100 days of hand lettering

I'm always one for starting new challenges! Advent challenge has been loads of fun but last Christmas I couldn't keep up so when I embarked on #the100dayproject I thought 'this will be a miracle to keep this up!' So I decided to keep it simple and focused on an area I really wanted to get better at...

#100daysofhandlettering seemed like a good plan as I could be as intricate or as simple and quick as I wanted each day, depending on my time.

I kicked off on a lovely sunny day so felt I wanted to reflect that in Day 001!!

Day 002 things got a little more detailed! This took a few hours whilst I watched a film ;) 

And then around day 9-10 I signed up to an app called Steller where I could start recording all the days in a flip book...

A few days later it was picked up for their Stellerverse Collection and appeared on their front page! 

This was just what I needed... I'm feeling really inspired now to get to 100! I can already feel my skills and confidence improving...

I'm using Tombow and Micron pens, sometimes using a guide pencil... And just started using a paint brush too... Next up I really need to master calligraphy!

Summer of Design - Project #2 - Photograph the alphabet

In the second of our Summer of Design projects we take a look at photography and typography. If you missed the first project take a look here.

Project #2 - PHOTOGRAPH THE ALPHABET

You will need - a camera, any camera - it doesn't have to be special!

Intro

Photography plays a big part in the designers life. Photography is often used to help communicate a mood and emotion. We can also use photography to help us record ideas and capture inspiration thought out our daily lives. So with this project we combine photography with typography. Typography is the study of letters, words and arranging them. We could go into this in much more depth but let's start of in simple terms... 

The project

As you go about your daily lives this week take a camera with you and try to capture every letter of the alphabet. Mix this up with making your own letters using various items you come across from stones, twigs or coins. Get your friends involved too!

Collate all your photos of letters and if you can, print them out and display them on a cork board or make a poster of the whole alphabet.

What are we learning here?

This project not only helps you notice everything around you, it also gives you a good introduction into letterforms and typography. You'll start to notice all the different typefaces and maybe start to think about how each typeface has it's own personality. 

Liked this project?

Why don't you try numbers next or extra symbols like ampersands(&) and pound signs? Another good photography project is to pick a colour and start snapping everything you see with that colour. This will come in useful for the next project #3 Interior Design.

If you have an interest to learn more about typography then you can get 40% off my Art of Typography Skillshare course by clicking on this link.

Modifications for younger children...

My son is almost 3 and doesn't know all the letters yet so this might be a tricky one for the really young children. What you can do is use it as an exercise to learn the letters... maybe focus on 1 or 2 at a time. One morning maybe you could set the challenge to find things around you that are S shaped, and take photos of them... for example. Or how about potato printing?! Or you can set a letter and try creating them out of different objects. My son loved helping me recently on the button alphabet... 

Keep updated

If you would like to be kept updated with the projects please like my facebook page and I'll be posting reminders there. I will also let you know what materials might be needed for the following weeks project.
Also if you would like to send me any of your projects to feature on my blog please email them to me hello@fayebrowndesigns.co.uk with the subject SUMMER OF DESIGN

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Gifted too... Day 2 - Alphabet

The fabulous Tigerprinters set a Gifted challenge each year for recent graduates. One of my friends suggested we could play along with some of the themes so here's my Alphabet! 

We were on holiday when I did this, is was really great to step away from the computer and just use paper to create the letters only using simple cuts and folds. 

Teaching an online course - top tips - Part 1

In June 2013 I launched my first ever online course called The Art of Typography on the Skillshare platform. Nine months on, the course has reached over 1000 students. I'm pretty astounded by this and obviously very pleased with the success. And whilst I never thought I'd be one counting numbers, 1000 is pretty cool!

So in a mini celebration of this milestone I thought I'd share my experience of teaching an online course, the interaction with students and receiving feedback on the teaching. Hopefully this might inspire some of you to run your own courses as I've definitely learned and gained a lot from the experience.

