Graphic Lettering Alphabets
School: Shutesbury Elementary School
City/State: Shutesbury, MA
Grade(s): 5, 6
Format(s): Visual arts
Subject(s): Visual Arts
Project Overview
These graphic lettering alphabets were created by 5th/6th grade students at the Shutesbury Elementary School, in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. They were products from a study of fonts, lettering and graphic arts, to build skills to enhance the visual presentation of all their project work.
Students studied and copied existing fonts, gathered from books and from online sources, drawing them freehand. A few of the font samples here are copies of commercial fonts hand-rendered by students. The culmination of the study required students to invent original fonts, and most of the fonts represented here are original, decorative, whimsical fonts invented by students.
Students paid attention to the different “statements” their fonts made and created a means for examining the purpose of fonts and why font matters. Students focused heavily on craftsmanship and creativity.
How This Project Can Be Useful
- Exemplifies craftsmanship through critique and revision.
- Highlights a product that allows students creativity and unique ideas to shine through. The variety of examples and styles here demonstrate a wide range of possibilities.
- Highlights a product that has the potential to have a direct impact on all other future projects – the importance of graphics and lettering.
- Engaging product that shows a high level of work.
- Taps into the natural inclination of students (and adults) to play with lettering and expressive fonts – visible in notebooks and sketchbooks of many students and in the culture of graffiti.
- Notice the details embedded in the various alphabets, such as Ninja Font, Cheezy Mouse Font and the “pencil” font.
- Lovely use of color in many of the fonts.