on hand lettering

In a world dominated by almost infinite type, the art of hand lettering has lost some of the prevalence it once held. From time to time it's possible to become disenchanted with even your most favorite typefaces (I am certainly guilty of this) - the uniformity becomes overbearing. The uniqueness of handmade lettering helps it escape that fate, but the best hand lettering doesn't look "handmade," either. When someone compliments my lettering by saying that they "love the font," I consider it a job well done. I have focused increasingly on hand lettering in my work in the past few years, and I recently got a chance to put my skills into action for some larger projects.

In December, Red Kettle Records approached me about doing some lettering for the album artwork of the then-upcoming Youth Rescue Mission album. In the end my lettering made it onto not just the front cover, but also the back, for the track titles.

Another project that came up was for my friend Sarah Jurado. Having managed her husband Damien's career for some time, Sarah announced early this year that she would also be managing the band Viva Voce and launching Lightness Management to cover her managing duties. Sarah asked me to create a logo for this new venture, and I was more than happy to oblige. The end product is a little sleeker than the Youth Rescue Mission work, but they both started off as pencil sketches on paper. There's something deeply satisfying about that process, and I'm looking forward to doing more lettering like this on future projects.