Plurabelle Studio | Calligraphy & Graphic Design

USC Calligraphy & Hand Lettering Lecture

Molly — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:45:01 +0000

Back in April I had the opportunity to give a lecture at USC’s Roski School of Fine Arts. The subject was calligraphy and hand lettering with a slant toward graphic designers who aim to incorporate handmade type into their digital work. Unlike other lectures and workshops I’ve led in the past, given this audience, I was able to go beyond the paper realm and delve into the nitty gritty details of digitizing hand lettering, answering all the geeky questions about bézier curves and pixel depth the students could throw at me. It was so much fun to meet a room full of young designers who approach their design work from wildly different angles but have a common love of all things typography.

+ Interested in hiring me to speak at your school or conference? Email me!

{ All calligraphy by Plurabelle | Photography by Malktime Photography
Special Thanks to the USC Roski School of Fine Arts and Andrew Kutchera }

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Plurabelle Calligraphy Workshop at Urbanic Paper Boutique

Molly — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:38:07 +0000

Get your tickets here!

Attention Los Angeles-area readers! Urbanic Paper Boutique and I have teamed up to bring you a pointed pen calligraphy workshop. The event will be Sunday, April 21st from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. I’ll be teaching the beginning steps in script calligraphy, from selecting the right supplies to making your first alphabet. The workshop is hands-on using traditional materials such as pointed pen calligraphy nibs, pen holders and real ink. In typical Urbanic fashion, drinks and treats will be served, and the ticket price also includes a beginner’s supply toolkit:

3 pen nibs
Straight pen holder
Oblique pen holder
1 pad of practice paper
1 jar of black ink (1/2-ounces)

Space is limited to 8 participants. Visit Urbanic’s pop-up shop to buy your ticket now!

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A Grand Opening: 826LA at Mar Vista

Molly — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:00:04 +0000

Back in November I had the special pleasure to calligraph a scroll of donor names at the grand opening event of 826LA‘s Mar Vista location. I’d been a volunteer at 826′s after school tutoring program for awhile and when I heard they were looking for a creative way to showcase the names of their new location’s founding donors, I leapt at the chance. At the evening’s event, those donors who made sizable contributions to the organization watched me calligraph their names onto a delicate, yellowing scroll. To be precise, it was a vintage player piano scroll of a Greek traditional song, bought for me at the Rosebowl Flea market way back in 2011 by my dear calligraphy friend Mara of Neither Snow. Mara bought an identical one for herself and we vowed to each other that we would save them until the perfect, most unbeatably-awesome excuse to use them arose. I considered this such an occasion. I used a Brause EF66 nib and walnut ink I’d mixed from crystals, which lent the calligraphy an aged, vintage look.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the 826 program, it’s a nation-wide, free tutoring service for kids K–12. From 826national.org:

826 National is a nonprofit organization that provides strategic leadership, administration, and other resources to ensure the success of its network of eight writing and tutoring centers. 826 centers offer a variety of inventive programs that provide under-resourced students, ages 6-18, with opportunities to explore their creativity and improve their writing skills. We also aim to help teachers get their classes excited about writing. Our mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

Since its founding in San Francisco in 2002 by award-winning author Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari, 826 has sparked students’ imaginations. Fanning the sparks into full-blown creative wildfires, 826 centers across the country offer free programming for students. Our celebration of writing, learning, and arts education engages under-resourced youth, enabling them to flare up and rise to their full potential. (Read more…)

+ You can read more about the event and my contribution to it on the 826LA blog, here.

+ Learn how to volunteer at one of the eight 826 locations around the country (LA, Chicago, Brooklyn, San Fran, DC, Seattle, and Ann Arbor).

+ Visit 826LA’s Online Time Travel Mart. Proceeds go to the 826LA program.

{ Calligraphy by Plurabelle | Photography by Malktime | Special Thanks to 826LA }

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Seven – A Video

Molly — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 21:32:37 +0000

My new demonstration video is live! In this video I calligraph the word “seven” — one in a series of 22 table number signs I was creating for a wedding in St. Louis. This extra-bold lettering style of mine — which uses double-thick downstrokes and touch-ups with a small paintbrush — is one I call Bunny. (See more of my styles here.) Enjoy!

For those of you learning calligraphy, tell me: is this sort of video helpful? Would you like me to make more? If so, are there any particular techniques you’d like me to share?

