It’s easy to run out of energy and go stale with your lettering practice once the original excitement and motivation dries up. Thinking of something inspiring to write everyday or pushing through a skill plateau can take energy that is hard to find, but if you want to be a professional lettering artist one day, you have to practice lettering like a pro now. Learn how to develop your rockstar routine in just 20-minutes a day

1. HERE'S WHY
SCHEDULING
20-MINUTES A
DAY IS THE
SECRET TO
PRACTICING
LETTERING
LIKE A PRO
Typism

2. www.typismcommunity.com
Most people, when they’re just starting
out, find it hard to prioritise practice.
Creating detailed lettering pieces can
be fun, but time-consuming, and there
are often “more important” things
which take up the majority of our time.

3. www.typismcommunity.com
It can also be disheartening when you’re
starting out that the work you’re creating
just isn’t at the standard you hope for
and so it’s easier to just stop rather than
push through the boring lettering drills
and time-consuming practice.

4. www.typismcommunity.com
Thinking of something inspiring to write
everyday or pushing through a skill
plateau can take energy that is hard to
find, but if you want to be a professional
lettering artist one day, you have to
practice lettering like a pro now.

5. www.typismcommunity.com
If you don’t develop a professional
lettering practice routine, you won’t
improve. It’s as simple as that.
The best lettering artists in the world
never stop pushing and learning and
creating new ideas, new techniques
and new styles.

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WHAT CAN YOU CHANGE
ABOUT YOUR DAILY ROUTINE
TO HELP YOU PRACTICE
LETTERING LIKE A PRO?

7. www.typismcommunity.com
We asked twenty-one lettering artists the
questions we often get asked about your
lettering practice struggles and compiled the
answers for you into this handy resource.
We have also created a free practice like a pro
roadmap which takes you step-by-step through
setting up your own rockstar lettering practice
routine and get it done in just 20-minutes a day.

8. www.typismcommunity.com
LET’S TAKE A CLOSER
LOOK AT THE STEPS TO
PRACTICE LETTERING
LIKE A PRO

9. This might seem like a weird way to
start, but get clear on why you want
to improve your lettering skills? Is it so
that you can go pro one day? Is it so
you can be as good as “so-and-so”? Is
it so you can get into the Typism
book?
Get clear on your reasons for wanting
to practice and improve your lettering
because one day, your motivation will
run dry and without a bigger reason
to keep practicing, you wont.
ONE: Decide why practice is important
Fitting in personal projects
can be challenging if you’re
busy. But if there’s
something you really want to
do, then look for things you
can sacrifice from your
regular routine. Most people
can find something to
sacrifice if they really try.
Dan Forster
@danforster

10. Put your daily practice session on the
same calendar as you put doctors
appointments and paid work
meetings.
By scheduling it in advance, it
reminds you to show up to practice
every day and it means you won’t
schedule anything else that clashes
with it. Put half an hour on the
calendar but don’t schedule anything
else after so that if practice is going
well, you can keep practicing.
TWO: Put it on your schedule
I schedule it.
Literally put it
on my calendar
Lydia Kuekes
@lydiakuekes

11. You already know physical
exercise is cumulative. You don’t
expect instant results from your
daily sit-ups and walks, so don’t
expect an immediate
improvement in your lettering
every day either.
You will get results over time if
you keep at it and so the best
way to measure progress is over
time and against yourself.
THREE: Treat it like physical exercise
It’s important to do
practice whenever I can,
in any time of the day or
night. Calligraphy is
delicate and needs lot of
excercise for mantain a
high sensibility.
Andrea Russo
@andrea_rafiki

12. Sometimes you get too busy for a
scheduled practice session, or you
come home from work tired at
night. The best way round this is to
practice in those little pockets of
time which are gifted to you
throughout the day. It might be
the 20-minutes in the car waiting
to pick-up the kids, it might be
waiting for your spouse at the gym.
If you keep a sketch book and
pencil on you, you can draw type in
the wild during these time gifts.
FOUR: Carry a sketchbook everywhere
I bundle lettering practice
with certain bingeworthy
TV shows that don’t
demand my full attention.
Other times, I’ll do “lunch
lettering” and use work
breaks to play with
lettering pieces.
Dan Lee
@dandrawnwords

13. One of the biggest complaints we hear
at Typism is that people don’t know what
to write. If you have a smart phone, open
up a notes app and start a running list of
quotes and sayings you hear (or
overhear).
If you tune your ear during conversations
on the radio, TV, or in-person, you can
often get ideas of phrases, words or
sayings. Every time you hear something
cool or interesting or that resonates with
you, jot it down on your notes app.
FIVE: Keep notes on your phone
I write quotes and
phrases that I like
in my notes app
then I choose from
there to practice.
Alán Guzmán
@zhompi

14. One of the biggest obstacles to
practice is having everything
packed away. If your pens and
pencils are not lying there, ready
for you to pick up at a moment’s
notice, you are much less likely to
practice every day.
If your living area is small, store
them on a trolley that can be
wheeled around or keep them in a
pencil roll so you can lay them out
quickly.
SIX: Have your tools ready to go
I always keep a pen
and paper handy, to
allow for scribbling
down a few words in
between other tasks.
Marte Vik Eriksen
@epletyv

15. Something that often blocks
people, especially when you’re
tired and out of ideas, is
showing up to practice with
nothing planned in advance.
This is why passion projects
are great, you can set your
own brief and timeline and
you know what needs to be
done each time to move the
project forward.
SEVEN: Plan your projects in advance
I have been actively using
Devanagari within my personal
projects. This is partly due to
nostalgia and my personal
fondness for the Hindi language,
and also because I want to
encourage young Indian designers
to take pride in their language.
Shantanu Suman
@sumanshantanu

16. Before you exercise, you know it’s a good
idea to stretch before you run, or warm
up before you lift weights. It resets the
routine and warms up your muscles so
they don’t get hurt or torn. Lettering
muscles work in exactly the same way.
By establishing a five minute warm up
routine, you warm up your hand and
arm muscles, settle your mind, reset
your practice session and trains your
body to get the most out of your
practice session.
EIGHT: Build in time for warmups
Before I start drawing
I start doodling some
concepts and that is a
warming up exercise.
Vera Drmanovski
@vera.drmanovski

17. If you play piano or golf for 10,000 hours
but you have no coach to give you real-
time feedback, by practicing repeatedly
for months, you may well reinforce an
incorrect technique which is impossible
to correct later. Coaching and feedback is
essential for improvement to take place.
Where possible, take in-person
workshops so that someone can look over
your shoulder and give regal-time
feedback, but failing that, publish or
share your work and ask for feedback
from people you admire.
NINE: Seek and implement feedback
I love to attend work
shops and come home
to practice the different
tools and techniques
that I've learnt.
Wanissa Somsuphangsri
@wanisssa

18. www.typismcommunity.com
How great would it be to know that a year
from now your lettering was good enough
for publication because you kept at it?
Imagine standing at your letterbox and
flipping the pages of the latest Typism
book to see your work included in there.

19. www.typismcommunity.com/roadmap
There’s a saying that a year from now,
you will wish you had started today.
Daily lettering practice doesn’t need
to take hours, small steps get big
results. What matters most is
consistency and improvement.

20. www.typismcommunity.com/roadmap
Download your free
PRACTICE LIKE A PRO
roadmap and develop
your rockstar lettering
routine in just
20-minutes a day.
Visit the link below.