Hmm ... no posts this week

very week I make a promise to myself that posts will come thick and fast. Unfortunately the week just passed I was particularly unorganised and didn't even manage a weekend update. It's not that I haven't been sketching away, but just that none of my bigger projects have finished. Now if I just stopped procrastinating through the medium of blog I will have something to show by friday.

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Usually I don't use other peoples images, or yell and scream about things unless I am involved/know the person. This time I'm making an exception. Today the letter 'E' is brought to you by Jessica Hische's blog, Daily Drop Cap. Go have a look, it's a great concept and showcase of beautiful lettering.

Header #3

Whatever happened to the decorative drop-cap. Yeah I know it doesn't really have much of a place in the modern san-serif world, but why should we always like everyone else. Not that I'm overly precious about decorative drop-caps but it's hopefully going to make do as a metaphor.

I think that where appropriate we should all try to add that little extra detail to our work. Like a drop-cap highlights a passage of text you should incorporate into your work a point of difference, which tells a little about your character.

Indulge your inner self. I don't mean you have to carve your notes on a stone tablet with the tooth of crocodile, or write in latin right to left bottom to top (unless that's your thing), but use your own voice and style to create and interact with your environment. What works for someone else doesn't have to be your way ... experiment and have fun doing whatever it is you find yourself doing. Work doesn't have to be boring!

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Big thanks to Kate's memo over at the MondayProject for the little reminder.

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Image update: These decorative letters are from a bible illuminated for Charles the Bald in the 10th century.

Header #2

I have once again let a week go bye forgetting to bring home the book I scanned these images from so keep an eye out for the credits on these when I finally remember.

Update: Spanish letterforms from 17th & 18th centuries which combine strapwork and strange beasts and fish.

type

I had always taken typefaces for granted until I went to uni and spent my time ploughing through assignments attempting to create a visual hierarchy. Since then I have attempted to sit down and create all of the characters of the alphabet a few times. The challenge always coming when one or two stood from the rest, and I just couldn't work out how to give the rest that edge to make them work together. Thanks to my inability to create one great set –(or is it that I am not one of those blessed with the patience to create it) I now take the time to admire the work that goes into the characters. Though I usually have favourite characters.

Now i hope to share a collection of fonts that I picked up at Berkelouw books last weekend. A fantastic selection of decorative typefaces. My aim is to use each page as a header for my blog so that you too can enjoy them, so keep an eye on that space.

I hope someone has taken the time to digitize these families so that they can appear in some fine print publications. Keep an eye out for some of the very ornate lettering as it pops up.