Typography Letter Art

I have been an apartment dweller for seven years now in two different states and three different countries {not all at the same time — I wish!}. If there’s one thing apartment life has taught me, it’s that having a good rapport with your maintenance person is paramount. Our current apartment was built in the early 70’s, so it has some quirks including gliding doors that just don’t move like they used to {or so I assume}, a dishwasher that is my contemporary, and the occasional leak here and there. Enter Ralph, a maintenance man who is a jack of all trades. When Ralph came to our apartment a few weeks ago, we had a leaky bathroom sink, a gliding closet door that refused to shut, and a dishwasher that was pretty iffy. He worked some sort of Mary Poppins-type magic, and suddenly everything in our apartment is functional; plus he scored us a new dishwasher!

While Ralph was working, he politely asked what my occupation is. I explained that I am a designer and illustrator who focuses mainly on the wedding industry. He showed me a business card of his, and told me that he’s looking for something with more professional feel — like my Luxe cards from Moo. I promised to email him a list of places he could get cards printed off, and I secretly made a goal to create a new design for Ralph. It’s not every day someone comes along that can fix your gliding closet door from 1970.

Now that I am finished for a couple of days with wedding projects, I seized the chance to make a business card design for Ralph — featuring typography letter art. To start Ralph’s design, I printed off the letter “R” in the font Bookman Old Style at size 430. I chose this font because it’s masculine and visually compelling.

I put a piece of tracing paper over the letter so I could properly draw elements over the “R” while retaining the letter’s shape.

Next, I scoured our toolbox for elements that might fit in the “R”. The first thing I chose was a tape measurer.

{I used the aid of a ruler for accuracy.}

Next, I chose to use a screwdriver to make the lower right leg of the “R”.

I fished out a screw to help fill out the letter more …

And to begin the top of the letter, I utilized a little paintbrush and a mock brush stroke.

A bolt and a nail helped to fill out the letter’s lower right leg even more.

For the curve of the “R”, I was a little stumped. After thinking for a moment, I realized that pipes are curved, so I opted to use one to build that part of the letter.

More nuts, bolts, and nails, and I was finished with the typography letter illustration!

At this point, I scanned the letter in to the computer at 400 dpi and removed its background in Photoshop.

I debated adding color, wondering if it may be too campy or feminine. Ultimately, I decided to utilize some muted yellows, reds, and grays — normal tool colors.

Next, I put together the business card design in Photoshop. If I weren’t just designing the card for fun, I would have used Illustrator and made the typography letter illustration into a vector image. Photoshop works just fine for an informal occasion like this, though, and I personally find it easier/quicker to use.

I took my file to FedEx and tested it out:

{I just used the self-serve printers and 110 lb. white card stock for these samples.}

I like the way the cards turned out because they are more professional and assertive, masculine, and personalized. I think the information is organized a little bit better as well, since it’s not quite so scattered. To recap, here’s the before:

And the after:

If you are interested in business card printing, here are a few of my favorite companies — all places that would print off this design beautifully:

Higher Budget Printers:

• Moo – I like the Luxe cards, which are ultra-thick and what my own business cards are printed on.
• Jukebox – I love how Jukebox thinks outside the box; they print on wood, cork, cotton … you name it! I just ordered some wooden cards for my brother.
• Boxcar Press* – Boxcar is my favorite letterpress printer. They wouldn’t be as user-friendly as Moo or — to some degree — Jukebox; but if you are a designer who understands how to use Illustrator and how letterpress works, they are a great option for letterpress printing!

Lower Budget Printers:

• PFL {a.k.a. Printing for Less} – The name here is accurate — PFL does print for less, but I am consistently impressed by their quality. I also love that they are happy to send free sample packets, which gives you a good idea of their paper stocks and capabilities. I would definitely choose them over a place like Vistaprint.
• Overnight Prints – These people are speedy, and 15 pt. paper is pretty thick — not a bad deal at all! I recently used them to print off alternate business cards for my brother; and while I haven’t seen them yet, he’s very happy with them.

*A card design like this Rodriguez Maintenance & Construction card wouldn’t be suitable for letterpress, so I wouldn’t send this to Boxcar for printing.

As far as how you can utilize this post, I hope you use the weekend to make your own personalized typography letter — either for you or a friend/family member. The trick is to keep thinking of things that correlate with that person, and add them to the letter as they come to mind. My personal letter would probably incorporate chocolate, calligraphy pens and nibs, and other various art supplies! Sketch it out in pencil first, if you’d like. I only used a pen because I wanted to make sure this was a quick project.

If you have any questions, you know where to find me! Otherwise, have a great weekend, and we’ll talk again soon!

XO,