Supplies featured in this video:

Brause EF66 nib
Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White Ink mixed with a little water
A very tiny paintbrush
Black bristol paper

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Happy St. Valentine’s

Molly — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:00:23 +0000

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Sharing the Love: An Etsy Sale for Valentine’s Day

Molly — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:15:07 +0000

Crafting your own love notes this Valentine’s Day? Want to sign them with “love” and seal them with a custom return address stamp? Well you’re in luck because Plurabelle’s Etsy shop is having a sale! In honor of Valentine’s Day, all items in our store are 10% off from now through February 14th. Just enter the coupon code VDAY13 at check-out.

Please note the following order deadlines for stamp arrival by February 14th (within the U.S. only):

Custom stamps (like the return address stamp): Place your order by January 28th.
Non-custom stamps (like the “love” and “i love you” stamps): Place your order by February 4th.

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The Paion Society: Mystic Order of Dreamer Vigilance

Molly — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 01:08:57 +0000

Every so often a project comes along that is so energizing and fun that it entirely reboots my creative drive and re-inspires me to be the best designer I can be. Very often, these projects are collaborations with other designers, where the meeting of minds proves true the old adage that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In the case of this invitation suite, I was lucky enough to join forces with two other creative minds: graphic designer Megan Knight Gonzalez of MaeMae Paperie and the bride, Shoshana Rosenberg. Our cross-country collaboration (from LA to Minneapolis to NYC) manifested itself as long email threads and brainstorming explosions, resulting in one of the most exceptional, unique invitations that I have ever laid eyes (or hands) on. It is as beautiful as it is absurd; as funny as it is peculiar.

Because photos really can’t do it justice, I feel the need to tell you about each of the items in this suite, which was actually a box of goodies sent to each guest:

Each invitation was packaged and shipped in an 8.5 x 11-inch kraft paper box, caked in vintage stamps, addressed in large black calligraphy, lined with navy tissue paper, and tied with red and white baker’s twine.
Navy #10 envelopes calligraphed with guests’ names in white and sealed with custom-made red wax seals that said “Ian & Shoshana” were the first elements recipients saw when they peeked inside.
Inside these envelopes were letterpressed invitations on 220-lb Lettra with a blind-embossed, patterned background and black text.
After opening the invitation itself, invitees were presented with an array of curious and delightful “extras”:
- The 14-page Paion Society Official Handbook — the secret society Shoshana and Ian created just for their wedding guests.
- The Paion Society Official Membership Card (for the “Mystic Order of Dreamer Vigilance & Camera Alignment”).
- A fold-over reply card entitled “Lettuce Know”.
- A rubber-stamped reply card envelope with more vintage stamps and a custom-designed embossed seal on the flap that depicts a compass and reads “Clear Eyes • Full Hearts • Can’t Lose”.
- A metal decoder ring for guests to decrypt a secret cipher that Shoshana wrote inside the Official Handbook.

As Shoshana played a huge role in conceptualizing her own invitation suite, I asked her to give me a little background about her inspiration and the design process. She writes:

I am not sure I have ever been as excited about a project in my life as I was about these invitations. Ian and I both love comic books, and I actually began my vision for the suite with the altered version of the Kavalier and Clay cover. I worked with Dan Anselmi’s team at Imagecraft in NYC to lovingly re-work the book cover from Chabon’s brilliant novel. (I’m a bit old-fashioned and wanted to make it “Ian and Shoshana,” but the spacing simply doesn’t allow for it.) The original cover art was done by Henry Sene Yee, and it is really such a gorgeous and high energy piece of artwork and great design that I was struggling to find a way to create pieces that could complement and accompany our use of it without being overwhelming.

Once the cover art rework was finished, I contacted MaeMae Paperie. I had been to Megan’s lovely site again and again in my endless research, and as soon as I knew that I wanted graphic design…there could be no one but MaeMae. I sent her the “book cover” and the copy for the invitation and we started to talk in earnest. Megan was wonderfully supportive and open about my idea — I wanted to try to create something that felt like a “Secret Membership Kit” that a child might have ordered from the back of a comic book in the 40s. I had once sent away for similar kits from Bob the Sub-Genius, and from Bed Edlund at New England Comics. They had been absurd and elaborate kits, replete with all manner of clever nonsense. We agreed on several ideas for pieces and presentation and I went hunting for and, to my absolute amazement, found, those honest-to-goodness Secret Decoder Rings which are made and designed by Seth at Retroworks.

I wrote and drafted the copy for all of the pieces as we went along, and Megan came up with endless ideas, including the inspired idea of including games and puzzles. I giddily ran with that mission and wrote into the middle of the night for several nights, and more than once sent her far more than we could use. She found stunning graphics and picked perfect fonts for all of it. I am a pain in the neck as a client because I am a perfectionist with a thousand ideas and inputs and edits, but Megan is an absolute creative genius with wonderful acumen, and she designed the suite of pieces in complete harmony with everything we had discussed and that I had hoped for. They absolutely floored me.

