Learn to "Draw Your Own Alphabets" by Hand With a Book by Graphic Designer Tony Seddon

Your hand as an instrument, paper as your medium.

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While most graphic design today is done on a computer using advanced software, UK-based graphic designer Tony Seddon points out that, "once upon a time, there was nothing but hand lettering." Draw Your Own Alphabets: Thirty Fonts to Scribble, Sketch, and Make Your Own is a book that will offer exactly what it claims, guiding you through a series of lettering styles as it suggests ways for them to be replicated and modified. Going back to the basics of graphic design, the author lists helpful tips in improving your hand-drawing skills and creating letters with a cohesive font style.

Each set of alphabets is presented in a spread that outlines its anatomy, key details and features, and "natural partners," which provide references to existing typographic fonts bearing similar graphic elements. Styles are shown in capital and lowercase letters while some include numerals and symbols, followed by a blank, gridded page for you to "draw your own." Whether you have always been designing through hand-drawn illustrations or are a designer of the computer age, the book is a great place for you to expand your lettering techniques.

Check out these selected pages from the book and take a sneak peek at the fonts Bulk and Hairy Beast. If you zoom in, you can right-click to save the pages and start drawing your own alphabets before buying the book.

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