As of today I have done 7 days of this brief, so 7 hand drawn type designs. I thought it would be a good point to reflect on how the process has been so far.
It's been quite hard to do this brief so far, but I think now that I'm in the habit of doing one a day, it has become easier. I always find it quite hard to start a brief like this where I know I'm not particularly good at the skill because I don't like to design something that I know isn't the best it could be. In this aspect I have found it very challenging up to this point. The way I imagine it is not the way it comes out on the page, which is what I expected, but still frustrating.
Adapting to the different styles every day has also been a challenge. I think I have clearly taken to certain styles more than others, and clearly have a style of hand drawn design that I am starting to form. I am hoping that as the styles start to variate a bit more beyond this point, I can start to define the specific style of hand drawn type that I am best at and enjoy doing.
I have found that taking photos of the process as I go along has been a bit of an annoyance, and while I like the idea of it, I have found that it isn't particularly helping me develop the skill. With that in mind, I have decided that I will now only take photos of the final type design so I can go through the whole process and just concentrate on that, not having to take photos at each point.
I think that what I have done so far has been ok, but I could have definitely spent more time on each design. The first couple of days I was trying to find the right way of working for me, and it does show. I think after the 4th day I started to work a lot better and harder at creating the type in a similar style to the one I had chosen. The first few days weren't particularly successful in this.
I do think that all of them can definitely be reworked and improved upon, however I want to first complete all 30 days before doing this. I am considering adding a few more days to this brief so I can go over the ones I'm not happy with and reworking them. I don't want to change the originals as I think it is important for the progress to be shown as it is in reality, but I think putting another sheet over the top and reworking what is already designed will be useful to me later on so I can get a larger number of outcomes that I am happy with.
I am finding it quite a challenge to create the type completely by hand. When I have done this before, I usually use the computer to play around with the composition that I want before tracing it. I have only really used this style before for a rougher look on work, not to do complete hand drawn type. This is down to the fact that I've never been particularly brilliant at drawing and my hand drawn type has been inaccurate and a bit worse for wear if I'm not doing a completely technical piece using a ruler and compass.
Overall I am finding the process challenging but am learning a lot in how I work and how I can improve my work by including hand drawn elements in the planning stage, and even in the actual design work. I am also finding it quite relaxing to stop all work for a couple of hours a day to sit and draw type. It creates a nice break in the other briefs which I am doing.
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