Fear the unruly brush no more! During this inky workshop, students will learn all about taming flat and round brushes to create unique and freshly painted letterforms. First, we’ll get acquainted with the tools: see what they can do and learn how to handle them. Then we’ll break down the basic properties and dynamics of each kind of brush (pressure, twists, speed...fun!) and understand how to make the most of them when designing letters.
Along the way, we‘ll explore how to use these brushes to render roman, italic and cursive letterforms, but with a unique brush-y flavor. We will also break some rules (responsibly!) and combine different brush properties to create shapes that go way beyond the obvious.
By the end of the workshop, students will have made friends with brushes and rendered a word in many different styles, using distinct brush properties. These explorations will become a visual library of their process, as well as a repertoire of possibilities and combos they can use in the future when crafting letterforms. Their artwork will be ready to be applied as is—in its full brushy-ness—or it can be developed further into lettering or a full-blown typeface.
Note: This workshop is only open to students enrolled in the 2022 Type West In-Person Postgraduate Certificate Program in Type Design.
Aline Kaori (she/her) is a freelance lettering artist, calligrapher, and in-progress type designer based in São Paulo, Brazil. Her custom letters have helped brands such as Budweiser, Vivo, Natura, and Tiffany&Co connect with their audience in a unique, personal way. Since 2013, she has been fully dedicated to honing her craft, teaching workshops, and offering consultancy and critiques on lettering and calligraphy. Her work has been featured in Tupigrafia and Typism Book, and her very first typeface, Pitaya Italic, was selected for the Tipos Latinos Biennial in 2018. She is currently working on the release of the Pitaya family under the Positype Flourish program, and is also proudly a part of Cyla Costa Studio.