2018

One of my decisions this year is to streamline my online posting, consequently from this January, I've decided to post all my lettering and illustration news on my website. 

I want to thank those of you who follow me on Blogspot for all your support, you can still find my news on professional commissions and personal projects by clicking through to my website and navigating to the relevant folders. If you'd like to continue to follow me on social media, you'll find links at the top of the homepage.

If you have any questions or need any help finding information about specific samples of work, feel free to  contact me through my website.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and creative year ahead,
Ruth.

Christmas Lettering for Country Living Magazine

By Ruth Rowland

Editorial: Country Living Magazine

It's been wonderful to have the opportunity to create lettering for the beautiful pages of Country Living Magazine for another year. 

Each quote is lovingly hand rendered with ink and brush for a warm tonal feel, it's a time-consuming technique but I hope it does justice to the many talented artisan makers and designers who are featured every month within the pages of this iconic magazine.

To get in the festive spirit, I'm showing some lettering from the last few months as well as the festive issue, photographed in a little make-shift shoot in my studio. I took so many, that in they end I couldn't decide between them, so if you'd like to see more, head over to the full project on my website ... I hope you enjoy them.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your support over the last year. As some of you may know, it's been a difficult year for me personally, I'm currently on bereavement leave but I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio in the New Year and already have some interesting projects booked in for January.

Wishing you all a joyous Christmas and an inspirational New Year!

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.

Thirty Days of Digital Lettering & Harry Potter Picturing Magic Course

By Ruth Rowland

JOURNAL: RR LA Facebook . RR LA Instagram . RR LA Twitter . British Library Picturing Magic Course

I've recently invested in a new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil and I'm enjoying exploring the array of creative apps available for this impressive mobile device.

As I progress, I've been collating a digital lettering sketchbook and I've decided to share some of the work on social media in the coming month as Thirty Days of Digital Lettering.

Murano Ampersand by Ruth Rowland Lettering Artist

To start off with, I'm experimenting with some of the Adobe Mobile Apps, which are included as part of my Adobe CC subscription. If you're interested in following along, you'll find these digitally hand lettered pieces posted on my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts during October (links at top of post). 

Sassy S by Ruth Rowland Lettering Artist

The British Library Harry Potter Picturing Magic Course

I'm excited to have been asked to contribute to the Picturing Magic Course, aligned with the wonderful British Library Exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic. The Course is being led by talented professional illustrator and educator, Sion Ap Tomos with specialist help from myself and creative book binder and printmaker, Shelagh McCarthy. 

I'll be dropping in on one of the sessions to talk to the students about their approach to annotating their hand bound and illustrated books. Needless to say, I'll also be bringing along an interesting collection of pens and inks to demonstrate the possibilities. It may not be Hogwarts but I'm still hoping to help bring a little magic to the students’ hand lettering …

Lettering on the Harry Potter Picturing Magic Course

If you'd like to join us on the course (link at top of page), there are still a few places available but be quick to sign up as these exclusive classes have limited numbers. Hope to see you there!

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.

Bespoke Lettering for the Made in Yorkshire Logo

Logos: Made in Yorkshire I Ledgard Jepson I Ruth Rowland

I always enjoy working on logos, so I was happy when asked by Ledgard Jepson to contribute to their designs for the Made in Yorkshire branding for the Cooper Gallery, Barnsley.

Alongside its regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions and events, the Cooper Gallery features unique and individually made items by talented Yorkshire artists and makers.

Bespoke lettering was the perfect choice for a logo that needed to capture the artisanal nature of the range of products on display, evoking 'the personal touch' for these hand-picked regional artists.

Experimental Brush Calligraphy

If you're interested in abstract mark-making then you may enjoy the orientally-inspired brushwork I'm currently posting on my Instagram and Facebook accounts after attending a recent inspirational workshop.

Lettering for Four Four Two Magazine Messi Issue

It was great fun working on the hand lettering for the July issue of FourFourTwo Magazine with guest editor Messi. 

The work extended beyond the double cover to the opening article title lettering and can also be seen throughout the magazine in the form of smaller playful notes and jottings.

Guest edited by celebrated footballer, Messi, the design team at FourFourTwo wanted to give the magazine the personal touch with casual handwritten elements to complement the bold design.

As with all magazine work, the timings were tight so I worked closely with the Deputy Art Editor as the copy evolved and the design was finalised, both to the satisfaction of the design team and Messi’s sponsors, Adidas. It was a fast and furious job but a satisfying one - plus, I know a lot more about Messi than I did at the start of the project!

If you'd like to see more of my lettering and illustration for magazines, head over to the editorial folder on my portfolio site where you'll see an interesting variety of commissions for different publications.

