5 (And 5 More!) Amateur Lettering Mistakes

[Piekos]

~N

[lordmagnusen]

Brilliant. Already learned them from tutorials by you, Rich Starkings, and Jim Campbell, but they're good to have handy and share (as I did) on FB.

[t_orzechowski]

Oh, does this ever need to be entered in the "New Letterers, Read This" section. Otherwise, it'll be lost in the scroll in just a few days.

[lordmagnusen]

What Tom said.

[Clem Robins]

i guess i should stop doing those ten things.

[Jeff LeBlanc]

Amen! Please promote this to stick at the top of the lettering forum.

[Todd Klein]

Number nine reminds of a funny comment I once got from an ad exec on some lettering I did for a Superman ad. There was a thought balloon coming from Clark Kent as he entered a phone booth, something like "Now it's time for me to change to Superman!" As always, I put the trail of small bubbles leading toward his forehead. The ad exec told me they should go to his mouth instead. "Do you think with your mouth?" I asked innocently. There was no reply, and the change was not required. I always wondered if that exec realized he was guilty as charged...

[vartemis]

Originally Posted by Todd Klein

"Do you think with your mouth?"

Well truthfully Todd, I've been accused on more than one occasion of not thinking with my head.

j

[HdE]

Originally Posted by Todd Klein

I always wondered if that exec realized he was guilty as charged...

That's priceless!

I've already lost count of the times I've had to message a client and tell them how the changes they've asked for run contrary to good design. Sometimes, even when I explain the reasons politely and comprehensively, I get told 'yeah, whatever, just do it how we want.' Not cool.

Next time somebody complains about your page rate, fellas, be sure to explain to them that getting this stuff correct is what they're paying for.

[WarrenM]

Great examples of bad things.

[CHWolf]

I violate 2 & 6 from time to time. Only in the case of panels with very little vertical room or completely inappropriate placement of first and second speaking characters, respectively.

For example, with 6, what would be the suggestion if character #1 is to the right and low, while character #2 is to the left and high?

For example...

_________
| 2
|_____1__

Keeping in mind 1 speaks first.

Assume the dialogue is lengthy on both counts.

[khperkins]

Originally Posted by CHWolf

I violate 2 & 6 from time to time. Only in the case of panels with very little vertical room or completely inappropriate placement of first and second speaking characters, respectively.

For example, with 6, what would be the suggestion if character #1 is to the right and low, while character #2 is to the left and high?

For example...

_________
| 2
|_____1__

Keeping in mind 1 speaks first.

Assume the dialogue is lengthy on both counts.

My suggestion: slap the artist.

[JimCampbell]

Originally Posted by CHWolf

For example, with 6, what would be the suggestion if character #1 is to the right and low, while character #2 is to the left and high?

What's the problem with doing this:



…?

Cheers

Jim

[Jeremy Colwell]

Nice call, Jim. That's why I always like seeing your name on books I work on, too.

Thanks for the Rules too, Nate. Been a fan of yours for a long time and sharing stuff like this just makes that respect deeper.

[Ace Corona]

This was very helpful!