Hand Lettering For Your Bullet Journal. *
Hand Lettering Guide by FTD Fresh - images from original post were supplied to me.
I am so back on the bullet journal bandwagon. I don't know that I ever really fell off it but I was definitely falling in and out of love with my particular set up at the back end of last year.
Come 2017, a new year and a snazzy new journal and I am back with a bang. I am in love with what I have now and am obsessed with trying new layouts, templates, designs and most crucially; fonts.
For my #MarchMeetTheMaker yesterday the challenge was hyperlapse and I created a video based on my bullet journal, something I fell a bit in love with and intend to film again (just this time with a tripod). I've also had a whole bunch of comments on how pretty my new journal is looking and obvs that's down to being a creative little bean with an illustration business but in my eyes, cute hand lettering is still an art that needs to be practised.
So when FTD Fresh got in touch asking if I'd seen their hand lettering guide I knew you guys would love it too.
Images supplied by FTD Fresh.
I think anyone can be taught to hand letter nicely, those swirling lines, the change in thickness; all you need is to be told how to first followed by the right tools and a lot of practice!
I'm going to be creating some hand lettering guides and prompts of my own in a new bullet journal series I'm planning but FTD Fresh have not only hashed out the logistics and the terminology for you, they've also created an alphabet for inspo, a helpful video and a free printable card to send to someone when you've got your hand lettering down.
Images supplied by FTD Fresh.
As someone who has *ahem* always been told they have nice handwriting and as an illustrator, hand lettering is my forte these days (even if I don't use a brush pen) so here are my top tips for budding hand lettering babes;
- Start with your own hand writing! Your hand lettering should be personal to you so start by writing out each letter of the alphabet and then have a look to see where flourishes, loops and different weight of line can be added.
- Use pencil first. I am still so guilty of this, I do everything in pen and even as a master (cough cough) I cock up all the time. Start with a pencil outline till you're happy and then fill in with your brush pen or fineliner.
- Check out your paper quality. If you're going for hand lettering titles in your bullet journal, do a few tests on some pages you don't care about first. Your journal pages might be fine for just normal day to day writing but might react differently and bleed when you're filling in letters or using a different type of pen.
- Practice! All the time. Even when you've got good there's a lot of fun (and relaxation) in drawing new letters and trying different fonts or typefaces. I mentioned in my last bujo post that I use my notebook from my Cratejoy subscription box as a place for practicing new hand lettering which I then can copy into my journal when I'm happy with them.
Images supplied by FTD Fresh.
* This post was written in collaboration with FTD Fresh. I wasn't compensated or paid for this post and all hand lettering list and bully journal obsession is very much my own.
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