Lettering and Sign Writing

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Lettering and Sign Writing

THE art of lettering is at once simple and complex. It consists in far more than the ability to draw or paint letters well, important though this is. Such considerations as spacing, setting-out, suitability for purpose and other equally relevant factors must also be taken into account.

It is probably true to say that first-rate lettering is relatively seldom found in the work of the average sign writer. This is not to say that there are not many men who can and do turn out exceedingly good work, but there are many more who, either from lack of opportunity or inclination to take the art seriously, fail to give it the attention and study it so well deserves. They are, or soon become, men of one style, able to supply the demand for cheap, slick lettering, but unable to carry out work which possesses, as all good lettering should possess, any decorative quality.

Broadly speaking, the chief essential in all lettering is legibility. It is used to convey a message and intended to be read, and if this cannot be done with reasonable ease, it is not fulfilling its function properly. This need not debar it from being pleasing to the eye and there is no reason why these two properties should not be combined, without either being sacrificed to the other. True, there are occasions when its purpose is primarily decorative and when legibility takes second place as, for example, in some forms of Gothic or Black Letter work, commonly used in churches. But in practically every other instance, legibility is of prime importance and this fact must always be kept in mind. It depends not only on the shape and design of the letters, but also on the way in which they are combined, arranged, and presented.