This is Part 1 of my top tips. The post got a bit too long and I didn't want to bombard you with information. Points 1-4 are a really good starting point. Next week we will discuss the best way to deliver your course, videos, blog posts etc. and how to market your course.

1 - WHAT'S YOUR PASSION?
It's all well and good deciding to do an online course but for everyone to get the most out of it (including you) make sure you are passionate about it. This will show in your delivery and should instantly make your course more engaging for potential students. If you are having trouble working out what's your real passion, ask your nearest and dearest. Sometimes they know you better than you know yourself. People would ask my advice about typography without me consciously thinking that's my strong point. I just love designing in general but realised other people saw one of my biggest strengths was type.

2 - WHAT CAN PEOPLE LEARN FROM YOU?
Once you've worked out your passion you need to work out if this is something other people would like to learn and know about. Be honest with yourself - there's no point putting your heart and soul into something if you and the students get no gain from it, you want people to sign up to your course! Introduce yourself in an intro video or post. But then focus the rest of the course on what the students will be getting out of it. Use examples of your experience and work to support your teaching but be careful not to just talk about yourself, people don't really want to pay to hear all about you... unless you have some sort of celeb status - then they might!

3 - RESEARCH
This is a two step process... firstly research your topic. Are there similar courses available - there probably are! And if there isn't you need to figure out why. You've either thought of a great course which will have huge success because there's no competition or there's simply no need for your course - maybe there's lots of free videos on you tube already covering the same subject. How can your course offer more or stand apart from anything already out there?
There are now quite a few typography based courses on Skillshare. Some are very specific, maybe on hand drawn lettering or page layout. Mine is more a general introduction to all elements of typography. There can be room for everyone to succeed. Just do your research.

The second stage of your research involves your course content. You probably don't know everything or need refreshing on certain areas. I learned so much putting my course together. Particularly about the history of type - I definitely needed a refresh in that area as it had been a long time since I studied it!

4 - STRUCTURE YOUR COURSE
This is a very important step and it all depends on what you have planned for your course. Is it a short intense course that will be completed in a week with you on hand constantly to offer feedback, online chats or video calls? Or will it be a 6 week course where you devote 2-3 hours each week? will you set mini projects or one big project? will you be giving feedback to the students? Or maybe you are planning a series of tutorials? You'll have to decide whether the course will have lifetime access once signed up or whether there are set dates the course info is available. Ask yourself all these questions upfront before structuring the course content and working out how the course will be taught... videos, resources, pdf downloads etc.



So that's your starting point. Feel free to comment below, I'd love to hear your initial thoughts and ideas. Next week we will be discussing how best to deliver your course. I'd advise you to take a few online courses yourself before deciding on the best route for YOU. Some courses are entirely made out of video posts - whether that's talking to camera or screen recording tutorials in specific programmes. Some are held on a website where new content can be released each day or week like a blog post. Some are a mixture of both. A lot will depend on your course content and your character!

Useful links - some offer free classes or free trials...
www.skillshare.com
www.lynda.com
www.nicolesclasses.com

Do some research this week, start making notes and take an online course or check out tutorials on you tube. If you fancy taking my The Art of Typography course I'm offering my blog readers a 30% discount if you follow this link and use code BLOGPOST - alternatively sign up to the membership option for access to lots of classes!

Next week - Delivery, pricing and marketing your online course...

Valentine's Challenge winners..!

We are really pleased to annouce the winners of the Skillshare Valentine's Challenge. Majo and I each chose a winner and those lucky two are Melissa Iwai and Emma Hawman! Whilst we felt most of the designs answered the brief, we were both really impressed by the way the greeting card and gift wrap design worked so well together with Melissa's and Emma's entries.
You are both the happy 1st-place winners of some fabulous books. You can check out the prizes here.

E - I LOVE Valentine Candy by Melissa Iwai

C- LOVE confetti by Emma Hawman

To find our 2nd and 3rd places we opened it up to the public and we are pleased to announce that 2nd place goes to Sarah Price and 3rd place to Sarah H. You guys will also get a fab book each.

