Decorative Serif Lettering in 4 Steps

Welcome to episode 4 of Style Studies! Style Studies is my monthly series where I walk you through a popular hand lettering style and provide free printable and Procreate practice sheets so you can follow along! This month, we’re diving into decorative serif lettering in 4 easy steps with a style I’m calling Party Slab. This style is a heavy slab serif, that lends itself well to extra decoration, like inline details and creative shadows. It’s best used in headlines, set in all caps and has a festive and fun feeling. Read on to grab the practice sheets and create it yourself!

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Supplies mentioned in this video:

Fineliner, chisel tipped marker or brush pen (traditional lettering)
Monoweight brush, Signature Marker or Bumpy Ink (Procreate lettering)
Tracing paper

Ep. 4 Style Studies Practice Sheets: Party Slab

Style Studies - Ep.4: Printable

Ep.4 printable practice sheets

File type: PDF
Size: 4mb
Minimum software version: n/a

Style Studies - Ep.4: Procreate

Ep.4 procreate practice sheets

File type: procreate
Size: 4mb
Minimum software version: n/a

tuesday tips

Here’s the overview of how we created decorative serif lettering in 4 steps:

The method is slightly different if you’re using a fineliner vs. a brush marker/chiseled tip marker or similar type of Procreate brush. If using a fineliner, there are 4 steps, if a brush marker, there are 2-3. Let’s start with fineliners:
Begin by drawing a sans serif letter, add weight to the sides, draw in the serifs, then color it in! Now for a brush marker:
Draw a sans serif letter, add weight on down strokes, add in the serifs, done!
When working in Procreate, set your 2d guides to a width of 80px to help make all of your characters consistent in width.
Use the Party Slab style for headlines as all caps to be most effective. The feeling of this style is festive, fancy and fun, making it perfect for parties or celebratory occasions 🙂
Need some extra practice with serif and sans serif styles? Check out last month’s episode + grab the free practice sheets!