Jillian Reece - Lettering for Planners: A Step-By-Step Guide to Hand Lettering and Modern Calligraphy for Bullet Journals and Beyond

Copyright 2019 Jordan Truster & Jill ian Reece.

Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

Cover and Layout Design: Elina Diaz

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Lettering for Planners: A Step-By-Step Guide to Hand Lettering and Modern Calligraphy for Bullet Journals and Beyond

Library of Congress Cataloging

ISBN: (print) 978-1-63353-925-9 (ebook) 978-1-6 3353-926-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018962596

BISAC category code: ART003000 ART / Techniques / C alligraphy

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

So, you love your to-do lists. But youre not the type of person to just grab the nearest scrap of paper and pen to scribble d own tasks.

No. Youre the kind of person who appreciates organization and adds your creativity into something as everyday as a planner. (We totally get it, even if your friends and famil y dont!)

Your tasks, schedule, and notes deserve more than a scribble, and maybe youve tried your hand at decorative lettering but youre just not sure where to start. Youre afraid to ruin the pages of your journal and so youve stayed away from getting too fancy. Sound like you? Weve got yo u covered!

Well walk you through the steps of how to hand letter a basic script alphabet with confidence, focusing on the basics to build up a strong foundation for the details. Then, well move into more letter styles and embellishments so that you can create truly unique lettering. We have tons of examples of dos and donts throughout the book to help y ou learn.

There are lots of benefits to learning hand lettering, particularly in the context of jo urnaling.

Its a relaxing and therapeutic hands-on activity, especially in our d igital age

You can do it anywhere, unlike some other crafts a nd hobbies

Its completely customizable (no need to search for a stencil or buy a bunch of fonts!)

The best part? It doesnt take a long time to learn, and you dont need to buy fancy calligraphy supplies. You can get started today with supplies you alre ady have.

From Jillian

You know those small moments in life that you never expected and will neve r forget?

I was in eighth grade. I always decorated my homework pages with colorful lettering and borders and doodles. If anyone could make the words Chapter 12: Homework look less boring, i t was me!

Anyway One spring afternoon after turning in my homework, my history teacher, Mr. B, told me to see him after class. Mind you, I was the straight-A student who never got in trouble, so I was t errified.

After forty-five nerve-wracking minutes of class, I walked up to his desk. He held up my homework and said: All this art and doodles? When you get to high school and college, your teachers are going to tell you to stop. Dont e ver stop.

Ill never forget how unexpected and supportive his com ment was.

While I went on to study business and data analytics in college, I never stopped lettering. I didnt need to be an artist or have a lettering business in order to be creative; it was just a part of my everyday life. It was a way to make my class papers and grocery lists a little more fun. And since youve picked up this book, then youre probably wired the same way.

We wrote this book to guide you through creative script lettering so that you can stop wasting time feeling stuck and start spending more time creating.

As our lives become more and more digital, I want to remind you: Dont stop using your hands to make a creative mess. Dont put down those pens and markers. Dont stop adding that personalized touch. Dont ever stop creating. My sincere hope is that this book will help you do j ust that.

Xoxo,
Jillian

From Jordan

Growing up, math was my favorite subject. I competed in math and science competitions in grade school, my favorite high school classes were geometry and physics, and I studied engineering i n college.

So, why do I love calligraphy and lettering?

Calligraphy is a science as much as it is an art. My affinity for math has always been accompanied by a passion for art, design, and creativityespecially since I grew up with an incredibly artistic twin sister. We spent much of our childhood experimenting and creating together. We had every craft-related Klutz bookfriendship bracelets, nail art, origami, handmade cards, and of course, l ettering.

When I got back into learning lettering as an adult, I wanted to know exactly how to make each shape, the correct angles to draw the lines, and how to make the letters look beautiful. I needed rules to follow, I needed to understand the logic behind this art.

And this is exactly how I will help you!

If you use a planner or bullet journal, Im guessing you like when things are organized and easy to follow. Calligraphy might seem daunting, but this book is going to guide you through it, starting with the basics and then building on that foundation in easy-to-follow steps. Youll learn how to write specific words in a variety of styles to apply immediately and directly to you r journal.

So, whether you are creative and artistic, mathematical and logical, or a combination of both, I believe you ca n do this!

Your letterin g friend,
Jordan

From Jillian & Jordan

Keeping track of our daily lives has always been important to us, from grade school throughout adulthood. When we started to incorporate hand lettering into this ritual, we became obsessed.

Weve studied calligraphy for several years and have taught the skill to hundreds of students in-person and thousands online. Were taking our in-depth knowledge of this craft and consolidating it into a format that directly relates to planners and journals, giving you exactly what you need to get started with lettering in a non-overwhelming, easy-to-impl ement way.

Over the years, weve developed our own unique styles, which surprises a lot of people considering that were twins. So we made it our mission to crack the code on lettering styles. There are so many ways to express an idea or change the tone simply by switching up letter variations or other basic elements. Heres an example of Jillians style (top) versus Jordans:

Well be sharing a variety of alphabets with you in this book so that you can understand and try new styles as well. Well show you a basic alphabet, then demonstrate how new styles and variations can be created with lots of examples. In fact, youll get six lowercase alphabets, twelve capital alphabets, and over 350 word examples throughout the book.