Does it just appear in my head? How do I choose the shape of the letter? Does this creativity process last a long time or a very short time?
One of my first illustrated letters projects was an instagram web project, called 36 Days of Type in 2018, where the collaborators draw a letter a day for 36 consecutive days, ending with numbers. The alphabet in this case was english alphabet, hence the slight difference in the number of letters comparing to slovenian alphabet.
How does an illustrator or a letter designer even start with a project like this? I do assume that the different authors in this project had different strategies in creating the 36 characters of type. My plan in its essence was to try to make every letter as much different to the one that came before it, or better said, different to all the ones that came before it. As if I turned a new blank page every day. A process like this is in my opinion incredible for the creativity of the author. Perhaps less impressive was my realisation in the end of the project when I realised that a lot of authors decided to make a very cohesive alphabet, a whole project consisting of the differenct characters, designed in the same manner. I promised myself at that moment that next year I will try to do the same as them. But in the end, when I really consider it, the everyday change of direction was so beneficial to my creativity at that time that my choice was actually not bad at all, either. A project like that also asks for a lot of self control and at the same time opt out of things you might rather do at that time. I have ti admit that taking the minimum 2 hour time slot for drawing a letter every day is not a little, considering having a job and other obligations. But nevertheless, I finished the project and it was a success in my eyes. But how did the design and illustration process actually go?
I decided in the beginning that the technique I am going to use will be digital illustration as it allows for a lot of changes and experimenting with shapes and colors.
I like to start it off with a really simple sketch, one that tells me enough about the next step, but to someone else maybe not so much about the final look and feel of the letter. Sometimes it is just pencil to paper, other times sketching with pencil like brushes in Photoshop. In the case of the letter D I knew I wanted it to be simple with a strong shape and visible graphic elements. And »Wowzers« just because.
2. Designing the final shape of the letter
A very important part of making an illustrated letter is a precisely shaped vector letter in Adobe Illustrator. What that means is a very tediously designed shape of the letter that will be the base of the illustration. When we use the shape of a letter as an element of a graphic design work or illustration we have to obide by certain typographic rules. We have to be true ti typography as a science even if we decide to break its rules. We can only succesfully break these rules if we know them well and know what we are trying to achieve by breaking them. So the second phase helps me determine the exact shape of the letter before I continue with the experimenting part of the design.
3. Color, texture and the final touches
I allow myself to play the most in the last stretch of the design process. Once the shape of the letter is determined, the shape on its own helps to shape the final touches, textures and the character of the illustration. Will it be a strong and wild variation of a letter, will it be a soft and gentle illustration or perhaps a grotesue or even fun? I add the personality by playinf with color, texture and other visual elements.
When we look at the whole alphabet combined the final result can be a very fun and relaxed combination of letters, each of them carrying its own character and visual message.