Latest Welcome Campaign at Heathrow Airport

I have to confess I was pretty psyched to see the wonderful Tim Peake standing in front of my lettering at Heathrow … This is one of a series of large format posters for the latest Heathrow Welcome Campaign featuring my hand lettering. 

The posters can be seen looming large across the walls at the airport’s arrivals and departures areas and is one of the jobs that people tend to mention to me most, normally seen when returning from holiday. 

As with the Tim Peake’s poster, real people rather than models were used and a zoo keeper, a town crier, a Red Arrows pilot and even Santa (yes, he’s real!) amongst others, stand alongside the famous astronaut. See the full set of posters on the advertising page on my portfolio site.

I was commissioned by Chaos Design to create different styles of hand lettering to capture the personalities of the featured people as they welcome travellers to London. 

As you can imagine, the Welcome Campaign at Heathrow Airport is always a great project to work on but the added excitement of Tim Peake's inclusion made it an extra special commission.

Isabelle Broom Book Title Lettering plus Brush Lettering Demonstration

Having worked on the title for Isabelle Broom's debut novel published by Penguin Michael Joseph, I was delighted to be asked to work on more of her books.

Loose brush lettering was chosen to work with the atmospheric background imagery of the first novel, My Map of You and we continued in style with flowing lines and textures to draw the reader in. 

If you're an Isabelle Broom fan, there's more to look forward to, as I'm currently working on the next in the series ...

If you'd like to see more of my book cover lettering, click through to the publishing folder on my portfolio website.

Brush Lettering Demo at the SSI Lay Members' Day, London

I was thrilled to be asked to demonstrate and talk about my lettering work in the graphics industry at the celebrated Society of Scribes and Illuminators' Lay Members' Day on Saturday 29th April, 10am to 1pm. As time is short, I've decided to focus on a couple of my ongoing jobs - Country Living Magazine and Heathrow Welcome Campaign. I'll be bringing along samples of these jobs and a selection of my other work to show and discuss, while demonstrating brush pen lettering.

If you're interested in attending or would just like to see what's on, you can see details on the day's events here. Hope to see you there!

Spring forward with Country Living plus Paper Mapping

The start of British Summertime means the clocks have gone forward an hour here in the UK, so with lighter evenings and the promise of finer weather, Spring-inspired news seems in order. 

Few magazines do Spring better than Country Living, so here’s an update on some of the work that I’ve been producing during my ongoing project with Country Living over the past year.

If you’re familiar with the magazine, you’ll be used to seeing my tonal watercolour lettering throughout its pages. Designed to work within the page layout, the bespoke brush lettering complements the elegant typography but is still bold enough to sit across a photographic background. The work itself is produced by hand, scanned and dropped onto the page for fine tuning. This kind of attention to detail ensures the lettering perfectly matches the article’s colour palette and remains legible over any background texture.

Aside from pullquotes, I also work on logos related to the magazine. Generally these are looser and more expressive, while still being carefully designed to fit within the space available - a fine balance between freedom and control.

If you’d like to see more of my magazine work, click through to the editorial folder on my website.

Paper Mapping

Since attending a creative mapping course at the British Library earlier this year, I’ve been enjoying exploring handmade books, playing with paper and experimenting with folds - see below my London map fold.

If paper is your thing, you can see more of this experimental work on my Mapmaker FB and Instagram pages.

Hand Lettered Illustrations for Nebianax plus Journaling Addict

I was excited to work on this challenging job for Mass Agency, creating hand lettered illustrations for a brochure for Nebianax, a new treatment for Cystic Fibrosis.

Attention to detail and constant revision helped me build up a series of word as image illustrations to get across the problems related to the illness. 

The restricted colour palette and clean design work well as a foil to the intricately expressive imagery. You can see the rest of illustrations, along with a larger detail view, on my portfolio.

Journaling Addict

Since the beginning of year, I've been enjoying playing around with imagery in a series of journals, which I post sporadically on my dedicated RR Mapmaker FB and IG pages. A chance to flex my hand skills and experiment with new media, it's great fun and an opportunity to hook up with people with similar interests. Head over to my online accounts if you'd like to see more of the work ...

Ruth Rowland Mapmaker - Equality Map for National Parks Magazine

It was a privilege to be asked to create a map by the National Parks Conservation Association.

Remembering Birmingham's Fight for Equality was a difficult subject to illustrate but a rewarding one. With the help of the Art Director, I researched the key elements that were to make up the illustration and thought about how I could approach the subject of the proposed Alabama site.

My first thoughts were of the colour palette, I decided to keep this muted, to reflect the serious nature of the subject but still light enough to suggest the positive outcome of the struggle leading Read on ...

