I ended up going back to the drawing board! I spent some additional time reworking and drawing (and redrawing) my phrase “A better tomorrow starts with being better today”. Reworking my hand-lettering project and taking it in a new direction was a lesson in patience and perseverance. I think, like with anything, the more you take the time to fine-tune a skill the better you become.
With the added practice, letterform study and really paying attention to the nuances of different type styles, the more I am getting closer to discovering my own unique style. Every individual has their own personal style and in hand-lettering this is true as well which makes it so awesome and how we are able to see so many unique lettering varieties. And once you find meaning in the word or phrase that you are drawing it becomes more about something that’s coming from you and less about drawing letters for the sake of drawing letters.
I love the quote from art director, designer, activist and educator James Victore “Learn everything. Then forget it. Then design.” There is a lot of truth in this when finding your own unique voice in your work.
I hope you enjoy the new and improved phrase, I am feeling pretty good about it, plus I had a lot of fun revisiting my passion project. I am looking forward to scanning the ink drawing and digitizing it! More soon!
