Make your own initial, logo, or monogram design!  Refine your own personal mark for social or business correspondence. This one-day drawing and lettering design workshop presents a simple and traditional way to create a one-letter or two-letter monogram. Ampersands and art elements will be discussed. There may be time to do three letters or a short word or acronym.

How to choose a style? The benefit of doing your own design means you have design freedom and image control. Demonstrations of hand-lettering techniques and a wide variety of good models will provide plenty to work with. You don’t have to be an expert at calligraphy, because this is the act of drawing and developing form with pencil. The goal is to develop a well-balanced, expressive letter design encompassing well-shaped white space and forming an attractive overall mark shape, an emblem with visual strength and impact. Start with pencil, trace and refine, build your design, and then ink it in or color with small brush and gouache. The outcome will be a clean black and white drawing or color image that you can photograph or scan and refine digitally. You can use any style from formal to rustic, rigid sans serif, organic and curvaceous, or gestural and rough. You can begin your design with your own handlettering or calligraphy, or simply start with a font or historical example. Simplicity is key.

We will discuss principles and elements of design as a basic review. A packet of information will be sent to you prior to class. You will have a good start toward developing and possibly finishing your own monogram. If time allows, a two-letter monogram or branding image can be accomplished, but the primary outcome is that you will know how to use this method for developing and refining your letterforms and other drawn images. This method is natural for those in the book arts who want to create a series of custom marks, dingbats, chapter images, or spot graphics to augment their printed work.

Materials to Bring:

• Layout or Marker pad 9 x 12” or 11 x 14” or any other layout bond or Vellum with good ink holdout
• Automatic Pencil: .03 HB
• HB 2 pencil
• White nylon eraser
• Sharpener
• Glue stick
• Ruler
• Clear plastic triangle
• Broad edge pen (Speedball series C2, C3, C4, C5)
• 2 small brushes, between size 00 – 2)
• Medium Flat brush, or W&N ½ inch Series 995 for designing letters
• Palette
• Old brush for mixing gouache

Students may also bring:

• Usual drawing kit: small palette, #2 pencil, water container, blade, ruler, rags, scissors, etc.
• Saral transfer paper if you have it; otherwise just rub back of paper with pencil, graphite or vine charcoal and use to transfer your designs.
• Examples to share what you want to work on: initial ideas, a style, particular letters, or purpose.
• Pilot Parallel Pens for drawing

Workshop Fee: $175.00

Date & Time: Monday, February 22, 2016 :: 9:30am-5:30pm

Location: 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Note: Please read over the SFCB Registration Policies before signing up for a class. If you are registering within 3 days of the start date for this class, please call 415-565-0545 ex.105 to complete your registration 

About the Instructor :: Ann Miller

ANN MILLER (Stanford University, AB, AM Art) studied painting and lithography with Richard Diebenkorn and Nathan Oliveira and has taught art and art history classes at Stanford, University of Santa Clara, San Mateo Community College district and in local guilds and arts venues. In 1979 she founded M2 Design for calligraphy and graphic design work. In 2002 she authored two courses in calligraphy and letterform at Academy of Art University and continues teaching online.

Her calligraphy has been published in Letter Arts Review and Bound & Lettered, and Alphabet, and her book titles for Protean Press can be found in the Harrison Collection at San Francisco Main Library. Her work is in public and private collections. She created of a series of large calligraphy murals for the City of Belmont's new public library and a 12-foot long family tree scroll for actress Brooke Shields for an early episode of the NBC television series “Who do you think you are?” Visit Ann at http://www.pennib.com.