Neil Tasker

Love Your Letters: Communicate Visually with Words

Thanks for the link to that tutorial Jen, found it helpful and I'm loving Ryan Hamrick's work! 

I agree with the other critiques so I won't repeat them. I think your flourishes aren't adding to the piece right now, they're becoming more of a distraction to your great letterforms. I think you need to either minimise them or make them flow more similarly with the letters (I hope that makes sense, not sure how to phrase that). I think they're a bit too 'curly' compared to your letters. 

Also I think your "I" in your sketch is a much more balanced letterform than the one in your vector. 

Hope this helps. Looking forward to your next round of edits!

The composition and the letters are really great. I think the words flow together really well. 

I see a few things in your illustrator version that could help fine-tune it:
- some of your curves aren't quite as curvy as they could be, like in the top of the g. I think just pulling in the arms of those points a bit might help.
- I think someone else mentioned this - the combination of straight edges with curves throws me off a little bit. I see it mostly in your r's. In your sketch, the edges there aren't as hard, and I think it's a little more smooth that way.

Those are really nitpicky, though. Overall, I love it and knowing why you chose the phrase makes me like it even more - I can relate!

Your motivation to do really well on this project is inspiring. Thanks Jen!

As far as critique go, the “t” in “the is much strong now in the vector image with the line cutting across the “h”. The words “In” and “the” seem to fit together the best, and are still really legible.

The “f” and “G” are probably the hardest for me to read correctly. Maybe if there was a bit more distance between the “G” and the “f”? That way, just the thin lines are intersecting instead of the heavier portion of the “f” crossing the lighter portion of the “G”. The “G” also looks stronger to me with the final loop going all the way across the “y” in the sketch. It helps give the whole piece a kind of foundation to sit on.

I hope that helps! The lettering style reminds me of hand written music on old sheets of paper. It has a very positive feel to it.


Oooh, love the concept! The strength of the letters shines boldly through.

A first observation is that the "w" curl above the "ry" in Glory looks a bit disconnected... maybe because it looks too much like an actual thing (the letter "w") and doesn't connect directly to the letters.

I'm also not sure about the combination of curls and strong straight lines. The design seems too safe at the moment, and unsure of its identity. Perhaps add more curls, or remove some?

Those are just my thoughts, trying to dig into details. I love the whole piece, and I would buy this on a product (mug, t-shirt, etc) as it is now :D

Hm yeah I'm definitely feeling a bit lost for the swashes, they're feeling added-on and I'm having trouble integrating them. I was thinking of making it much more elaborate, but you're right, it's not terribly here nor there at the moment. I'm re-drawing it &amp; I hope to have the new direction up tonight. Thanks so much for the critique!

Well done Jen! Is that the inked in version above?  The only thing I notice is where the f and G intersect the top of G looks off. I should have a solid direction ready for upload tomorrow. 

This is actually in illustrator - although now I'm backtracking a bit and have re-drawn - I'm going to upload my rework tonight. Thanks for the comment!

I really like the overall composition and shape. A couple small areas do catch my eye but they are super nitpicky because overall this is quite nice.

The f and G overlap might need a little attention; they seemed to melt together in the first sketch which was nice but in the second that area is a bit busy. The contrast of thick/thin is very well done. The swashes above glory seem to be one weight, but the ones under the are varied -- both styles work well but should probably match. The n and h have a very smooth transition from letter to swash, but G and y feel a little abrupt. My favorite part is the swashes that underline Glory, I hope those stay as they are.

I'm excited to see your next round/s! 


Nitpicky is good! Yeah I definitely see the f/G problem - and the swashes definitely need some cleaning up. Thanks!

holy cow!  i really like it and am very impressed with how far you have gotten!!  thanks for the tutorial!  i think it will help me moving forward!

Awesome Kari! Yeah there's a couple more tutorials on that site as well. 

Don't forget to post your image in the project page...it's really small when it's just in the thumbnail image...it looks fancy from what I can see. I'm going to look at that tutorial!

thanks! still getting the hang of this :)


No problem, you're not the first to do it! 

So far, this is an impressive start! I like how the type fits together like a puzzle. You've done a nice job making the arch shape. I'm new to hand lettering so maybe others will have better feedback. Overall, I'm not seeing much to critique. My only suggestion is to do more so you have some options!

Thanks Sherry! I think there's definitely some consistency/balance to be worked out still - and I want the embellishments to be a little more elaborate. 

So I got a little bit of a headstart on this (sorry I couldn't wait!!) when I came across <a href="http://theindustry.cc/2012/10/29/industry-rr-letter-building-method-one-scaling-and-shaping/" rel="nofollow">this tutorial here.</a>
I've found it helpful but am greatly looking forward to feedback &amp; more approaches to lettering in this class.
The phrase is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek response to the day-to-day of being a graphic designer - there ain't no fame and fortune in this line of work! I've also toyed with the idea of adding an "I'm" at the beginning - what do you think?
Scanned sketches:
<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/skillshare/uploads/project/ee35b5eba2bf3946748242417f23a758/bea28efa" alt="In It For The Glory - image 1 - student project" srcset="http://s3.amazonaws.com/skillshare/uploads/project/ee35b5eba2bf3946748242417f23a758/bea28efa 600w, http://s3.amazonaws.com/skillshare/uploads/project/ee35b5eba2bf3946748242417f23a758/bea28efa 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" loading="lazy">
Here it is at its current stage - after refining &amp; scaling with the scanner and a pen, I've now got it in illustrator and am tracing using the pen tool.&nbsp;
<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/skillshare/uploads/project/ee35b5eba2bf3946748242417f23a758/e81c4fa4" alt="In It For The Glory - image 2 - student project" srcset="http://s3.amazonaws.com/skillshare/uploads/project/ee35b5eba2bf3946748242417f23a758/e81c4fa4 600w, http://s3.amazonaws.com/skillshare/uploads/project/ee35b5eba2bf3946748242417f23a758/e81c4fa4 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" loading="lazy">
I'd love to hear feedback and comments! I'll be sure to do the same.

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