Hand Lettering: Creative Alphabets for Any Occasion

by Thy Doan Graves

Welcome to the wonderful world of hand lettering! Prepare to be inspired by this collection of over 50 alphabets in a wide range of styles. Designer, illustrator, and hand-letterer Thy Doan will guide you through each alphabet with easy-to-follow steps so you can capture all the charm of each design. This is everything you need to know to create your own lettering designs, from sketching it out to inking it up—and using a variety of materials from brush pens to Sharpies.

After you’ve mastered the techniques, you can use the alphabets and lettering to add a unique personal touch to all kinds of things: invitations, cards, notes, letters, doodles, artwork, comics, signs, banners, menus, scrapbooks, journals, flyers, posters, and more!

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Crafts

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2017

Reviews

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of great ideas, but I would not suggest this to beginners or people who need a lot of instruction.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this for my son, but I'm totally going to use it too to get a bit more creative for "any occasion"! There is both the how-to elements and plenty of lettering thoughts and options to choose from but the opening chapters also explain differences in serifs, typography versus hand lettering versus calligraphy, and more curious elements of creativity via lettering.

It's not definitive, but it's a start and the layout is inspiring.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently this didn’t take when GR was having its snit in November, but this is a nice easy tutorial on different types of hand lettering and the tools you need. (Now if I could only remember to practice, lol)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ran across this book on sale at Hobby Lobby before the days of corona and couldn't resist. It is filled with different lettering styles and gives examples of both upper and lower case letters as well as numbers and punctuation. There were so many different styles that it was almost overwhelming. I think I would have to choose a style and practice it for a while as I did many years ago when I took a class in calligraphy. Maybe I'll get around to that some day :) I don't buy many books but this is a nice addition to my craft room!

[Sarah Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good for seeing lots of different designs of hand lettering. It is not a calligraphy book but rather letters that you draw out in various forms instead of just writing. I liked the examples it included and would like to learn many of them. Though it did briefly talk about the hows and whys to lettering it didn't actually show how to create many of the letters included so you will have to just practice and try different things.

[Laura Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I’ve been looking for! A LOT of example alphabets & inspiration. Minimal practice pages (aka blank filler pages).

[Christen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to gather inspiration for your next lettering project. There are 50 truly different fonts to explore, experiment with, and enjoy. So many lettering books say they have different alphabets but they usually all look so similar. I do wish that some of the alphabets had a bit more instructional tips to them.

The vast majority of these alphabets are created using a fine tip pen. It is not a brush lettering book but rather a hand lettering book.

I liked the bits about layout and composition. That is something that can be really tough!

This is a fun book to have on hand!

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful book with lettering styles that are mostly usable and interesting, however even after the brief run that explains letter shapes and styles, it’s more of a “copy and mimic” set up than one about what makes a letter successful.

Still interesting and helpful for many, but my mind wasn’t blown.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book that outlines the basics of hand lettering, plus some cool "fonts" for you to try out. A good intro to different types of materials used. I'd definitely use this for hand lettering questions or as a reference. I'd keep it on my shelf.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful fonts with great directions.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely lovely lovely book! Gets right to the point and provides multiple fonts to practice with instructions. A great intro to lettering for people who just want to give it a try.

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for hand lettering. It is very easy to use. I bought it to do some journal layouts and now I am thinking of making my own note cards! Very cool!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more of the alphabets, much less of the getting started. Probably good for more experienced letterers

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of great fonts for inspiration and practical advice.

[Helene Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review - I found this book when I started scrapbooking and it has been invaluable, as normally my writing is an academic scrawl, but this book helped me to start writing in a different way, for display, which I love, and I really enjoy doing. There are lots of different styles, both for adults and kids, and the only thing I think that would have made this better is more calligraphy-style writing, and a proper tutorial on how to do that, but nevertheless this is a little gem of a book and I'm so glad I found it.

General Subject/s? - Lettering / Calligraphy / Journalling / Scrapbooking / Writing

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 18/20

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an ultimate beginner, I confess I found this book a little intimidating. Perhaps because the very first section is an epic gallery of way-out-of-my-league lettering works. And while it does give instructions and supplies, I still felt like I was barely treading water to keep up. The real highlight for me was the collection of alphabets. I ended up tracing my favorites as practice. I wouldn't recommend this book for someone just starting out on the hand-lettering journey, but definitely a worthy resource for someone with a basic foundation of the art.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooi naslagwerkje voor de handletteraar. Naast inspiratie en uitleg over de basistechnieken staan er veel verschillende alfabetvoorbeelden in, met hier en daar een leeg oefenblad om zelf aan de slag te gaan.

[Santa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Praktiskā literatūra. Viens no diviem grāmatu suvenīriem no Lielbritānijas brauciena. Esmu jau izmēģinājusi pāris alfabētus. Lieti noderēja dzimšanas dienas apsveikumam.