Lettering - best tips about pencils
We meet Sofie Björkgren Nose a cold but sunny day in the studio where we photograph our books. After the obligatory corona greeting, she picks up all her pens. It's like diving into a candy store, where each pen has its own personality and color.
It's easy to get performance anxiety when you see her dancing forward with the tip of the pen against the paper while what we write looks like a medical record. Perhaps not so strange, Sofie has trained for many years and holds courses in lettering. But it looks provocatively simple, and now we want to know how we can learn to write nicely too.
How often are you assigned the role of secretary with the justification "you write so well"?
- Haha, being a secretary may not be my most common assignment, but when it comes to writing thank you cards, invitations and the like in the family, it always falls to me.
We got a bit of performance anxiety when we saw your text and compared it to what we have written in the book ourselves, does that ever happen to you? So that you get performance anxiety.
- Maybe not performance anxiety, but I'm not always completely satisfied, I'm very self-critical and want to get it perfect. Some things are just so hard to write, you think it will work but the letters don't match. What looks very easy to write is often the most difficult. Writing a text nicely takes time, it doesn't work like the lettering videos on social media where someone writes quickly, but everything is very slow to write in real life if you want to get it perfect.
Sofie's workshop courses are very popular, we understand why. Check out hers homepage for next course .
What is your best tip for someone who is sitting with the book and is about to start filling it in, but is afraid that it won't look good?
- To test write before driving sharply. Getting it looking good takes practice, just as a runner always practices before a race, so do you. Take a blank piece of paper before writing the quotes and try to write the words, then just drive. Take your time, lettering is meditative so enjoy it too.
Is lettering a material sport? So how important is it with expensive pens?
- Actually, it's not always the expensive pens that are the best. For the quotes and the larger text in the book, I think a brush pen is perfect. Then you can vary the line width by changing the angle or the pressure on the tip. For the body text, it is important to have a pen that does not clump or bleed through the paper when you write a lot, a fineliner 0.4 mm is perfect.
Now you know that we stole your tips straight away when we created Stacking Stories own pens , would you like us to put your face on all the pens as a thank you?
- Haha yes absolutely, it doesn't feel more than right. No, but I hope that everyone who uses the brunch pen that I suggested (is in DUO pen pack ) will love it and find the same love for lettering as I did.
"For me, writing by hand has always been meditative, you forget time and space and often also all your worries"
Could you say that lettering is your superpower? And if so, do you have any tips on how to get it too?
- As I told you before, it all started when I was burnt out. The superpower (if you can call it that, haha) was born. When you're burnt out, it's nice to do things with your hands, to rest your brain and just be in the moment. With lettering, you are 100% focused on the pen, and the time you spend writing quickly pays off in that you get better. So just starting to write is probably the first step to getting the "superpower".
But if you want to get a kick-start or don't know how to start?
- Now I sound a bit like a salesman, but I think my book is very simple and a good start for anyone who wants to get some basics in lettering.
Perfect, we publish it here: Link to the book . And then a private course is included with you, right ;-)?
- I wish I could make it happen, but if not everyone will come with me to Finland, it will be difficult.
Finland?
- Yes, we are moving the whole family now. It feels so right, but it's also a bit edgy about how it will be for the children, for us, - yes, with everything. But we want to test and now is the right time.
But then we come to you! Or we'll send you our books and you can fill them out for us, totally fine huh?
- With joy, you can make sure to send all the memories just so I don't have to sit and find dates when your children started walking, started school and said all the funny things.
Wonderfully! We say so, books come in the mail. And you - thank you for letting us meet you. And what do you think if we post small clips when you write in the book on our instagram so everyone can be inspired?
- I think it sounds great, I'm happy to share all the tips I can on my own Instagram also under the name @fialottajanssondesign
PENCILS FOR THE BOOK
The pens that Sofie suggested for the book can be bought as one DUO kit with us, but if you want to look for your own pens, we can advise you penstore.se
