5 Lettering Tips…for Labels!

In late summer, I’m up to my elbows in Concord grapes that are ripening in my family vineyard. While most of the grapes are vidals and used for winemaking, I’m happy to report that the two Concord vines we have grow enough fruit to leave us never wanting for jelly. I spend hours peeling, cooking, and canning in little jars that I then share with our friends and family (our grape pickers get first priority).

These charming little jars have given me reason to experiment with different labeling techniques, so I’m extra excited to see Taylor Huizenga’s Lettering Lesson on creating land-lettered sticker labels. To give you a preview, here are five tips collected from Taylor’s lesson. Enjoy! ~Cherie

Lettering labels | Taylor Huizenga, ClothPaperScissors.com

Lettering Within Borders by Taylor Huizenga

Labels are commonly seen on various types of packaging, especially in graphic design, to help the end user identify the objects and the object’s purpose. A label’s design, including the lettering, creates a style and aesthetic. For the project in this new Lettering Lesson, I created a sticker label for my scrapbook as a keepsake from my trip to England. This technique could also be used with inspirational phrases or sayings, and used in a variety of ways.

Note that sticker labels can be created by hand, lettering the label directly on sticker paper, or by creating the label on paper or cardstock and then uploading it to a computer for printing. The print option is beneficial if you plan on creating multiple copies of the same label. For this Lettering Lesson, we’ll create a label by hand.

Lettering labels | Taylor Huizenga, ClothPaperScissors.com

5 Tips for Lettering on Labels

1. Consider the amount of space you have to work in. Quickly jot down the quote or text you plan to use on scrap paper, grouping the words as you’d like them to appear. Think about which words or letters will be big and which will be small.

2. Start with cardstock, rather than working directly on the sticker paper. Depending on the quality of the sticker paper, it may not hold up to multiple erasures, and it may take a lot of erasing before you get to your final label design.

3. Try to break up the phrase so that a long word can be on its own line. This way you won’t have to worry about fitting it on a line with other words.

4. Practice your lettering. The more you practice, the more you’ll see how much room is needed for certain letters, as well as how your words tend to lay out. Each person will approach this process differently, because no two people hand letter in exactly the same way.

5. Use a banner to draw attention to special words and phrases. A banner is another design tool that can enhance your lettering projects. For a label that included the word “England,” I decided I wanted to highlight that word more than just making it larger.

My love of hand lettering has grown because I am able to create it not only on the page, but on other surfaces as well. I have taken my lettering to new levels and created decorative pieces for gifts and for myself. Now it’s your turn. See what interesting and unique projects you can create using your own lettering style. ~Taylor

 

 

Categories

Art Journaling and Lettering, Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques

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