Modern Monograms

Louis Vuitton. General Electric. The Victoria & Albert Museum. Some of the most famous brands in the world have built their identities around monograms. Even if you're not into branding, monograms are a great way to begin thinking about the relationship between two letterforms — even letters that may, at first glance, appear to be completely unrelated ("C" and "W," anyone?!?). Over the course of four Wednesdays (April 20, April 27, May 4, and May 11), you'll find and exploit the relationships between letters, inspiring you to think differently (and more creatively) about the way you construct them.

In November 2015, Hope Meng began an ambitious personal project to draw every combination of 2 letters that the alphabet provides us. Monogram Project kicked off with "AA" and will conclude sometime in the very distant future with "ZZ." For this workshop, we will look at monograms throughout history, explore two different methods for arriving at a finished monogram, and share some typographic inspiration. The first half of the class will be completely analog—we will concept and sketch several monogram designs and end the day with a group critique. In the second half we will go over tips for vectorizing letterforms and then shift into the conception and production of a monogram of your own design.

Learning Outcomes

• Discover the modularity/relationships in letterforms
• Understand each letter's essence and how to push the limits of that while maintaining legibility
• Acquire vectoring skills

Required Materials

• Minimum of 3 examples of typography or lettering that inspires you (does not need to be a monogram)
• Sketchbook
• Preferred drawing tools (ex. pencil, markers, etc.)
• Tracing paper
• Computer/laptop with Adobe Illustrator

Diversity & Equity Scholarship

Diversity and Equity are important to all of us at Letterform Archive, and we are committed to increasing opportunities for underrepresented groups within the type and design communities.

We are offering one BIPOC/Equity scholarship seat in this workshop.

To apply for this scholarship, please complete and submit to us the short form linked here at least a week prior to the start of the workshop.