Hand Lettered Book Titles for Jane Fallon

By Ruth Rowland

Publishing: Jane Fallon Lettering I Penguin Books

I had a lot of fun working on these hand lettered book titles for popular author, Jane Fallon.

Commissioned by Penguin, these fresh and witty designs were the perfect excuse to get my marker pens out and create some casual script to work with the photography.

So far I’ve created two titles for her novels, Strictly Between Us and My Sweet Revenge. The third in the series, Faking Friends, is about to come out in January (but if you’d like a sneak preview of the cover, click through to my website … shhhhh!).

Journal: Thirty Days of Digital Lettering

Thanks to everyone who followed my thirty day journey experimenting with digital lettering with an Apple Pencil on the new iPad Pro. If you missed the posts on social media, you can see all thirty of the hand lettered pieces in the new journal on my portfolio website.

Hand Lettering for Can I Speak to Someone in Charge by Emily Clarkson

By Ruth Rowland

Publishing: Pretty Normal Me l Simon & Schuster 

I was delighted to be asked by publishers, Simon & Schuster to work on a the hand lettered book title for popular blogger, Emily Clarkson, founder of Pretty Normal Me: 

‘Pretty Normal Me was founded by Em Clarkson to help women be the happiest versions of themselves.’ 

Her new book, Can I Speak to Someone in Charge, is an expansion of the blog. The casual brush lettered title and side copy make for a fresh, dynamic cover and reflect the subjects she discusses in her pertinent posts.

Over the years I've worked on an interesting range of book covers, you can see more of my hand lettered titles and author logos in the publishing folder on my website.

Digital Dalliances

I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with the latest iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. Much as I love my pen and ink, it's been interesting to see just how sensitive pixels can be …

If you're interested in how digital brushes compare to conventional ones, I'll be posting further experiments on my Instagram and FB accounts.

Sarah Billing Logo & My Map of You Hand Lettered Book Title

It was a pleasure to work on the lettering and illustration for Sarah Billing's logo commissioned by Work Design Creative Partners.

A qualified ‘Colour Me Beautiful’ consultant, Sarah approached Work Design to develop a logo that would reflect the bespoke nature of her new personal style and colour advice service.

Sarah’s expertise means ... Read on 

Sneak Peak: My Map of You Book Title Lettering

I was delighted to work on the titling for the debut novel of author, Isabelle Broom published by Penguin Michael Joseph. Hats off to the design team for coming up with such an entrancing cover, I loved working on this loose brush lettering. There are more titles to come, so once I can, I'll post the set in the publishing folder on my website. Meanwhile, for a quick hand lettered book title fix, head over there now ...

Brenda Starr Mysteries Branding

You couldn’t get a much more exciting client than feisty red-headed reporter, Brenda Starr!

Click for larger images

Brenda Starr’s origins in the 1940s had a big influence on the style of the logo. A dynamic combination of loose script and structured retro-inspired lettering kept the style fresh and contemporary with a nod to her comic roots. A simple star monogram offered a neat alternative to the full mark.

For continuity, this high impact, lipstick-red lettering has been taken across the Brenda Starr Mysteries website and book covers. It was specifically designed to complement James Boyle’s striking illustrative style, with its lively line work and dynamic colours. One of my favourite pages is a glimpse into the Starr World, a witty combination of lettering, illustration and pull quotes, introducing key characters in the series and bringing Brenda Starr firmly into modern world. 

It’s always a pleasure to be commissioned by someone of Jon Salem’s creative vision, his strong visual concept for the brand and depth of knowledge of the genre was an inspiration.

Take a moment to check out the website and enter the exciting world of Brenda Starr. The first novel, Black Orchid Murders is set for publication later this year.

The Field of Cloth of Gold Hand Lettered Book Title

It was great to work on the title lettering for The Field of Cloth of Gold by Glenn Richardson.

A major Tudor event, The Field of Cloth of Gold, was a spectacular festival of competition and entertainment which aimed to secure a permanent settlement between England and France in 1520.

With that in mind, the title lettering had to be suitably ornate with a flavour of the period, while still being legible enough to read amongst a shelf of books. I opted for a loose informal hand and had some fun with the flourishes.

You can see more historic book title lettering in the publishing folder on my site.

Vintage Malamud Book Title Lettering

Vintage Classics has just released a series of Bernard Malamud novels with new covers designed in-house by Matt Broughton. I was delighted to be asked to work on the title lettering and designed some crisp vector drawn script to work with Matt's painterly,  retro-inspired illustrations. 

I like to work with a variety of media - both traditionally with brushes, pens and ink, as well as digitally. Recently I've been working on the possibilities of combining my hand lettered ink work with vector based drawings, opening up some interesting new avenues of exploration.

If you'd like to see more of what's interesting me at the moment, take a look at my side projects folder on my newly designed portfolio. If you're interested in book design you can see more of this work in my publishing folder.