H - You're just my type by Sarah Price

We loved the contemporary feel to Sarah's design!

G - Love by Sarah H

Valentine's Day is usually all about pink and red, we love Sarah's use of bold bright colours in her design.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by, voted and/or commented! We closed the contest this morning at 6am (Colombian time) and had 279 votes altogether! Thank you again to all of the amazing designers that entered the challenge. You all created beautiful work and it was really hard to choose.

Melissa, Emma, Sarah and Sarah - please email us your full name, postal address and phone number. Sarah and Sarah please let us know which book you would like from these two...

Watch out for some more exciting challenges soon. And if you are interested in our Skillshare classes please check out The Art of Typography and Reign Repeats by clicking on the links.

Ho ho ho, merry christmas and to all a good night..!

A little yearly review - 2013...

I've had a really exciting year in terms of my design work... from working on some lovely branding projects, to some really cool animation briefs and also trying my hand at selling some goodies at craft fairs. A highlight this year has been launching the Skillshare class The Art of Typography. Teaching online was new territory for me and one I really wanted to do justice. I've been overwhelmed by the positive response to the class and the projects the students have been working on. And as we close the year, there's over 500 students on the course - something I never imagined saying! I do my best to offer feedback on everyone's project as I think it's really important the students get some communication between them and the teacher.

Another highlight for me was/is the amazing contributions to #adventchallenge2013. Each day I set a new theme or object for people to do something creative with. Please see the below post here to check out days 1-16. I'll do another update after christmas. 

So, that just leaves me to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and 2014. Have a jolly old time and may 2014 bring you everything you could wish for. Our biggest wish will be coming along in the form of a little sister (most probably!) for our toddler Harrison in April. Exciting times ahead!

What do you wish for in 2014? 

Advent challenge Days 1-16

I have to be honest, I've been totally amazed at some of your designs and submissions to Advent Challenge this year! Beautiful, creative, inspiring and unique... here's just a little taster that should get you feeling festive. Thanks to everyone, of all ages who are taking part - I love tuning into facebook, twitter and instagram to see your daily works of art!

Day 1 - Robin

Kicking us off with a very cute Robin is Jan Shepherd of Patternmuse. The Embroidery School even made him into a cute pattern you can download.

Day 2 - Santa's letter

There were some fabulous illustrations for Santa's letter. However this verse from Ruth Ellis (Makey Cakey) was such a unique and creative addition to the Advent Challenge I just had to share it here!

 Day 3 - stars

Yes please!! Mini Rockpool Trading fan, aged 3 (who is becoming quite well known on twitter!) helped make these gorgeous looking brownies. 

 Day 4 - Cake

Good enough to eat! Lovely christmas cake from Jessica Lewis. The robin keeps making an appearance in her beautiful designs since day 1!

 Day 5 - Gingerbread man

A fab gingerbread man from instagram challenger Banburycakes!

 Day 6 - Angel

Maike Thoma of Patternjots, has completely embraced #adventchallenge2013 and has created some quite simply stunning designs! She has even set up a pinterest board dedicated to the challenge showcasing a number of talented designers. Loving her angel!

 Day 7 - Snowglobe

Fabulous snowglobe from Sonia at Apple Kaur Designs. You can also check out lots of her other designs on the pinterest board.

 Day 8 - Favourite christmas song

Miss AT on twitter has been a supporter of Advent Challenge since last years doodle challenge. I love her simple use of typography to lay out the lyrics from her favourite christmas song. 

Are you ready for some serious cuteness? Logan Grew decided to sing his favourite christmas song for our first Advent Challenge video! This is what it's all about :)

 Day 9 - Christmas tree

It's beginning to feel a lot like christmas!! This made my smile, Christmas Tree from Jen Handbury. 

 Day 10 - Snow

Another wonderful design from Maike at Patternjots for day 10 - snow!

