Gift Card Designing

by Pedro J. Lemos

If the American card is to be encouraged in America, the designing and appreciation of such must be started right in the art rooms of our schools; and the most important part of such a problem is the lettering.

Lettering need not be approached with fear and trembling, for it can be done with ease and pleasure. I know of students who shunned lettering because they thought it mechanical and laborious, but who, after discovering its possibilities, had almost to be bribed to do anything else.

The old masters and artist-craftsmen recognized that lettering could be as artistic as the worker desired and nothing is more beautiful in lettering than the illuminated manuscripts and books of those ages.

The easiest way to produce lettering is to use the lettering pens. These pens are made with a separate, small brass tip which is placed on the pen as a fountain. The fountain is filled from the quill of the drawing ink bottle, just as the ink is put into a ruling pen. As the pens come in about twelve different stroke-widths, it is well to have a pen holder for each size. This will save confusion and time. When the pen is being used it should be held so that both sides of the pen-point rest on the paper. It is not necessary to press the pen for wide parts, as it will almost automatically produce the wide strokes when brought downward and the thin strokes when brought upward.

The board on which the drawing is made should be placed at an angle of 45 degrees to permit the ink to flow well. If too great a slant is used, the ink, strange to say, refuses to run up hill, and if the board is placed flat, the ink on the pen will be too ambitious to arrive.

Before beginning a card, the idea should be roughly planned, so that the general forms may be considered. This is termed the “dummy.” In planning the dummy, consider carefully the margins. Good lettering is often spoiled by poor spacing. Because you are doing lettering, do not ignore design principles. Every design principle you know of can be used in lettering, just as it can be in any art application.

To prevent your lettering from being at a slant, or “off its feet,” to use the printer’s term, you should rule light vertical plumb lines to guide your letter strokes.

When lettering, remember that unity must be thought of continually. If the finish of each stroke or “serif” is large on the first letter, it must be similar on all other letters. The thin strokes throughout a line of lettering should be equal in weight. This rule applies also to the thick strokes. The lettering pens take care of this if used properly and if no undue pressure is placed on the pen.

A beautiful initial is always a happy beginning to a quotation. With color or illumination added, much charm is possible. If the lettering is on soft-surfaced paper, it will be found that a leather tool or other metal point can be used for tooling the initial from the back as well as from the front. Gold or silver water colors, added with proper restraint give a sparkle to the card.

If your class wishes to raise funds for some worthy enterprise try having a class competition for gift cards. The verses can be a problem for the class in English. Selecting the best half-dozen designs, get in touch with an engraver, and have the students make working-drawings. Right there you will learn something new about drawing for the industries. Then after the engravings are received, if your school is one of the fortunate ones with a printing department, have your students co-operate with the printing students in securing the right colors, etc. Plan envelopes, which can be easily made by cutting the paper from patterns and then folding and pasting them together.