Human Lettered Type
Some hand lettering derives from roughly sketching vintage and passé letterforms (including Victorian, Art Nouveau, or Art Deco styles), making them even more imperfect and, by doing so, injecting a contemporary aesthetic. Others are crazy and novel scripts and scrawls based on nothing other than an eccentric sensibility. Some look suspiciously like the kind of block letters with shadows that one might draw on a doodle pad. With the popularity of comics and graphic novels, hand lettering of the comic strip variety has also emerged as vogue.
Once, designers replaced official typefaces with their own handwriting because it was too expensive to set type (see Paul Rand or Alvin Lustig). These days, it is not an economic decision at all. Hand lettering is seen as a means to distinguish expressive from non-expressive messages. Or conform to certain fashions. I recently rented “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist” because the poster reminded me of the laissez-faire lettering of “Juno,” which I liked so much. It said playful and youthful. Lettering can certainly trigger that Pavlovian response, and hand lettering can do it better than most formal typefaces.
I am a big fan of this anti-type typography. This may be because it is something I can do without mastering complex techniques. But it is more complicated than that. Nonetheless, hand lettering is liberating. Sure, most official documents, in fact, most things we read (like books, magazines and blogs) require official typefaces — the more elegant, readable and legible, the better. But not every type treatment needs to be standardized. The hand offers a more human dimension and individual personality. Of course, this will inevitably change. A popular design trope will be copied until it is overused and we’re sick to death of it. But while it is still done well, my advice is to enjoy it, for in another few years it may simply be that style of the early 2000s, quaint and old hat.
- NY Times
- NY Times