Difference between Calligraphy and Hand lettering

Difference between Calligraphy and Hand lettering

When you enter the world of difference between calligraphy and hand lettering,  you will learn and understand so many terms and styles that you probably didn’t even know existed. But the best part is that you can also learn and try out these styles yourself. Sometimes these beautiful artistic forms have such diversity that you can just not get enough of all forms.

Each form is highly unique and beautiful in its own way. By knowing the difference, we can not only improve our expertise but also value each form better. It will as well upscale our skillset and make us better artists.
Two such styles that are mistaken to be similar are Calligraphy and Lettering.
While they both are forms that fall under art, their process and purposes are different. Let us get to know these forms better and understand their difference.

Calligraphy

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the art of writing beautifully, it is a collective piece of art that has various styles in itself. While practicing calligraphy, you need to follow the traditional rules and norms in order to get the perfect piece onto paper.

Calligraphy has been in practice since age-old times. It defines the aesthetic vision and requires quite an amount of patience and practice. You must have surely caught some glimpses of calligraphy in calligraphy quotes, calligraphy letters, alphabetic calligraphy, and also in the font sections as calligraphy fonts.

This masterpiece comes with continuous practice and precise strokes of different kinds. The tools used while creating calligraphy are also specific, such as pointed nib, broad-edged nib, brush, etc. The beauty of these tools and precise strokes is what gives calligraphy meaning.
There is a similarity in the letter forms and the core style remains the same.

Lettering:

Lettering is another form of visual art that lays its focus on individual letters by drawing and demonstrating various letterforms by hand. It involves the use of hands for making the letters look more admirable and attractive.

During school and in our childhood days, we all have in one way or another other used lettering, be it for our school projects, birthday cards, or annual fests.

In lettering, you will be focusing on drawing, not images but letters. The tools you will need while practicing lettering are not specific like that of calligraphy. You can use a pencil, pen, or any basic writing tool and add more art to it with colors and designs.

callistyle vs lettering

Previously practiced at a minimal scale, this art form now has gained a huge audience and attention with the uprising of graphic design and digital marketing. To start off, you can start with practice papers and once you have finalized the design, you can redraw it on a better-quality paper.

For the purpose of practice, one very useful type of sheet is the dot grid sheet, as it helps you with the alignment and spacing of letters.

While the calligraphy course lays its main focus on the strokes, and width of strokes, in lettering you can notice that the main emphasis is laid on the consistency of letter thickness, angles, height, and spacing. In terms of spacing, there are certain interesting optical illusions that come into the picture with precise spacing, so you need to make sure that spacing is adjusted just right for a better look.

So, we can conclude that both calligraphy and lettering have one thing in common and that is letters, but the main difference here is that in calligraphy you write letters in a collective manner but whereas in lettering you draw letters and beautify them individually.

Both these art forms are highly used and wanted by many, they are easy to learn too. You can gain expertise with a good understanding of minute details and upskill yourself as an artist. We at callistyle enjoy teaching students such beautiful art forms and helping them grow as skilled personalities.

Join us to learn more about art and letters, we assure you are in good hands.