Hand Lettering - making a poster

As a graphic and editorial designer I've always had a thing for letters, fonts and type. And as an illustrator I love to work with them as well. Drawing letter forms makes you really look at them as shapes and not so much as characters. It gives you the opportunity to play around with them and make them interact in a way they could not do as a type.

Hand lettering is very popular right now and it's hard to miss these days. I've been getting more into lettering myself. I took a calligraphy class (which is not the same as hand lettering, but it is related of course) and I have been taking online courses in hand lettering. Practice, practice, practice.

The popularity comes from the renewed love for creating things, handmade things in a world that is becoming more and more digital and fast. It's nice to slow things down and really pay attention to what we have in front of us. To make, but also to see. Having something handmade feels like a luxury. It's something that is made with care and passion and is almost always unique.

One of the classes I took in hand lettering resulted in the quote poster below. The class was about drawing a word in your own letters, in different phases. Then vectorizing them in Illustrator and play around with color to make a postcard.

I decided to challenge myself a bit more and I used a quote to make a poster. Also I didn't want it looking too slick, so I decided not to verctorize, but keep the wobbly shapes of my hand drawn letters. So I used Photoshop instead of Illustrator (even though I should probably do it in Illustrator next time, just to get to know the software better).

So what I did after deciding on the quote was determine what words I wanted to emphasize.
In this case it was YOU and STRENGTH. To balance it out I made NOBODY big as well.

I roughly sketched in the letters, making sure to center everything. There should have been a version before this, but I decided to get more into detail on the same piece of paper. You see I've been erasing and shifting things.

I took a fresh sheet of paper and used my lightbox to trace what I liked about the last one. You see I changed some embellishing, added serifs at STRENGTH and generally cleaned it all up a bit.

 

Even though the pencil sketch above (2) wasn't exactly right yet, I decided to start inking it anyway, knowing I could change some things around on the computer. The G in STRENGTH is too thick and the bottom of these letters don't align very well. There is some weird thickness in the B and the D of NOBODY and the O looks more like an egg. The AND in the center is too high and a little small. Well. Hallelujah for Photoshop.

I cleaned up the letters, added some depth by using drop shadows. Again, I added and removed some of the embellishments, played around with the colors and voila!

Tile design in lino

Today I made this linocut with the intention to make it a pattern. It's like a floor tile you can just keep turning and repeating to make a pattern. This way you get a big result (and a big print) with just a tiny piece of lino. I love how it turned out and now I want to design my own bathroom tiles!

I started out with flamingos, but that was bit too detailed. Maybe later, when I have more patience ;) I decided on the fish. I made a mess (as usual) smudging the ink all over the place, but hey, it turned out pretty nice.

It's not perfect and that's what I love about handmade stuff. I do intend to make the next one a little neater and print it neater too. I think when I design in on the computer, transfer it to lino, I will get a really good connecting pattern. Without losing the handmade feel. I guess that's next.

Below you see a bit of the process: sketching, transfer to lino, cutting and printing.

Jeeujh for this weekend

I woke up yesterday morning. Jeeujh for that. And then I checked my FB timeline and was surprised to see my set of illustrated recipe cards on there. EtsyNL had shared my product as a nice way to be eating healthy at the start of the new year. Jeeujh for that too!

That made my stats of the Stoffer + Blik shop go through the roof. Last time that happened Dutch creative handmade paper things magazine Flow mentioned my webshop in their Saturday Market section on the website. That was also a giant jeeeujh!

I'm having a great weekend, I hope you are too!

Customized Weekplanners

A while ago I sold the last chalkboard weekplanner in the shop and I promised to make a bunch of new ones. And take some photos of the process.

I started with sandpapering the wood and drawing the shapes on the board. Mask the shapes with tape and paint. It takes a couple of days, because the paint needs to dry in between stages. The first stage of the chalkboards you can see here:

Next day I added a little color, my favorite: Celadon. And again I wait...

 

When the board is all dry I add the lines and the letters of the week. The last thing is to glue the painted clothes pegs to the bottom.

