should help communicate what the words are trying to say.

The next step for me is to take my pencil, it doesn’t matter which pencil you use, and map out the spacing of the words and individual letters. If the words are going to be within a certain area, then I must make sure I have the appropriate amount of space to draw the letters. In this example, all the words are stacked on top of each other and need to the same width.

After that, I draw all the words in the style I decided. In this example, I want there to be a certain rhythm in the design, so I made the top and bottom words a script style and the two words in the middle a sans-serif style. In addition to that, I wanted “Discipline” to be emphasized to help visually communicate its importance, so I made it bolder.

Lastly, I take a picture of my lettering and then transfer it to my computer. Many people will use a scanner to transfer their files to their computer, but I find using my smartphone to be quick and extremely easy. I make sure to take that picture in decent lighting. One trick I’ll use is to go outside and take the picture in a shaded area. This ensures the lighting is not too harsh and the lighting is pretty even. I’ll take this picture into Photoshop, and I will make some final edits. I mostly clean up the lines and make sure the words are straight. I may also add a background to the lettering.

With that said, this is a brief guide of my process. There are many ways to go about lettering, but it’s not the tools you use or the lettering style that makes your work good. Do lettering every day to improve. Doing the work is the most important thing.

To view more of my lettering work, you can visit me on Instagram at Instagram.com/jaejohns.

Feel free to send me a direct message with any questions you may have or to share your lettering work.

For a downloadable version, please click of the How to Start Lettering guide.