Hand Lettering Fonts: Essential Things You Need to Get Started

Are you the kind of person who spends hours looking at beautiful custom fonts and handwriting? If so, hand lettering fonts might be right for you. We all know the feeling of looking at a nice font or bit of writing, but how would you like to create it?

Hand lettering fonts are beautiful and original looking fonts that can make anything pop. Whether you are looking to spice up your bullet journal or you want to make something cool for Instagram, these fonts are simply amazing. You might think that this is beyond your skillset, but you can easily learn.

Making custom fonts isn’t only fun, but exciting. For most people, fonts are bestowed by the fancy font gods in the sky who are reaching into your software. In reality, you can make hand lettering fonts with a few easy tools and steps.

This means that you can enjoy the benefits of a completely custom and original font. Doing this is cool because it means you can have custom materials or you can even sell the final product. There has never been a better time to be in the font marketplace, and hand lettering fonts are in.

If you’re interested in hand lettering or drawing, check out my other related content:

Inspiration to Get You Moving

Before you begin making your own fonts, you must focus on getting inspired. If you are to make your own great font, then you must see what other greatness there is. This can be done by browsing just about any major font provider.

You will likely be amazed by how many completely original fonts there are in the world. Though some of them are more traditional and exact, others are stunning hand lettering fonts guaranteed to give character. You first step is to look through the different options and seek out what you like.

Chances are that you will find yourself appreciating different aspects of the fonts available. This is great. Consider these characteristics to be a point of inspiration for you. Take the time to consider what you like about them and focus on how they are made.

You’ll notice as you look at the various hand lettering fonts that they all seem to say something different. This is why fonts are so important for design decisions because they send a message. Take note of how the different parts say different things and learn what you can.

An Understanding of Different Hand Lettering Font Types

One essential that you need to get started is a little education on the different styles of hand lettering fonts. Not every font is necessarily defined in one way or another, but it can help for reference. plenty of the more popular fonts are considered brush fonts or scripts. In some cases, they can be considered both. These two styles are very popular with modern design.

A brush font is characterized by the fact that it has a tendency to look as if it were painted with a brush. These fonts are known for having a thicker width. They are also very fluid in their style because they look like they were painted with a brush. A popular design choice is to incorporate straight paint style strokes into the font itself.

Script font is generally characterized because it looks like old script, meaning cursive. Though these fonts can be made to look very modern, something about them is ancient. Script is known for being represented in old books when everything was handwritten. Script fonts have brought this full circle. They can add an interesting air to just about any design.

Practice, Practice, Practice

If your goal is to make stunning hand lettering fonts, there is nothing more important than practice. You will need to spend a tremendous amount of time practicing. In order to create a beautiful hand lettering font, you must focus on making sure that what you make is perfect.

Now, perfect in this case is obviously subjective, but you only want to immortalize your very best work. This means taking the time to write hand lettering fonts for an extensive amount of time. The more time you spend practicing, the faster your muscles will build.

The best way to practice to make great fonts is to work with existing fonts. Pull up fonts that are comparable to ones that you want to make and attempt to recreate them. You won’t be doing anything with these fonts (never copy someone’s font for commercial use).

This is exclusively for learning how to get the process down in a comfortable fashion. It is a great way to learn how to maximize your fine motor skills. You might even find that it helps you to perfect your own original fonts.

Writing Utensils and Paper

For traditionalists, there most important part of making hand lettering fonts is the drafting process. This is what makes having a good set of writing utensils and paper so important. Using the right tools will allow you to practice making your perfect fonts.

Some people even exclusively make their hand lettering fonts using this method. These tools will work for you to get your amazing hand lettering font from your mind onto the page. The best way to approach this is to get the kind of equipment that you would use for calligraphy.

While creating hand lettering fonts is not calligraphy, the tools are the same. This means getting sturdy paper that won’t allow ink to bleed through. It also means getting a set of calligraphy pens to begin practicing with.

These pens are designer to let you loop and swoop to your heart’s content. Let us be the first to say that you do not need to break the bank over this. There are plenty of reasonably priced products available to help you get started.