The invitations really seem to have wowed everyone who received them, but the one item in the suite that was the most romantic of all was the piece that I wanted to be the true gift of the invitation, and it is the piece that most of my friends and family have kept and displayed and raved about: the box the invitations were mailed in, with addresses calligraphed by Plurabelle. In this day and age, the spectacular way the lettering was done on the boxes and the formal invitations, for most of us, is akin to seeing our names in lights. A friend of an invitee asked if the box had been commissioned as art just to show off their new address. My husband, an artist in his own right, was shaking his head again in awe a few weeks ago when looking at Plurabelle’s work and said “I still can’t believe this was made by a human hand!”

From the start I was set on very plain boxes with elaborate and personal stamps and gorgeous lettering — a keepsake that would look as though it truly was arriving in your mailbox from 1942. When Megan recommended Plurabelle to me I was immediately in awe. I had already swooned about the pieces Plurabelle did for prior MaeMae collaborations and I found the work on Plurabelle’s site to be absolutely breathtaking. I think my first email to Plurabelle sounded a lot like begging…or maybe it was my email to MaeMae begging that she make the inquiry on my behalf…but there was a great deal of willingness to beg, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude when I knew that Plurabelle’s artwork would be the first and most lasting impression of the whole endeavor. In one of those repeating and endless “chain FWDs from a decade ago about lovely things kids say,” I was always struck by this quote: “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” (This is currently being credited to the author of a book published in 2010, but I cry foul.)

When I was sending out these invitations, these months of everyone’s work and creativity, to everyone we truly love, I knew that their names were not only safe, but would be both unforgettable and treasured in Plurabelle’s hand.

{ Photography & Calligraphy by Plurabelle Calligraphy | Invitation design and production by MaeMae Paperie, with the exception of the altered comic book cover (originally designed by Henry Sene Yee) done by Imagecraft | Invitation suite copy by the bride, Shoshana Rosenberg }

I’ll take this opportunity to say…

MaeMae Paperie is the outstanding stationery studio founded and headed up by designer Megan Knight Gonzalez. Apart from being an extraordinary designer, she is a great friend, awesome collaborator, and valued design world peer who has inspired and motivated me (specifically in one memorable pep talk over a pizza dinner) ever since I’ve known her. MaeMae offers completely custom wedding and social stationery and recently launched a new collection of wedding stationery that is now in wedding and fine stationery stores nationwide.

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Plurabelle’s New Site!

Molly — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:37:57 +0000

In honor of the new year, PlurabelleCalligraphy.com has gotten a makeover. We’re starting 2013 with a new website filled with fresh photography, previously-unpublished projects, and an entirely revamped blog. Stop by and take a tour!

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Rachael & Justin: A Montana Wedding

Molly — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 05:15:25 +0000

Prepare yourself — this one is a real stunner. Back in March of 2011 I was hired by Rachael, one of the sweetest clients I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. She came to me with a rich color scheme of purples, greens, and blues, and a gorgeous invitation suite designed by none other than Rifle Paper Co. For the calligraphy, I mixed hues of gouache to match colors in the illustrations Rifle had done, and we ended up with hunter green envelope addresses and yellowy-sage place cards.

Just last month, Style Me Pretty published a three-part feature on Rachael & Justin’s Montana wedding (here, here, and here). I suggest taking a look at the expanded image gallery to see more of the amazing taste and talent that came together to make this celebration so jaw-dropping.

The wedding is also featured in Style Me Pretty Weddings: Inspiration and Ideas for an Unforgettable Wedding, published last month by Clarkson Potter. This book is seriously beautiful so get a copy!

{ Photography by Jose Villa Photography | Calligraphy by Plurabelle | Wedding Invitation, Program + Escort Card Design by Rifle Paper Co. | Floral + Event Design by Joy Thigpen | Full wedding credits list here. }

As a final touch, I created a logo of the couple’s names that was printed in their wedding album.

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Merry Christmas

Molly — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:21:42 +0000

I finally snapped photos of these beautiful, fun, letterpressed Christmas cards created at the end of last year. Designer Kate Allen incorporated my spot calligraphy into her own card design, including the custom return address envelope wrap. I’m not sure which I love more: the contrast of outlined block lettering and lowercase script calligraphy, or the translucency of the red letterpress ink that lets the block lettering outlines show through.

{ Photography & Calligraphy by Plurabelle | Card design by Kate Allen }

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