WEEK 13 - This is SO embarrassing!
This week, Mye De Leon teaches us how to tell playful stories with playful with letters.
Hello and welcome to Week 13 of #HOMwork!
This week, we have a special guest assignment from Mye De Leon. She's a freelance lettering artist, designer and author of Mastering Hand-Lettering, and I'm so excited for her to share her wisdom and talent with us this week!
From Mye:
'This week's assignment is very close to my heart. When I was working on my book, Mastering Hand-Lettering, I spent a good 3 months pulling all-nighters to complete it on time (which was pretty short for a book). I donned my business hat and kept affirming myself that I could do it, even though I knew that the rest of the world would say I was insane for agreeing to the timeline. I already knew what I wanted to teach in the book, so the work flowed fairly easily...but what really challenged me were the chapter openers.
I was asked to design 9 of them, in 3 languages. I was really feeling the pressure while working on the content, revisions and the additional titles in that short amount of time. I tried endless layouts and even lost 3 days of work because I spent so much time worrying about the style.
Feeling defeated and on the brink of giving up, I sat in my studio, played Criminal Minds (my go-to series when I want something done but don't want to feel the pressure), and tried sketching the first chapter title in multiple letter styles because I couldn't make up my mind. Somehow, I felt like something was working.
I simply played around with it - one word, different letter styles, different sizes - until it finally came together. Funny thing was, it looked better than any other layouts I did before. I sent it to my editor, and it was approved! Sometimes, unexpected play can result in the best surprises.
Your assignment for this week's #HOMwork is to letter the funniest or most embarrassing personal moment in your life in different letter styles!
It can be something that happened years ago or just recently. Summarize your experience in a few words to create a phrase that truly expresses what you want to share about that particular moment. We all love a good laugh, so make us laugh!
My most embarrassing moment happened when I was in college. I went to a wake with my friends and this boy I had a huge crush on. Later in the night, we were all just chatting when this boy asked me if we could talk. We moved away from the group to talk, and a few hours later, he asked me to go out with him! I was so nervous and my heart was racing, but I said yes. Because of the nerves, I felt a little anxious and didn't realize that my stomach had just released all the gas that it had been collecting since he started talking to me. I just about died in the moment. Luckily, the boy ended up marrying me, and we've been together for more than 20 years!
Lauren always makes it a point to create pieces that are not just stunning but will also stand out from the social media noise. I find that making people laugh is the best way to start my day and uplift the mood within the Instagram community! We are already dealing with a lot, and sometimes a little humor can save someone else's bad day! I am a mother of twin girls and a little boy, so most of my day is spent trying to balance work and being a mom. It's quite exhausting, so most of my humorous posts are about my home life, embarrassing ordeals and the silliness of life in general!
There are multitude of ways for your work to stand out; you just need to stop worrying about things and start being yourself. It's not easy, I know, but what is easy? If it's worth it, it never easy. Just remember that.
What I hope this #HOMwork assignment will teach you:
This practice will help you develop multiple letter styles and learn to identify which ones complement each other and which ones don't work well together.
It will teach you what style you really gravitate towards the most. When you find it, embrace it and do it more often, for it may be something you could be known for.
This will help you think outside the box and appreciate other letterforms that you usually try to avoid simply because you have other options.
After you finish drawing your artwork, snap a photo of your final piece and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #HOMwork so we can see what everyone created! In the caption of your post, tell us more about your funny/embarrassing story! We are so looking forward to reading them!"