 Day 11 - Elf

The very talented, Lesley Todd of Finch Five is doing her own Advent Challenge, but I was thrilled to see she had managed to synch up a few days with #adventchallenge2013. To see her wonderful set of illustrations take a look on her facebook page here.

 Day 12 - Favourite christmas word

I've become a big fan of Slumbermonkey's designs (aka Lindsay Buck) since taking part in a Christmas card swap with her. I love the bright happy colours and shapes against the darker background for Day 12. 

 Day 13 - A Winter's Scene

The adults were set lose on the play mobil to create this fun winters scene from Ruth Ellis. 

 Day 14 - Cracker

Love this!! The Grew family have been taking part in Advent Challenge on facebook... and their eldest son Logan was the star of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer rendition above. I love their youngest, Caspian, in the middle of the cracker. 

 Day 15 - Bauble

I knew Victoria Johnson was taking part but when she sent me a whole batch of her designs so far I was astounded - they are quite beautiful. Keep up to date with her work on her blog.

 Day 16 - Snowman

Another beaut from Slumbermonkey!

Julie Hamilton

Julie Hamilton of Artistically Afflicted is creating a captivating page of all the items... I love her drawing style.

 Pinterest board

Just a little taster of the fabulous pinterest board set up by Maike Thoma. 

Thanks to everyone who is taking part this year! It brightens up my day seeing what you are all creating. And for anyone who still wants to take part, join in whenever you like - even if you decide to just do 1 or 2. All details are here. I'll try to do another update before christmas and then a full round up after. 

Skillshare class - Winter Wonderland Challenge

I recently set a fun challenge in my skillshare class The Art of Typography. I asked the students to design a festive greeting card where the emphasis was on the typography. I was really surprised by the variety of submissions and found it a lot more difficult to judge than I thought I would... 

1st place

Nicola Jones of Gooseberrymoon designed this card that I chose as the first place. What caught my eye was the cheerful nature of the typography. Even though the type colour is dark it works really well against the red pattern. I also felt it could easily be extended into a whole range of wrapping paper and gift tags. Nicola received a pack of 25 of her very own cards printed. 

2nd place

I was torn between 3 designs for the 2nd place... What impressed me most about Mel Paul's (from The Original Thread) design is the process and message. Sometimes, as a designer, I find myself lost for words but I really like the sentiment of the wording here. And also the process Mel went through to design this card. As you can see in the image below she cut out all the lettering to make a stamp. I'm amazed at how well she did this and keeping the kerning in order!

Mel wins a pack of 10 of her cards printed.

As you'll now see from some of the designs below, it was a difficult choice judging!

This stunning card from Bonnie Peters would make a perfect christmas card. Whilst I really liked the hand drawn lettering what really catches my eye with this card is the fabulous photo (that Bonnie took herself). 

I love the simplicity and simple messaging of this design by Danielle Perry. I think it could easily be made into a set of 4 cards using a similar style. Great work Danielle!

Another fun design from Hande Karaaslan. I can see this working on gift tags too. 

This joyful design by Liz Perez used a nice approach of mixing English and Spanish. I wonder if it could be extended to include some more languages.

Happy Holidays by Mark Morris was my husband's favourite (he's a designer too!). I love the way Mark got the word Happy to act like a ribbon around the word Holidays. 

Since launching the course I've found it fascinating to see everyone's different styles and when I saw Mei Ling Chan's design above my eyes really lit up! I think it's such a unique approach to a Christmas card, and whilst it might not be to everyone's taste there's a whole market who would absolutely love this design!

I love the way Sara Fabbro incorporated a Christmas tree shape into her message using hand drawn lettering. Great fun!

I think Sarah Book chose some perfect typefaces for her striking design. I can really imagine this on the shop shelf along with a few more designs in the collection. 

What's your favourite design?

I'll be holding another challenge soon in my class. If you would like to sign up I'm offering 25% off with the code XMAS25, so you can learn all about The Art of Typography for only $15 (about £10).