Students of Design

Dan Lee – Hand Lettering, Cohesive Compositions, and Collision Theory – Ep21

Episode Summary

Dan (aka Destiny Child, I meant Destiny Kid) is an artist, writer, illustrator, and designer specializing in hand lettering. His Instagram account @dandrawnwords is his creative sandbox, and he's created thousands of lettering compositions over the past decade. Phrases like: "Your Failures Fail to Define You" and "Tomorrow You'll be Glad You Did It Today." Those are shorter messages, but he's also created compositions with a hundred or more words, too—because why not when you love torturing yourself with FromSoftware boss fights? Like the rest of us, Dan is "working" on his professional portfolio (Destiny Kid Labs), and he's also the Art & Design Lead behind a moto lifestyle brand called Go Fast Don't Die. Did I mention he didn't attend design school? Tune in for a talk about creating cohesive compositions, closing the door on his chemical engineering career path, and varying the priority of words in his lettering. Follow Dan on Instagram @dandrawnwords, check out Go Fast Don't Die, and keep your eyes peeled for updates to Destiny Kid Labs.

Episode Notes

Questions for this interview.

Why do you create layouts with 20 or 30 or more words? What's appealing about those pieces?
What are the challenges of lettering five words vs. lettering thirty words?
Can you talk about ways you keep all those words organized and readable?
What does a piece of lettering artwork need to look and feel like a cohesive composition?
Are those reasons also why our brains can digest a (visually) complicated design and make sense of it?
How do you start a composition? Do you loosely sketch the entire phrase to figure out word placement first?
During the sketch, do you experiment with weight and stroke contrast? Or does that happen after you've locked in the placement for each word?
Do you change brushes or drawing tools when transitioning between sketching and refinement?
(Within a single design) do you ever swap brushes when bouncing between different letter styles?
Have you ever felt like an imposter because you didn't attend design school?
What do you tell yourself when you feel like an imposter?
When did you decide to close the door on the chemical engineering career path? How did you come to that decision?
How have you leveraged your engineering experience throughout your creative career?
Do you feel a push-pull between scientific objective truth and the subjectivity of the art world?
Unlike the engineering field, creativity doesn't have mathematically proven formulas. However, if there were basic creative equations to live by, what would they be?
Tell us about your first design job at the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. How did your boss, Lucy, make an impact on you?
Back to lettering. How do you decide which words to prioritize, and how do you like to emphasize them?
Where—or what—are some of your favorite sources of inspiration to pull from?
How do you balance choosing messages that resonate with you vs. messages that will resonate with others?