Meeting Nº 22: Make Your Own Marquee Letters Workshop UPDATED

Join us on Saturday, May 16th for an afternoon of marquee letter making! We thought we'd give you a little sneak peak into the process that goes into making these fun and easy to make letters!

Creating these 3-dimensional letters is so easy using only cardboard, exacto knife, and a glue gun! As part of the workshop, you'll be provided all these tools to use and take home with you! You'd be amazed at how well the rolled corrugated cardboard adds a lovely stroke to the entire piece.

Last day to sign-up for this workshop will be Wednesday, May 13th. To sign-up, head to ligatures.ca!

A big thank-you to Chris for sharing his own personal cardboard lettering!

Meeting Nº 21: Spring Show and Tell Recap

After a successful brush lettering workshop last month, the Ligatures team organized a Spring Show & Tell to showcase current work and to mingle with other creatives in the city.

The evening began with a preview of a short documentary, "Ink", directed by Ryan Couldrey & featuring the calligraphic talents of Tanja Tiziana. The short film, still in the final editing stages, explores Tanja's hand-lettering and some of her process work. Despite the decline of handwriting as a result of technological changes, the interest and relevance of hand-lettering is still alive and well. "Ink" was a wonderful way to open our meeting. We'll keep you updated on the progress of Ryan's film, and we look forward to sharing the completed documentary at a future event.

The rest of the night filled with discussion and opportunities to try new brushes that the Ligatures team had brought along. It was also a great chance to connect with friends – new and old – that had joined for the night. Critical Mass was kind enough to lend out its space – we maximized the opportunity by covering the tables with kraft paper & varying styles of markers and pens. Many different styles of lettering graffiti on the tabletops –  it was a great conversation starter.

We also gave updates on a few of the upcoming events that the Ligatures team is working on:

• We'll be hosting a "cardboard marquee letter-making" workshop on Saturday, May 16th at Shopify. More information coming soon.
• Our Ligatures Lectures series will continue in June / July with a special guest speaker.
• Due to the success of the previous brush lettering workshops, Toronto letterers Kyle Gallant and Chris Rouleau will be hosting another session in early August.
• In keeping with the film festival spirit, we're looking to screen a type-related film in September.
• The Ligatures annual type exhibition, Swash & Serif, will celebrate its second showing come October at The Black Cat Gallery.

More information will be provided shortly – please stay tuned to our website and social media.

Again, thank-you to all those participants that came out to our Spring Show & Tell. It was a great to see some new faces and reconnect with friends from previous events. Thank-you to Critical Mass and Margot Trudell for hosting the meeting, and for the ongoing support of the design community.

Meeting Nº 20: Brush Lettering Workshop

After much success with our brush lettering workshop back in July 2014, the Ligatures team offered its first full-day workshops this past March, hosted by Toronto letterers Christopher Rouleau and Kyle Gallant.

The participants started with the basics, learning the fundamental strokes that make up brush letterforms with our new & improved lettering course book (retail version coming soon to our shop!) There was an opportunity to try out all the different brushes that were provided: Tombow, Faber-Castell, Pentel, Copic Wide, and the Sharpie Brush. As people found their favourite tools, and got comfortable holding the pen, the construction of letterforms began.

After a thorough review of the basics, Chris and Kyle led the group into developing classic upper case letterforms with the strokes learned.

The afternoon portion of the class explored the lowercase alphabet, with short letter combinations. Both Chris and Kyle had encouraged the students to hold off on writing words until the basics were covered. Slowly but surely, they eased into word construction and the results were stunning.

We also had several exercises, including matching a style, and fictional branding exercises. The talent in the room was incredible!

At the end of the day, it was amazing to see how far everyone had come in their brush lettering. In just 7 hours, people had discovered which tool they were suited for, and began developing their personal style.

On behalf of the Ligatures team, I'd like to thank Veronica Wong and Shopify for allowing us to use their wonderful space. The open air concept and natural light couldn't have made for a better learning space. Thank you to all of those that participated in this event - it was a big step for the team and we were grateful for the warm reception. We can't wait to do it again.

If you're interested  in working with Ligatures for future workshops at your agency or office, please contact us at ligatures.yyz@gmail.com and we'll be happy to discuss options.

Meeting Nº 21: Spring Show & Tell

Spring is in the air and new projects are taking root. On Wednesday, April 22nd, we'll be holding our Spring Show & Tell – chance to mingle with fellow creatives, and share what you're working on. Nothing to share? No problem! Join us for an evening of discussion, networking, and creative renewal. Space is limited. Sign up early!

Meeting Nº 19: Calligraphy Workshop Recap

Last weekend, a lovely group of people gathered at Coach House for a blackletter calligraphy workshop, hosted by the talented Kevin King. Located on the second floor of the building, the Coach House library provided a creative space for those interested in learning the history of the style, and experimenting different forms of tools for the lettering. The purpose of the workshop was to introduce the blackletter script, which is a "distinct style of calligraphy most noted for its dense texture and very vertical rhythm," (Kevin King).

