LETTERING + GRAPHIC
DESIGN LEARNING
I’ve got a quick tip for you this week! Procreate has changed their text tool several times since it was first introduced and if you’re still learning the program, this part of it can get pretty overwhelming. In today’s video, I share how I use the text tool, keep all of the options straight and easily make edits to typeable text without breaking any glass in the process 🔨
Within the past week, Procreate released their latest version, which allows you to add text! It’s been really fun playing around with the new feature and seeing how I’ll integrate text into future Procreate artwork. This week, I thought I’d share an easy way to create artwork with text, as well as sharing some masking tips, too. Read on for how to use text in Procreate!
A while back, I shared how to type along a path in Illustrator, but what if that path is circular or closed? How to you get the text to run perfectly along the outside or inside of the circle? And if you start on one side, how do you nudge it just slightly without ruining everything? These are some questions that evaded me longer than they should have when I was starting out. Circular text is important! It’s great for logos, icons, stickers and custom rubber stamps just to name a few. Read on to master circular text in Illustrator and never wonder again!
One of my favorite typography books is Shadow Type by Steven Heller + Louise Fili. I’ve broken the hardcover spine with all of the times I’ve paged through, sticky noted the tops of others and left it flat open, absorbing as much as possible. What’s most impressive is the consistency and creativity with all of that 3D type, perfectly executed by hand. I’m constantly reminded of how lucky we are to have a program like Adobe Illustrator, making things in seconds that once took hours. One shadow type project I’ve been working to perfect is dimensional signage typography. I love how the typography looks 3D and oftentimes has a long shadow, extending in the opposite direction. In this week’s tutorial, I’m sharing my method of creating that signage typography look using Illustrator!
I secretly love creating tutorials that appear more difficult than they actually are. This week’s tutorial is exactly that, but also perfect for beginners with a really cool outcome. In this tutorial, we intertwine text and vector elements to draw attention to our messaging and make it visually striking at the same time. Read on for all the details!
Let’s talk about something that’s massively important, but often gets overlooked: type on a path in Illustrator. You’re probably already familiar with the ability to select any text and go effect > warp, but that makes editing your text later on pretty difficult. The truth is, most of graphic design is experimenting, altering and adjusting. Because of this, the need to go back and adjust previously warped text quickly is a big deal. Luckily, Illustrator makes it super easy to customize text appearance along a path with a few handy tools. Prepare to take your layouts to a whole new level with these options in this week’s tutorial! Oh, and just in case you need to reference these tips later, I made you a free cheat sheet, too 😉
It’s time for another Text Drive post! (I can’t believe the last one was in June!) I mentioned a couple weeks ago about being gifted this amazing book on shadow typography and thought that would be a great topic for a text drive post. Shadow type is best used as a headline with simpler, supporting fonts for your main body copy. Because it has so much character, long sentences can become difficult to read, while short headlines make perfect use of each detail and call attention immediately to what’s being discussed. As with all text drive posts, below you’ll find two fonts in a similar genre (shadow type) – one for free (Nexa Rust) and one for a fee (Eveleth) – read on to see what I love about each one and which fonts I’d pair them with!
It’s time for another Text Drive post! To be honest, there’s nothing I love typing with more than a beautiful script. There’s something about the way all the letters connect so seamlessly, so beautifully, all at the same time. While brush scripts are definitely in the spotlight these days, there’s something to be said for more subtle, personality driven, simple scripts… Scripts that have *just* enough decoration where you scale them up or zoom out a bit and take them in. Bonus points when you’ve got a great quote to typeset 🙂 As with all text drive posts, here are two similar fonts, one for free (Daydreamer) and one for a fee (Mulberry Script) as well as a little summary of what I love about each and what fonts I’d pair them with!
I’ve started using Pirou lately as a headline on some Canva layouts I’ve created, and I’m really liking it! I typically pair it with a regular to medium weight sans serif to create some contrast since Pirou has so much character. Because Pirou is free, I was wondering what kind of buyable fonts were similar that might offer some nice extensions of this look. I discovered Core Deco the other day and I’m getting very tempted – especially because it’s 80% off right now, which means each variation is only $4. Though I wouldn’t completely consider Pirou deco, I really like the different vibes Core Deco gives off + it’s fun to play around with phrases in the type editor on myfonts. Here are a couple of previews with links if you’d like to check them both out a little more 🙂
Brush script style fonts have been gaining in popularity – from hand drawn versions to vector point-perfect variations. Brush script styles lend themselves to applications with character and personality, an artsy organic feel, or just an extra human touch. This versatility gives brush scripts a well deserved spot in any font library. Here are a few for free and for a fee to round out your brush script font collection.
Hatched drop shadow text effects are becoming more common in typefaces these days – Trend was one of the first to offer a layered font with a faux hatched drop shadow which motivated others to offer them. But what if you want a hatched drop shadow on the font you’re using, not trend? What if it’s for a one-off headline where lots of text doesn’t need it, it just needs to look beautiful in one powerful instance? That’s when we start making art instead of adjusting type, which is why this week’s tutorial isn’t on a text layer style; we’ll be customizing our hatched drop shadow to fit an artistic style.
Happy Tuesday! In this week’s tutorial, we’ll create a retro text effect in Adobe Photoshop from scratch, inspired by the 80’s. I’m also giving away the exact style we create as an .asl file (layer style file) and in the tutorial I’ll show you how to save your own layer style and install it so you can have the exact settings that were mentioned. So it’s a 2 for one this week! Tutorial + freebie 🙂
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