traditional signwriting

I received the best birthday present this year: a trip to visit Joby Carter’s signwriting workshop for a week-long course

Watching Joby work was a bit ridiculous in the best way. He can hand paint miles of carriage lines without a quiver, figure out a drop shadow with what feels like no effort at all, and spot dodgy spacing from across the room. Meanwhile, I spent day two producing some very questionable wobbly lines. By day three though, things started to click. I felt more confident with the mahl stick and brush, and managed to get to a stage where I could paint a line and breathe at the same time, which felt like progress

I found it really exciting to look at typography so close up and properly understand how it all works. It made me think about letters in a completely different way, not just as shapes on a screen, but as something carefully built and balanced. I especially loved getting into the detail of spacing and seeing how much difference it makes. I know that way of looking will stay with me in my own design work