Usually I would add a text at the top, like 'to-do-list' or 'important stuff'. But this time I decided to make them customized. So I will add the name (or other text) that you request when ordering. That means you can have your (kids) name on it and make it a cool personal gift! You see examples below in chalk, but when you order one I will paint the name in the same white paint as the lines.

I have only three of them. Get yours here!

Painting on the wall

There's a new coffee and lunch spot very near to where I live. And it had a big white wall. Well, not anymore...

Before this place, Koozie, opened I contacted the owner to see if we could work together, as in selling my Stoffer + Blik postcards. The cards is something we're still working on, but there was something else I could do. This wall. I made a design and presented the idea. They liked it and so I could start researching for my biggest illustration yet.

It took some preparation, figuring out how I was going to get this sketch I made on the wall, with everything in place. And what materials should I use? I ended up buying a projector and a bunch of paint markers in two colors. Yesterday I set up everything at Koozie and drew the design on the wall. In pencil first, before tracing it with the paint markers. 

Two days later it's all finished and I'm pretty happy with it. Here are a couple of images of the process and of course the end result. Now everybody head over to Koozie for a cup of coffee and take a look at the real thing! 

Koozie is located in the Van der Takstraat, Noordereiland, Rotterdam. 

Recipes with a story

The last two months of the year always seem a little crazy workwise. On one hand there's the holidays and the gifts, so custom recipes get more popular. And on the other hand I think that things just pile up towards the end of the year. Those two combined is a recipe (ha!) for late nights working. Luckily I love my job, so it could be a lot worse. But I am preparing myself for a sore neck, stiff fingers and sleepy eyes in weeks to come.

My 'resolution' to take things a bit more slowly after coming back from the 100 days of summer trip did work out actually, even though it doesn't always feel that way. Things just don't spread out evenly across the year. Obviously. The minute I start thinking something like 'it's been quiet for a bit, I hope I have enough work this month' or 'I haven't heard from them in a while, hope they still want me to work for them', that's when the requests start to come in. And all at the same time. You would think I would be used to it after 6 years of being Girl Boss. Yeah, me too.

Another thing I've been wanting to write about (will have a new blogpost on this soon) is the workshop modern calligraphy I did two weeks ago. I loved it and have been practicing a lot. I already see the improvement: big motivation to keep it up! As you can see below, I can apply my new knowledge in my work right away.

Anyway, I came here to show you what I've been working on! This recipe has just left the building, all the way to the USA for someone's mum who is about to be a grandmother. This is the recipe of his mother's mother who passed away. A special occasion... I love how these requests come with a story.

PS. The last photo is another recipe, also for a US customer and also from a grandmother who passed away. This one's extra special because she wanted to have a little portrait of her grandmother in there as well. Excited to show you when it's all done!

PS 2. I love that color blue! (it's gouache mixed with water to get an ink you can actually write with)

An ode to my island

'Your island? I thought you lived in Rotterdam.'

Yes, I do. And we have a few little islands in the Maas. The one I live at is the Noordereiland [Northern Island]. And I love it. I also love maps, so it is sort of miraculous that this never happened before... but I made an illustrated map of the Noordereiland. I gave myself 'a day off' and what did I do? Work! (But I love it, so then it's okay. Right?)

I know what triggered it. There might be a nice collaboration in the near future with a recently opened coffee place just a few streets away. That made me think of postcards that are more specific for that place. I started with tea, coffee and pie. I tried different things and made two cards that definitely have potential to show up in the shop (and who knows... at the coffee place!).

While working on that I moved from coffee and pie to something that's more specific for this island. We have a bunch of landmarks around, especially bridges (duh...). I thought of drawing these specific landmarks, and I might. But I started with the island itself and it's location in the middle of the Maas.

See for yourself. I think it's a little too specific to put in the shop. But you can always request a printed poster if you're interested (click on the image at my website to send me an email)

PS. The coordinates are exactly where this illustration was made ;)