A Stylus and Tablet

For people who are looking to dodge the traditional method, there are plenty of digital alternatives. A good tablet and writing utensil will help you to get started. When it comes to making hand lettering fonts, tablets often have the advantage because you can undo.

This means that if you mess up a single part of the font, you don’t have to lose the rest. For some creators, this is also useful because it saves on resources. You will not have to rely on buying new pens and paper to keep your creative process going.

This method of hand lettering is also beneficial for left-handed artists. Working with ink as a left-handed artist can be a bit of messy business, but tablets remove the problem. Most tablets have palm-rejection, which makes it easy for left-handed artists to get the most out of their experience.

Many drawing tools also add a smoother motion to your strokes. This makes it easier to end up with a nice product quickly. If you are looking for a paperless experience that lets you handle uploads simply, this is great for you.

A Ruler or Template

When you are working on creating your own font, it is important to make sure that your font sizing is even. This is what makes a ruler or template such an invaluable tool for the process. Though you can make a stylistic choice to have differing sizes, it can be hard to read.

Learning how to keep your lettering even as you design your font is incredibly important. This is sometimes more easily achieved if you are working in a digital studio.

If you are using a ruler, it can be helpful to draw lines around your font area. This will ensure that you have a frame of reference while drawing. After this is complete, you can use the ruler to mark certain points where each letter will fall.

This can help you to keep things even as you work on your lettering. Hand lettering font might be handwritten, but it should never truly look messy. The idea is to make it look realistic while maintaining consistency.

Digital drawing apps can be helpful for this process because of templates. There are plenty of apps that allow you to block out the area that you want to work with. It is also easy to undo a stroke if you exceed the preferred space.

As a final bonus, you can generally scale individual items in a drawing app. This makes it easy to balance your font size if it is only slightly off.

Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator

When it comes to uploading your font for reference, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are crucial. As a first consideration, you can actually work in these systems to make your font. Both support the tools and functionality needed to do so.

However, these systems are also great for making sure that your fonts are absolutely perfect. This can be helpful for both digital and paper artists alike when it comes to perfecting your hand lettering font.

These systems are great for making sure that your lettering looks great onscreen before you upload it. Photoshop in particular is great for doing any necessary touch-ups. If you work from paper and plan to scan the item in, this is very important.

Even if your drawing was perfect on paper, it is unlikely to scan in perfectly. Photoshop helps you to rectify any inconsistences with the font so that you can upload your best product.

Font Creating Software

The last step when it comes to creating your font is to actually make it. This requires the use of a font creating software. A software like this will help you to package your font so that you can actually use the font on any devices. Font comes in a specific format and must be set up so that the system knows what it is.

Traditional font types are True Type Font (TTF) and Open Type Font (OTF). In order to get your phone to match this file types, you need a system that can help you to do it.

There are a variety of tools that can be used to do this. Each one is a little different, but they are all considered relatively easy to use. This will allow you to upload a supported file and then convert it into the font itself.

Some of the systems actually allow you to custom design fonts within them as an added bonus. The most popular options for this approach seem to be FontLab Studio and Fontself. These systems are ready to help you bring your hand lettering fonts into the world.

Conclusion

Making your own hand lettering fonts might sound like a lot of worth, but it has a huge payoff. There are few things cooler than typing with your own font that you made. It gives you complete control over the look and feel of the font so that you can get it perfect. Building your own custom font options is a great way to save on costs or licensing concerns when it comes to design.

Beyond the benefit of using your font, making a hand lettering font can be a fun challenge. This is a unique artistic endeavor that can be cool to show your friends. Even if you don’t want to share the font with anyone, you can be proud of the work that you did.

In the digital age, there is a business to be made off of custom fonts. If you want to go into the business of making these fonts, you now have the tools to get started.

What are your favorite things about hand lettering?

Lettering Fonts FAQ

What is the most beautiful script font?

Beautiful Bloom

What font is most like calligraphy?

Raph Lanok Future is a font that is most like calligraphy. It is also free.

What is the difference between lettering and calligraphy?

In lettering you are illustrating the letters and in calligraphy you are writing the letters.