Commercial Calligraphy & Lettering Design

Since 1985 I have created many pieces of commercial calligraphy and lettering design for a wide range of organisations. Working mainly with design consultants and marketing agencies, I create logos, titles, promotional material, and any type of hand lettering for print. I also do calligraphy for wedding stationery and other events. All my lettering is hand drawn or written using a variety of pens and brushes, paper, and ink.  The commercial commissioning process is simple: I listen, take the brief, and agree a cost. I then produce a series of ideas based on that brief, before developing them and working on a final design. The finished work is then scanned and emailed to my client or sent by mail or courier.

Headington School, Oxford

commercial logo work for headington school oxford

I worked on this job with design consultants, Franks and Franks. The brief involved updating the school’s logo which featured a horse. First, I drew the horse in outline in a light and then heavier weight, but in the end the solid horse shape was chosen. The horse embodied the elegance and intelligence of a thoroughbred, and the strength, loyalty, and patience of a cob.

Stationery

commercial calligraphy sample stationery

Over the years I’ve written a great many invitations, envelopes, place cards and other items of stationery for weddings and corporate events. Lettering styles vary from light and fun to the more formal, depending on the event. Sometimes I design the whole invitation, and at others, only add guests’ names to a typeset design.

Cadbury's Milk Tray

commercial calligraphy sample cadburys

This packaging was a limited-edition design brought out one year to coincide with Valentine’s Day. I was commissioned to work on the M and T letters of Milk Tray, but to design them so that they could also be read as a heart and a kiss. I used a round brush for the job, and the lettering appeared not only on the packaging, but also on one of the enclosed heart shaped chocolates.

Heinz Farmers' Market Soups

commercial calligraphy work sample heinz

The brief for this job was to produce some hand lettering which looked as if it could have been written on a chalk board in keeping with the Farmers’ Market brand. I wrote the names with a brush and ink, and the textured effect was added afterwards by the design consultants.

Dunhill

commercial calligraphy work sample dunhill

This image is one of a number of pages from a brochure advertising Dunhill products. The company manufactures a range of pens and this page features the four categories, with product titles written in a handwriting style that reflects the relevant tool.

Book Jacket

commercial-calligraphy-work-sample-book-cover-1

Having known the author, Rosemary Sassoon, for many years, she asked me to redesign the cover of this updated version of her book published by Unicorn Publishing Group. I drew the capital letters with a pointed ruling pen to indicate the formal part of the title and used a brush for the informal lowercase letters.

Book Jacket

commercial-calligraphy-work-sample-book-cover-2

 Julie Dent, the owner of The Clover Mill, a spa and retreat based on Ayurvedic principles, asked me to design the cover of her first cookery book. She wanted the title design to also read Cooking with Love by accenting the ‘love’ part of Clover. I wrote the title in a free, but structured, script, and for the cover design, used two different colours to highlight the second meaning.

University College, Oxford

commercial-calligraphy-work-university-college-oxford

This job was commissioned by the design consultants, Franks and Franks. The brief was to redraw the martlet, a heraldic bird usually depicted without feet. The creature appeared on their shield and needed updating. I employed a calligraphic line with thick and thin strokes to give more life to the image.

University of Buckingham

calligraphy commercial work university of buckingham

This job was commissioned by the design consultants, Franks and Franks. The brief was to redraw the swan for the University of Buckingham which appeared on their shield and needed updating. I employed a calligraphic line with thick and thin strokes to give more life to the image.

Meerkat

commercial calligraphy sample meerkat

A company logo written for a design and marketing agency using a combination of brush and cola pen. The lettering was then painted on the fascia of their London premises by a sign writer.

Analysis, free-thinking, concentration and paying attention to fine detail is very important and the phrase I most often say to myself as I work is,

‘What if … I try this?’

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