STEP 1: CHOOSING THE PHRASE + MOOD BOARD

October 16th 2013

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Hello all!

I initally had in mind a different phrase that was way more personal for me but it was too long. I am a quote addict and I've been collecting quotes for years now, but they were all more than 10 words. So, I followed the advice and started with something shorter.

So, what keeps me going when I am frustrated or stressed? Chocolate :) It is the panacea for all "emotional" ills, I think. I don't know who the author of the quote is; we usually say that apples keep the doctor away according to popular beliefs, so I just replaced it with something else I loved and turned out many had the same idea. :)

i think the application for the lettering might be a box of chocolates, so packaging.

Anyways, here is my mood board so far:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 1 - student project

My mood board:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 2 - student project

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STEP 2: LETTERING WARM-UP

20th October 2013

So here I am trying some different types of lettering. The word I chose for this is "chocolate".

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 3 - student project

Scritp/ornate: the one on the right with the big C. I thought this could be a good idea for the soft and creamy idea I would like to convey.

Script: i did a couple of tries (on the left), for the second one I was trying to add some chocolate cream below so I went on doodling :). Nothing particular turned out, the lightbulb didn't light, at least for now.

Representational: I thought of a box of chocolates, so I could probably write a letter on top of each chocolate. I was trying a 3d version at the bottom of the page.

Sans serif: I found it was quite simple so I was thinking I could make some warm chocolate cream drop down the letters, but it didn't convince me much.

Serif: I think it's ok, but it's pretty simple. I think something would be missing if i used on the main word. Would definitely be good for other words of the composition.

On a curve: I wanted to try this one to give emphasis to the word. I really makes it stand out. However, the softness doesn't come through, I will probably have to change the lettering style.

Black letter: I tried a small version here. I was kinda liking it, so then I wanted to give it another try by changing the C. See here below:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 4 - student project

Black letter 2: I kinda really like black letter, especially capital letters.

Ornate: mmm, I think this one turned out really bad :-/, I see what Mary Kate says about spacing. And I did do a lot of spacing at the beginning, but then I did those serif...and I think they're excessive. I have to re-work on this and do something a bit more delicate or something lighter. The C is the only letter I like. I was even thinking of adding easter egg to embellish the O but stopped immediately. I also tried to get inspired from one picture from the mood board. Mmm, my confidence was droping here and think you can see that. Erasing back and forth, I was loosing my patience. :p But hey, it's ALL part of the process...(Remember that Morcheeba song? :o) ).

So: the ones I prefer from this session of warm-up are:

the one written on a curve. I couldn't resist trying out the rest of the layout so I went with the whole phrase. I think the idea of adding the initials of the week could be interesting.

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 5 - student project

i also liked this one, the creamy script:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 6 - student project

And the black letter:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 7 - student project

I think I will work on a mix of these three in the following days.

*Thanks for checking out the progress, you're feedback is asbolutely more than welcome. Please do tell me what you think.*

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STEP 3: Sketching

WOAO! Long time no see

25th November 2013

Hey everyone, I apologize for my absence but life happened ;). So now we're right back on track, and the deadline is approaching too. Ouch!

Ok, I have been doing some more sketches here and there...I have a bit problems with hierarchy and organizing words, connecting them... mmm.

2nd round of sketches:

- paper 1:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 8 - student project

- paper 2:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 9 - student project

- paper 3:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 10 - student project

- paper 4: layout

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 11 - student project

So what i've come up for my box of chocolates are these two ideas:

• Idea 1: a representational lettering with the little chocolates and scripts with chocolate swirls.

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 12 - student project

• Idea 2: In this one, I wrote the word chocolate in a creamy script that would give shape to a chocolate. As for the rest I am still a bit confused. The border of the box should be made of small chocolates surrounding the lettering.

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 13 - student project

What do you think so far? Looking forward to your feedback. Really! :o)

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Refining the sketch

5th December 2013

Hey everyone, after following some of the feedback received, the chosen thumbnail is idea 1, and this is what I came up with:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 14 - student project

I tried to add more symmetry and lettering variety (no too much though) but I still feel some things are missing. I think there is lack of motion in the lettering. I dunno. I am clearly a newbie in this. :p

I also tried to add a sun and a moon at the tip of the swirl to reference the time concept, I was thinking of a weekly calendar to add somewhere but then I thought it might be all too messy/confusing.

I added an arrow to the word "away" to reflect a bit the "being out, away". It's an idea of movement...

And of course, I added two chocolate bars to make it more chocolaty :)

What do you think so far? Lots of Thankyous, everyone.

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Further modifications:

5th December 2013

For this finalizing sketch I retraced everything and added some sort of "away" sign; the previous arrows didn't convince me much. I also tried to balance everything a bit. Of course, might arrange some symmetry difficulties with computer further on.

If I will not receive any more feedback, I will proceed to tracing tomorrow morning and "hand" my project for the deadline! ;)

Good night for now, classmates!

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 15 - student project

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UPDATE:

18th December 2013

After following Mary Kate's advice, I tried to the make the words larger. And added more details, especially to the word "doctor" and the sign "away". I also added the new "single" chocolates on the side, much more in tune with the featured "chocolate" word. On them, I wrote the initial of the days of the week: M, T, W, T, F, S, S. Plus, added a new border.

I think I might go with the inking process with this one. What do you think? Thank you! ;)

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 16 - student project

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UPDATE:

19th January 2014

Well, the new year has come and still haven't finished this! :p Well, for my last sketch I decided the bump up the most important word of all: Chocolate. And erase the heart arrows, it was too much.

So, here's my last sketch:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 17 - student project

And now, next step: inking! :)

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24th January 2014

So here I traced the lettering in 2 different parts. The base and the details.

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 18 - student project

The details:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 19 - student project

Then of course, since I'm a newbie :p, I didn't like the chocolates anymore, so I draw them larger and traced them. I also added extra chocolates just in case:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 20 - student project

And here are the decorations that go on top:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 21 - student project

The result after digitizing and combining the different tracing papers. I still need to work on the borders, which I did not like much, and the swirls which broke up when digitizing.

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 22 - student project

I tried to draw some borders, traced them and then scanned them:

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 23 - student project

I added the details to the composition: Voilà the top of the box of chocolates! :)

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 24 - student project

What do you think?

It's been a great experience! Thank you Mary Kate for sharing your knowlegde and tips and tricks, thank you to all of the classmates who took the time to see my project and comment and like it, and thank you Skillshare for making this possible!

Ciao :)

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Although it wasn't required I colored the whole thing and added an old paper texture to give it an old look. This is how the top of the box of chocolates would look.

Wow, started this back in Oct 2013, finished it in Jan 2014. And now, many more lettering works will come. THANKS AGAIN Mary Kate, Skillshare & Classmates!

Ciao,

Sara Elisa Verona

A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away - image 25 - student project

Sara Elisa Verona

UX Designer | Letterer & Calligrapher

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