Teach Yourself Hand Lettering: 50+ Videos, Apps, Books and Events
Ready to learn hand lettering? We’ve gathered all our favorite resources to get you started in the world of typography today, from courses by our favorite lettering artists to the best apps, events, and books! Let’s jump in…
Courses on Hand Lettering
There are a TON of amazing online courses to get you started with hand lettering. We run a community of over 1.1 million typography lovers, so you can trust that we’re tapped in to the best of the best. Here are some of the top type, lettering, and calligraphy classes taught by some truly talented instructors…
tip top type
Tip Top Type is an e-course designed to transform your lettering from good to great. Full-time lettering artist and Tip Top Type teacher, @KatieMadeThat, has rounded up her top tips, tricks, and perspectives on lettering that can give your skills a HUGE boost. These are some of the most important things Katie has learned as a letterer—conveniently distilled into one digestible course.
Hand Lettering Essentials for Beginners
Our friend, the seriously talented Mary Kate McDevitt teaches the basics of lettering on Skillshare.
Lovely & Legible Lettering
In this online course, powerhouse lettering artist and designer Lauren Hom shares her entire lettering process, all the way from pencil sketch to inked drawing to digital editing, with an emphasis on legibility.
Hand Lettering 101: Design a Quote
Molly Jacques will teach you about the basic art supplies for hand lettering, the fundamentals of drawing letterforms, how to find inspiration and sketch out your project concept layouts, and how to take your pencil drawings and turn them into finalized ink artwork.
SHOW ME YOUR DRILLS
Show Me Your Drills is a FREE course that will take you step-by-step through the basics of calligraphy with Becca from The Happy Ever Crafter.
A Comprehensive Guide to Hand Lettering: Creating Graphic and Script Styles
Join acclaimed designer Erik Marinvoch to learn a step-by-step process for crafting graphic, hand-lettered envelopes—and tons of lettering basics along the way!
Calligraphy Essentials: From First Script to Final Flourish
Perfect for beginners and professionals alike, Seb Lester will teach you to create perfect italic letterforms with a broad nib pen, and finish the class with an elegant and polished piece of writing you can truly call your own.
Dreaming in Script: Calligraphy Course
Learn traditional calligraphy with David Grimes.
Hand Lettering Styles and Techniques for Embellishment
How do letterforms work? How do you add embellishments like script styles and drop shadows? Learn techniques to take your lettering to the next level in Adobe Illustrator with Spencer Charles.
Elegant Monogram Lettering
Join lettering artist Kelly Thorn to design a monogram marrying the tactile, imperfect look of handiwork with the polish and refinement of a digital illustration!
The Happy Ever Crafter Youtube Channel
On The Happy Ever Crafter’s channel, you'll find step-by-step modern calligraphy & lettering tutorials, interviews with other amazing artists & more!
Illustrated Lettering: Drawing Intricate Floral Forms
You'll create an intricate, illustrated letterform with Gemma O’Brien’s unique creative method: using real flowers for inspiration, sketching large letterforms, collaging digital imagery, and sketching and inking details for an incredible final effect.
The Ultimate Calligraphy Course
A step-by-step online course to help you master calligraphy with clarity so that you can create the work you envision with ease, confidence and success. It includes everything from Copperplate basics, minuscules and majuscules, flourishing, modern calligraphy, ligatures, digitization and more, taking you from clueless to confident!
Vintage-Inspired Lettering: Design Bold Geometric Type in Adobe Illustrator
Travel back to the roaring 20’s with designer and letterer Nick Misani! You’ll join Nick in the studio for an inviting, accessible course in Art Deco typography that combines the best of old and new to create a bold, unexpected style that’s truly timeless.
Lettering for Designers: One Drop Cap Letterform at a Time
Jessica Hische teaches how to create beautiful letters and alphabets by starting with the simplest possible project: making a single letter!
Illustrated Lettering: Design a Book Cover
Join lettering and illustration icon Jessica Hische for a stunning, in-depth class all about creating lettered book covers in Procreate!
Hand Lettering with Texture: Creating Analog, Dimensional Type
Join lettering artist Jeff Rogers as he creates a dimensional, lettered piece from sketch to painted sign.
Apps & Tools for Hand Lettering
Here are the best apps and tools to get if you want to start hand lettering today.
ipad or ipad pro
If you’re wanting to get into digital lettering, which is the most versatile way to create your art, we suggest investing in an iPad or iPad Pro. If you can spring for the bigger screen size, it’s really worth it!
procreate app
Procreate is a hand lettering artist’s best friend! This app only operates on the iPad (hence our recommendation to get an iPad above), and is SO awesome. It’s basically like you have an entire fully stocked artist’s studio at your fingertips, with endless options of brushes, effects, and editing tools to help you create whatever you can dream up. This app has really become the golden standard in our industry.
If you’d rather go the analog route for creating your hand lettering pieces, these Micron pens from Sakura are the cream of the crop. They come with all different tip sizes and last really long. You can get different colors, too! These pens are stiff and they’re great for precision drawing. If you’re looking for a brush pen, these aren’t it!
In-Person Lettering and Typography Programs
Are you super serious about typography and lettering, and looking for an intensive learning experience to give you a leg up? These are some of the most prestigious and well-respected typography programs out there.
Type@Cooper
Learn type & lettering in person from top industry professionals in New York City! Type@Cooper offers everything from weekend typography workshops to a full postgraduate program in typeface design.
Type Paris
Learn how to design type from scratch in Europe. Launched by the Typofonderie team in 2015, TypeParis is an intensive program in English that takes in the heart of Bastille area in Paris.
Type West at Letterform Archive
Type West is a postgraduate certificate program in type design based out of the Letterform Archive in San Franciso.
Books & Articles for Lettering Artists
We’re avid collectors of typography and design books ourselves, and we’ll always suggest some of our favorites to anyone looking to get into the world of type!
House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber
This handy how-to guide is chock-full of everything you need to know to produce professional hand-lettering.
This book showcases dynamic hand lettering from today’s young and sought-after typographers and calligraphers, stoking creative inspiration for graphic designers, artists, and type enthusiasts alike.
In Progress by Jessica Hische
See everything, from Hische's rough sketches to her polished finals for major clients such as Wes Anderson, NPR, and Starbucks.
Hand Lettering Ledger by Mary Kate McDevitt
This workbook features step-by-step lessons on a range of styles plus more than 120 practice pages, making it the ideal place to learn and perfect this in-demand design skill.
The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
Combining practical, theoretical, and historical, this book is a must for graphic artists, editors, or anyone working with the printed page using digital or traditional methods.
Golden Secrets of Lettering by Martina Flor
Transform your initial lettering concepts and hand-drawn sketches into a well-shaped, exquisite piece of digital lettering that can be sold and published.
The Art of Hand-Lettering for Beginners by Joanna Munoz
Learn to transform your words into an art form with the largest collection of tutorials, alphabets, and DIY projects.
Events & Conferences for Hand Lettering Artists
Here are some great events where you can meet other like-minded creatives, learn from heavy hitters in the field, and stay up to date with the latest goings-on in type.
THE kernference
The Kernference is Goodtype’s annual summit for the global typography and lettering community.
Crop
A conference for creatives, with keynote speakers, break outs, and after parties.
Typographics
Typographics is a conference for people who use type.