Home / ATypI Brisbane 2024
Date Tuesday, April 16th 2024
Venue QCAD South Bank
Workshop

Introduction to the Craft of Brush Lettering

Barbara Enright Carla Hackett 
Full-Day Workshop
Time: 9:30–5:30 pm | 09:30–17:30 Brisbane local time
Length: 6 hours (plus midday break for lunch on your own)
Cost: $100 + $35 materials fee

Location: QCAD South Bank Campus
Check-in 15 minutes before start time
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Carla Hackett and Barbara Enright have been teaching the craft of brush lettering together for the past 10 years across Australia and in London, New York, and San Francisco in 2017. Having just completed two semesters teaching at RMIT University, we are passionate about passing on the traditional skill to as many enthusiastic letter lovers out there.

Barbara ran a successful sign shop creating Showcards and Tickets all by hand, using skills passed on to her from masters of the day. These retail signs have made a resurgence in recent years, with clients returning to a unique handcrafted design that stands out.

Our workshops are engaging and fun, starting from the basic skills of how to hold a real sable chisel edge lettering brush, load it with paint, and start to build letterforms stroke by stroke. After learning the basic strokes, styles, and anatomy of brush lettering, we can then start to understand how the brush provides freedom and versatility.

We focus on mastering casual style lettering, give an introduction to script styles and how to create impactful poster layouts—understanding the importance of spacing, layout, and flow in brush lettering.

With an emphasis on the importance of the creative process, experimentation, and expression in brush lettering, our workshop will aim to give an understanding of the agency and nuance of your own voice. Learning this skill could give designers a unique edge to be able to create their own lettering by hand for commercial applications and beyond.

This skill differs from that of outdoor sign writing, as we work on a flat surface and with acrylic paints. This makes the skill more accessible as we work with non-toxic paints and on paper; your lettering can then be scanned in for digital manipulation if required.

The materials fee includes a specialised lettering brush that will be given to each workshop attendee upon arrival. See an example can be found here: https://carlahackett.com/products/keep-flourishing-brush

The Keep Fluorishing brush will be yours to keep, use, and treasure as you progress in your lettering craft.

Attendees should bring:

  • A love of lettering and a desire to learn!
Speaker

Barbara Enright

The dynamic duo, Carla Hackett and Barbara Enright, have a combined total experience of brush lettering of 60 years. Together, their mission is to bring the warm, unique, human element of brush lettering to the world and pass on the lost skills that Barbara used in her long and successful career as a Showcard and Ticketwriter.
As Barbara's protege, Carla is fascinated by the history of this skill, bringing it into the modern day for use across multiple design applications. Let's flourish!
Speaker

Carla Hackett

The dynamic duo, Carla Hackett and Barbara Enright, have a combined total experience of brush lettering of 60 years. Together, their mission is to bring the warm, unique, human element of brush lettering to the world and pass on the lost skills that Barbara used in her long and successful career as a Showcard and Ticketwriter.
As Barbara's protege, Carla is fascinated by the history of this skill, bringing it into the modern day for use across multiple design applications. Let's flourish!