Application Guide

∫ AMANDA ∫

I nd the mix and match style is fantastic for letting letters cuddle.

That’s a weird way to think about it but I always try to have my letters

interacting somehow, like tting together gently as if they are pieces of a

puzzle. This is easy with single words but gets more complicated when

there are multiple lines of text and they have to t together top to bottom

as well.

I think the best way to explain how to use this lettering style is to work

through a piece together. I’m creating a poster for a friend that says

Patience, Perspective, Prayer. Because she is awesome and has great

taste, she wants them to be written in the playful mixed script style that I

love so much.

THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT I KEEP IN MIND WHEN I’M

WRITING THE LETTERS OUT:

1. Most of the letters should be approximately the same size as each

other. The only letters that should be smaller are usually vowels.

2. If there are two of the same letter (or more), they should each be

written in a dierent style.

3. There should be a random mix of script and printed style letters in roughly equal numbers.

4. …But most importantly, I approach each piece knowing that there are no hard and fast rules to follow.

When I start on a piece, I always scribble my words out in pencil at the

top of my page and go from there. For pieces with multiple words, I

typically start with the middle word and letter out from there. In this case,

that means that I’ll be starting with the word Perspective. Still working in

pencil, I usually write my rst word out a few times and see which version

I like the best.

Since this piece has a plethora of P’s, I don’t want them all to look the

same which means that I’ll have to get creative with them. That means

I need to use ourishes and changes in size and shape. I don’t want to

change the angle of the letters too much because that will make them

look like they aren’t all a part of a cohesive piece.

Once I’ve picked my starting word, I build o of that, by completing the

word (or words) that come before. When I write them in, I make the

baselines (or bottoms) of the letters go down into the spaces left in the

top of the middle word, while creating a consistent upper limit to the

letters. This helps the words look like they are naturally nesting together

and creates a pleasing border at the top of the piece.

MIX AND MATCH LETTERS

One of the lettering styles that I really enjoy using is a mixed script and print style that uses the

letter styles interchangeably. I get lots of people asking if it is a font but, nope, it’s just something

that ows out of my pen. I don’t have a special alphabet that I practice to write this, I just use the

letters that I know and mix and match them together, rather than only using one style at a time. I

thought I would give you a few tips on how make your own mix and match lettering.