Play Day

posted February 28, 2011 / No Comments

By Uncle Tim Heitkotter

Okay! We have to keep this interesting and fun, right? So, I figure why not design an alphabet (or font), together. Start with the simple mechanics and construct an alphabet we use every day in almost every tattoo shop in the world. Let’s make our own “Thick and Thin,” and when I’m done I’ll ask you, the readers, to give me a name for this alphabet and whoever comes up with the best name will win a free set of my lettering flash. I want you all to keep in mind that as we are constructing this alphabet some details can be changed if the rules are adhered to. So, the idea here is to get you to take what I am doing and use it to construct your own, using rules that I’ve presented before.

Rule 1. Be consistent. If you add one embellishment to a letter, you need to do it to all of them, for the sake of uniformity and readability.
Rule 2. Keep in simple. The more complex a letter is the harder it is to read and the junkier it looks. The key concept here is that “professional and sloppy work is not professional.”
Rule 3. Keep your spacing correct by balancing the negative space in between the letters with your “eye” and not by measuring the distance between the outside edges of the letter.
Rule 4. Remember all THICK, slanted parts of the letter must match the angle of a salute. The only exception is the Z, where the middle is thick. Sometimes using the outside strokes of the M and the W will work, too, as demonstrated in this month’s alphabet.
Rule 5. All the round parts of letters like J, O, U, S, Q, G, and C extend above and below the line a bit, in order to compensate for excessive negative space.
Rule 6. Don’t try to shove twenty pounds of poop into a five-pound bag. Leave some room. Don’t try to cram it all together. Make the letters smaller, if need be, and leave plenty of negative space. You’ll need the extra room anyway, if you decide to do a shadow.
Rule 7. Remember that some letters are bigger than others and some are smaller. M and W are a half-size bigger than regular letters, and letters like I, L and J are a bit smaller. Round letters like Q, O, C and G are a tad wider, and so is the A.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a ruler and draw three lines: top, bottom and middle (which we’ll place slightly above center). Today, we’re just going to do Upper Case or “Capitol” letters. We can lightly scratch in out letterforms to give a rough idea of how we are going to go about it. When I think about it, most thick and thin style letters are straight or slightly bowed (A), so let’s bow them out instead. I think letters look a little better if they are a bit “bottom heavy,” so we’ll make them decrease slightly in width as we go from bottom to top. Let’s add a little bowed serif to give it some flavor. Now, how about a single curl at the end of some of the strokes? A short extension on that center-line could dress it up a bit, too. How about if we add a little shape in the middle of the letters centered on that line? Perhaps a diamond would work? How about an oval inside the letter ? How about if we split the letter in two, making the lower part thicker than the top? Maybe add an oval at the split?

Okay, now we’re getting nuts. So let’s just pick a couple and see how it looks. I think my little demonstration can show how easy it is to overdo it. Remember: simple, simple, simple! Let’s pick the curved centers and the little curls. Okay… some tip-shading, but THAT’S IT, man! You’ll notice that, by sticking to the simple rules, you can design a very nice alphabet to thrill your clients. Reference material is always good to have around, in case you get stuck. I have tons of lettering books. They’re always good to use for reference.

One more thing: hold your pencil a little lighter and relax. There is always something new to learn, so don’t be in a hurry. Remember, it’s always better to screw up on paper than on a client.