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Introduction to Lettering

Introduction to Lettering Class NYC with Ken Barber

Introduction to Lettering

Cost: $485.00

Sat. & Sun., March 14 & 15, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

REGISTER NOW

Lettering has become an increasingly marketable, if not essential, skill for artists working in design and advertising. The warmth and personality of hand-drawn letterforms can hardly be matched by off-the-shelf fonts. In this workshop, attendees will learn how to get the most out of lettering in a variety of applications.

Participants will begin by gaining a solid basis in the main principles that make for successful lettering. Referring to familiar typographic models and helpful specimens, students will then learn how to customize letterforms as they draw their own logos and wordmarks. Comprehensive slide presentations, informative sketching demonstrations, skill-building exercises, professional case studies, and valuable one-on-one critiques will provide further guidance as attendees acquire a practical foundation for implementing one-of-a-kind lettering in numerous design contexts.

Instruction will focus on developing fundamental hand skills, primarily by means of manual pencil-drawing techniques. Open to students of all skill levels.

Required Materials:

  • No.2 pencils (conventional or mechanical)
  • Pencil sharpener (if applicable)
  • Erasers (conventional and kneaded)
  • Pad of quadrille 4×4 grid/graph paper (9″×12″ pad, 4 squares per linear inch is recommended)
  • 12 inch ruler
  • Sharpie® Fine and Extra Fine markers
  • white-out correction fluid pen
  • adhesive tape (for posting sketches)

Instruction will focus on developing fundamental hand skills, primarily by means of manual pencil-drawing techniques. Open to students of all skill levels.

Please note that this workshop was previously offered under the title "The Drawn Letter".

Registration for this class opens Wednesday, January 8th 

Course Code: 1340194

Instructor(s): Ken Barber

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.