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Calligraphy (& Hand-Lettering) is NOT Dead

May 14, 2015

When I found out recently that many schools have removed the teaching of cursive from their core curriculum, I was blown away. I am aware that many people from my generation saw cursive as an unnecessary evil in grade school, something that we would learn and never use, but for me, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

One of the most popular trends right now in the world of design is the use of calligraphy and hand lettering. In an age where nearly everything is digital, handcrafted lettering is making its comeback, similar to hand-written thank you notes. The sleek typefaces that we have all come to know and love are taking a backseat to intentionally imperfect, man-made lettering.

I am personally a huge fan of this new trend on the rise, because it makes way for added creativity and uniqueness in designs. While I love a good typeface, some designs just call for a little originality. The amount of manipulation that can be applied to the letters is something you simply can’t achieve in a digital setting. Here are a few reasons I am jumping on the hand lettering (and calligraphy) bandwagon.

Your design will literally be one of a kind

Since you are the one creating your own letters by putting that old-fashioned pen to paper, you have complete creative control. Your design will be completely original, because you made every bit of it, and you aren’t relying on a common typeface that can be seen somewhere else to communicate your message. It’s the same as showing up to a party wearing the same dress as someone else – a unique look ensures you will stand out.

Your type can be expressive

Because you have creative control of your letters, you can literally make them do whatever you want. You want the tail of that K to curve down and around an image? Go for it. Since you have the control, you can make your design the way YOU want it, rather than working within the parameters of a digital typeface.

More room for out of the box designs

You are no longer relying on a stiff, standard typeface, so your design has room to develop into something awesome. Your type can be script, serif, sans serif, whatever you choose. The possibilities are endless!

I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to hand lettering and calligraphy examples that inspire me. I also follow 100+ hand letterers on Instagram. I am constantly exposing myself to hand lettering for motivation to work on my own hand lettering skills. I recently took an online webinar for calligraphy, and I now know how to successfully use a dip pen!

Have any useful hand lettering/calligraphy tips to share with this beginner, reach out to me on twitter, @caitkazz!

Written By Caitlyn Kaczmarek

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