As you may have guessed from recent posts and new additions to my portfolio, I currently am really focused on custom lettering (in my free time). Following are links to some of my favorite lettering design artists, who should provide plenty of inspiration to kick-start your creative ideas.
Jill Bell: I think of Jill as one of my heroes, the first lettering designer to make me think, Wow, you can make a living from doing this? Cool. I wanna be like her! Her most prominent work is natural-looking script, and she has an enviable client list. I guarantee you've seen lots of her work if you've ever a) passed a movie poster, or b) shopped at a grocery.
Jessica Hische: Jessica is innovating new approaches to custom lettering, and she's already built a solid legion of dedicated fans and clients like Tiffany & Co. and Golf Digest. Her work is mostly elegant (and technically exact), but she can drum up modern looks too. She also runs a blog called Daily Drop Cap, which chronicles her daily creation of a new custom letter... and has earned her more than 4,000 Twitter followers to date.
Brian Jaramillo: Brian heads up Lettercult, a site dedicated to all things custom lettering, and he has an impressive arsenal of styles in his portfolio. Most of his work is for high-profile apparel companies (including Roxy, Hurley, and Von Dutch) and the music industry.
Kian Forreal: This tattoo artist has a good selection of script lettering he's inked. Unlike "regular" illustrators, tattooists get no second chances via eraser or digital illustration, so the composition and steady line work should be even more impressive than their paper counterparts. No image is included here, but follow the link to see a couple dozen portfolio pieces.
House Industries: Most designers know about House fonts. Their fonts aren't custom, exactly, but they put so much care and character into their typeface design that using one in a design project often provides a custom look. In addition to singular lettering design, House has a knack for cleverly presenting their work and packaging their products.
Jill Bell: I think of Jill as one of my heroes, the first lettering designer to make me think, Wow, you can make a living from doing this? Cool. I wanna be like her! Her most prominent work is natural-looking script, and she has an enviable client list. I guarantee you've seen lots of her work if you've ever a) passed a movie poster, or b) shopped at a grocery.Jessica Hische: Jessica is innovating new approaches to custom lettering, and she's already built a solid legion of dedicated fans and clients like Tiffany & Co. and Golf Digest. Her work is mostly elegant (and technically exact), but she can drum up modern looks too. She also runs a blog called Daily Drop Cap, which chronicles her daily creation of a new custom letter... and has earned her more than 4,000 Twitter followers to date. Brian Jaramillo: Brian heads up Lettercult, a site dedicated to all things custom lettering, and he has an impressive arsenal of styles in his portfolio. Most of his work is for high-profile apparel companies (including Roxy, Hurley, and Von Dutch) and the music industry.Kian Forreal: This tattoo artist has a good selection of script lettering he's inked. Unlike "regular" illustrators, tattooists get no second chances via eraser or digital illustration, so the composition and steady line work should be even more impressive than their paper counterparts. No image is included here, but follow the link to see a couple dozen portfolio pieces.
House Industries: Most designers know about House fonts. Their fonts aren't custom, exactly, but they put so much care and character into their typeface design that using one in a design project often provides a custom look. In addition to singular lettering design, House has a knack for cleverly presenting their work and packaging their products.