A set of monograms for friends by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography 4

A set of monograms for friends by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography

So this was inspired by the recent sketch of my longtime monogram as well as a conversation with Sarah Badawy about how some combinations of letters work better than others. In order to do each of these, I went through the same workflow in Inkscape each time:

1. Using the text tool, type the first and last initial and highlight them both
2. Using the font dialog, flip through each font until the right font shows up. The right font is one that properly represents the subject, provides an interesting way to connect the letters, creates an interesting shape, and is visually attractive.
3. After the font is chosen, you can use the kerning features of the text tool (alt plus arrows when you have the cursor inserted) to move the letterforms into the perfect relationship.
4. If there is any part of your font that you don’t care for (I don’t like dots on the letter i, generally) you can use the select tool to select and convert the text into a path (shift-ctrl-c) and then ungroup the text (ctrl-u) in order to work with the letterforms independently and also use the node editor to directly manipulate the text turned paths.

You can do it. You can also extend this methodology to any string of text to make logos, wordmarks, and text based art and design.

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• 20121204: Swirl, a typographic flourish by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography (365sketches.org)
• 20121122: Sliced by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography (365sketches.org)
• 20121202: A cycle of motion with circles within circles by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #design #abstract #life (365sketches.org)

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