Last updated on November 30th, 2022
Lettering and typography are an integral part of creating unique and attractive visuals. The demand for designing a wide range of marketing materials using lettering is increasing by each day. Such visuals catch our attention immediately due to the impressive combination of text and colors. An AMA with Joluvian in different lettering and typography issues was highly useful for the design and artist community.
There is today hardly a marketing campaign that does not involve the strategic use of lettering and typography. Lettering covers many aspects, such as drawing letters rather than simply writing them. When you stylishly write the letters, lettering becomes an art form as each letter is turned into an illustration. The scope for lettering is widespread, including posters, letterheads, business wordmarks, advertisements, graffiti, chalkboards, sign painting, and custom graphics.
Typography, on the other hand, is the technique as well as the art of arranging type legibly and appealingly when it is displayed. The arrangement, style, and appearance of the letters also come in the ambit of typography.
However, many lettering and typography artists need to pay extra attention when using their skills to create impressive visuals. To address their issues, PrintShop by Designhill conducted an AMA with illustration expert Joluvian on how to develop expertise and confidence to master the lettering skill. The AMA was organized on 30th March 2020 as part of a 3-day digital art conference for artists – WTF’20 from 30th March to 1st April by Designhill. Renowned artists attended the conference from across the world.
Joluvian is based in Madrid and London, and he is a multidisciplinary lettering and illustration artist. He draws letters with stencil shapes and painting in the walls and conducts workshops and design courses. He has worked with the most amazing brands.
Here Is the Video OF the AMA Session With Joluvian
Here Are The Excerpts Of The AMA With Joluvian
Before answering the questions regarding lettering and typography, Joulvian started the AMA with some examples of his creative process. He gave examples of how clients react to a lettering and typography work when taking up their projects as per their design brief. So, he told me about a few of his works first.
Joluvian: This is the logo Alvaro Rincones that I did recently for a friend who is in the business of food styling and retouching food for advertising. He wants to do a book of food in the future because he is a chef and has a restaurant. He wanted a logo that can be adaptable in the future.
[Source: joluvian.com]
In the beginning, I told him, let’s work on something black and white just in the style of the lettering, and then we work about the full style. What I’m showing you here is the process more or less as I show it to him. So this was the beginning.
Engaging Clients
I showed him the logo I created for him and asked to find out what he can change and adapt from the design. So, I showed him the loops, the ending of the letter, or the use of uppercase letters and things like that. I showed him the black and white versions of the logo to let him see how it looks. I had created the logo horizontally. But I always try to make the vertical version that in English people call a stack’ A horizontal version is also important to look at because you don’t know where you are going to use the logo in future.
Also, my friend was saying that he could put the logo in shape related to food as he was in the food styling business. In this case, one of the foods related to the shape was lemon.
I think the lemon is the best shape to project the logo inside of it. I did that to see how it works in the end. Also, I offered the client a monogram as well as knowing what he wanted. So, I gave him many choices such as different shapes apart from the lemon shape, monograms, horizontal and vertical logos.
Finally, he chooses a logo with a stacked name and a stylish underline and ‘food styling’ written under the line. But he wanted to incorporate ‘food styling’ as per the number one logo choice. I followed his choice and brightened the food style words from the first logo.
Then, in another project, this client wanted me to show the lettering in the middle of the sea and sky. That was their logo idea as they thought it was the best way to talk about the contamination of water. I prepared a couple of drafts of identities for these clients. It was a long project involving lettering styles. Because it had the company name incorporated into the water with some elements such as an anchor, I came up with the effect used in Illustrator and Photoshop.
Working As Per The Brief
The next project I want to talk about Is related to the festival here in Spain called BBK Bilbao. They wanted something quick and gave me a brief, and I ended with two pieces. Finally, they chose one of those pieces that were based more on illustration than letters. But I love to put some letters in my work. They gave me a lot of ideas and a bunch of quotes. And I had to change colors as per their feedback and asked me to work again on the color palette and try to use more vibrating colors and keep a little bit shadowy. I used the golden color to come up with the lettering they wanted.
Designhill: What is the best and most effective way to learn typography, lettering, and calligraphy?
If you want to do mainly typography, I recommend you go first to calligraphy. You should first understand the shape of letters, and then you move to type. If you only want to do expressive stuff and don’t want to create a whole typeface, then do calligraphy right away. In that case, you should use different kinds of tools, and digital, depending on what you like.
Designhill: How to make typography more noticeable?
Typography is useful for the client who needs you to translate something for them. It is very boring because it’s just letters. It is about the color combination, which is a system that works in a campaign. But if you want to create a logo, make your letters noticeable, readable, and catchy. This is because the color captures data, and then you read it, and sometimes the happens the opposite way.
Designhill: How to find your style and feel confident about it?
You have to practice doing letters as much as you can. After you understand the basics, you have to go forward and apply the knowledge you received. But if you do the opposite, you start doing the wrong letters. Sometimes I see many ugly lettering stuff from online, and it’s because people rush to do something and post. So, if you want to have your style before, study a lot, then practice at the beginning copy. Then, do what you think is right for you.
Designhill: How to use typography efficiently in logo designing?
The use of typography in logo designing depends on the client and the brief. It depends on your mood, as well. For example, if you want to create a newspaper logo, you have to research the newspaper. It’s not about the typos, but they brought up the element that you use to communicate. You should have a bunch of typography, and then you see which one is adaptable to your client. I also try to twist the logo to give it my style. Otherwise, it is just typography that you took from the internet.
Designhill: What advice would you give to a beginner who is already an artist?
As I said before, research, read, look and try to at least copy what you see if you see something that it’s very nice for you. Take it and try to reproduce to understand what the person who did it before was thinking. I’m not saying copy and then post it because that’s not good. I say that you copy to learn and try to do one by yourself.
Take a name or a quote that you like and try to apply all the knowledge that you got. You will gradually learn the skill and ultimately have the confidence to do something by yourself without copying. But as you are a beginner, you need to copy everyone.
Designhill: Are there any certain rules to follow in typography to make it more appealing to the eye?
Yes. I had a nice school teacher who always talked about the grid. At that time, I didn’t want to pay attention to any grid. It was boring to me. But after starting my professional career, I started using grids seriously. You can see some people on social media using a grid to design logos. But the grid is not necessary for calligraphy. Grid is more like structures to divide the design and to plan it. So, I like to divide stuff and see if we have a good border or not, there is space around or not. I started to use the grid to do typography when using a structure inside of calligraphy.
So, these are the vital tips that Joluvian had to offer to the letter and typographic community. Beginner lettering and illustration artists should pay heed to the advice to build a rewarding career out of their skills.
While you hone your lettering and typography skills, make sure that you have opened your online store at PrintShop, which is owned by Designhill, the leading creative marketplace. At PrintShop, your store for your artworks will attract huge traffic due to Designhill’s promotional strategies. You can set your price for artworks and sell them at an attractive profit margin.
Wrapping Up
Lettering and typography are at the core of creating a wide range of visuals. But many budding artists do not follow some basics and advanced aspects of these two elements of artworks. Joluvian advised that reading the brief carefully and the color combination is the key to making a typographic piece attractive and useful for clients.