Ruth Rowland Mapmaker

The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that I have added the descriptor Mapmaker alongside Lettering Artist on my website. I’ve always enjoyed working on maps, so much so, that this year I have enrolled in a course at the British Library to explore their fabulous collection and study the whole concept of maps, from the most literal to the more cerebral.

So far it’s been fascinating and I look forward to sharing my discoveries with you. In the meantime, I’ve set up dedicated Facebook and Instagram accounts focusing on my interest in maps, travel journaling and illustration. If this is something that interests you then head over and follow my journey. 

If you think you have an interesting map-related project, whether it’s mapping a journey, an event or an idea, feel free to get in touch, I’d be happy to talk it through. You can browse more examples of my work in the maps folder on my website.

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Meadowhall & Gloucester Quays Christmas lettering but most importantly, naughty or nice?

I was delighted when Ledgard Jepson asked me to develop some lettering for British Land’s extensive indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, UK.

With 25 years experience of working with market-leading brands, Jepson Ledgard has designed an eye-catching series of campaigns to showcase the centre’s many attractions. With an eye for detail as well as the big picture, the creative team suggested bespoke lettering with a loose and contemporary feel, to complement the fresh photography and stylish designs across the site.

It’s always encouraging when a client understands a designer’s creative vision and the result has been a series of stylish campaigns, marking Meadowhall out as a premium shopping centre.

You can see the heart-warming Christmas campaign Read on ...

Christmas Lettering for Gloucester Quays

It was great to be asked by FKC London to work on their Christmas campaign lettering, Experience More Magic, for Gloucester Quays this year.

The brief was to create lettering that was stylish and contemporary with a festive feel. I focused on crisp Didone letterforms combined with celebratory stars and flourishes to add some magical Read on ...

And Last but Not Least ...

Today is my last day in the studio before Christmas, I'm back at the drawing board in the New Year on the 3rd January. 

A big thank you to all people I've worked with this year, I've had some fabulous jobs and I look forward to teaming up with you again next year. If we haven't worked together yet but you'd like to - please feel free to email me with you thoughts on potential projects.

So, the big question - have you been naughty or nice? However your year has been, I hope you're at the top of Santa's list ...

Merry Christmas!

Lettering for Kate Bush's Live Album - Before the Dawn

I was thrilled to be asked to work on the new album lettering for long-time musical hero, Kate Bush.

Before The Dawn was recorded during the extraordinary run of 22 shows performed by Kate at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, 2014 and released November 2016.

Earlier in the year, I was asked by renowned music industry designers, Stuart Crouch Creative, to develop a range of hand lettering to work with the CD cover photography and inner booklet pages. I immediately immersed myself in Kate Bush’s music, from the early albums that influenced my teenage years to the latest magical performances from the 2014 shows.

I decided to develop some loose brush work, not too formal but still legible with a striated, textural ebb and flow that complemented the richly-coloured photography taken from the show. Read on ...

Limited Editions Prints

I've added a small selection of limited edition prints to my site.

Seen here is Cathy Print - an evocative quote taken from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Cathy's heartfelt words as she yearns for the days of her youth spent with Heathcliff on the moors. 

One of the perks of my job is being able to play music in the studio, so you can easily imagine what was playing while I was working on this piece ...

Lettering for Simple Minds Acoustic Album

It was great to be asked to continue my work for Simple Minds with some lettering on their latest album, Acoustic.

Taking the acoustic guitar as inspiration for the album design, Stuart Crouch Creative asked me to create the track list in a combination of scratched and marker lettering styles, harking back to the punk era. Read on ...

I was delighted to see the mesmerising videos created by Able Media using my lettering. There are five videos, focusing on different tracks on the album. Here's the lead single, featuring a collaboration with KT Tunstall. 

There’s just something magical about watching the lettering create itself ...

Happy Halloween!

It's that time of year again, I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a bit more hairy lettering to celebrate Halloween - hope you all have a scarily great time!

If this makes you smile, you can see more of my ballpoint pen sketches on Instagram.

Hold Fast to Dreams Lettering for Scholastic Scope Magazine & Pinterest Update

It was great to work on this project about American poet and social activist, Langston Hughes for Scholastic's Scope, The Language Arts Magazine. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City and this short play is an introduction to his life and poetry for students to read aloud in class.

The title for the piece, Hold Fast to Dreams, a quote from one of his poems, is drawn in a loose, fresh, brush style Read On ...

Online Update: Pinterest

I’ve just set up a folder of lettering sketches on Pinterest. It’s an eclectic mix of pages from my sketchbooks, featuring ongoing obsessions and late night scribblings. Head over there to take a look if you'd like to see some of what’s going on behind the scenes in the studio ...