Kevin provided the tools (including some very interesting bamboo styluses) and a workbook. Throughout the course of the workshop, Kevin guided the participants through a number of different techniques, including the construction of each letterform. With Kevin's tidbits of fun facts & anecdotes, it made for a very educational afternoon.

A big thank-you to Kevin for his time and wonderful teaching skills and toCoach House for lending its creative space.

Meeting Nº 20: Learn Brush Lettering UPDATED

UPDATED: Saturday, March 7: Both workshops are sold out! Please contact us if you would like to be place on the wait list, or would like to hear about future workshops.

We are excited to announce the details for our next brush pen workshop.

The event will be held Saturday, March 28 + Sunday March 29 from 10am - 5pm at Shopify (80 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor). The workshop will run 10am - 1pm, break for lunch (not provided), and resume from 2pm - 5pm.

*PLEASE NOTE: The Saturday workshop is 100% at capacity, and only a few spots remain for the Sunday workshop.*

The day will be hosted by local letterers (and Ligatures co-founders) Kyle Gallant & Christopher Rouleau. Kyle is a multi-faceted designer, skilled in calligraphy, expressive lettering, and even graffiti. He is a self-described “compulsive doodler” and passionate about all things type. Christopher is a freelance graphic designer & letterer, with a love for alphabets, antique lettering guides and old hand-lettered signs. He is comfortable working in a variety of media, including pen, chalk, acrylic, ink… the list goes on. Christopher also co-instructed a Ligatures lino printing workshop in the spring. Check out more of their recent work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/eckstatic http://instagram.com/chris_rouleau

Kyle & Christopher have pooled together their skills, knowledge and resources to put together a 6-hour tutorial on the fundamentals of brush lettering. All skill levels welcome!

Cost:

The cost of this full-day workshop is $95. This price includes a workbook and the supplies you will need for the workshop, all of which you get to take home at the end of the day. Included in your kit: -5 types of brush pens -2 pads of paper (tracing & layout) -our workshop booklet, filled with lettering techniques & a variety of lettering guides & samples -access to any additional tools you might need (pencils, rulers, tape, grid paper) as well as some experimental lettering tools from our personal collections.

Payment:

Saturday's workshop sold out in 3 days, and Sunday's workshop will sell out quickly, so please sign up early! Please RSVP here no later than Friday, March 13. An email will follow with payment instructions.

We look forward to bringing your talents together, sharing knowledge with one another, and creating some new brush pen work work!

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Thank you to Shopify for sponsoring this event.

Meeting Nº 18: Letraset Love Letters Recap

A little while ago, Ligatures received a very generous donation of Letraset from the wonderful Sharon Hart. The team sorted the huge collection of sheets into categories and set-up at Shopify, eagerly awaiting what creative and love-filled cards people would create.

Letraset came into existence in the early 1960's and due to its dry-transfer capabilities, designers were able to quickly create visualizations of concept work. It really revolutionized the way designers worked and created headlines and other work. To this day, Letraset still sells dry-transfer typefaces.

Despite the cold, there were a number of new faces that came out to our event. As this was a card-making session, a lot of quirky and fun letters began to appear. Some filled with love, others with ... well, sarcasm. There were hundreds of styles and sizes to choose from – it was a great opportunity to play with composition. The hardest part ... kerning! It really makes you appreciate how far we've come. Thanks, InDesign!

 

As the night came to a close, it was fantastic to see all the cards come together and see the creativity that had blossomed throughout the evening. Even after a very busy night of transfers, we still had hundred of Letraset sheets in our collection. Stay tuned in the future for another Letraset event!

A big thank-you to Veronica Wong and the team at Shopify for hosting the Letraset Love Letters event.

Support Your Local Sign Painter

Love sign painting? Get your limited edition "Support Your Local Sign Painter" t-shirt from the Sign Painters shop. The first 100 people who use the code "local" at checkout will receive 20% off the shirt.

Meeting Nº 19: Blackletter Calligraphy Basics

UPDATE: February 28 is sold out, but there are new spaces available Sunday, March 1.

Space is limited – sign up today!

Meeting Nº18: Letraset Love Letters

Space is limited! RSVP today!

Meeting Nº17 recap

On Tuesday, we braved the cold and gathered at Mill St. Beer Hall to enjoy a beverage, practice our lettering, and discuss the future of Ligatures.

We had a lot of good laughs, and were thoroughly impressed with the scribbles left on our impromptu newsprint canvas. We also had some excellent event ideas put on the table:

● a "Command of Hand" lettering duel! ● a collaborative hand-lettered gift wrap making session ● a type-themed art & craft fair ● more workshops (brush pen, lino printing, screen printing) ● guest speakers

Check out some of the great doodles from the evening. And thanks again to Mill St. for generously offering their space.

Hope to see you at our next event. Watch for details coming Monday!

  

           

   

    

What can Ligatures do for you?

Please join us for our first meeting of 2015. RSVP here.

(Event lettering by Cassie Kaiser)

HoliDIY recap

Last Wednesday, we gathered at the beautiful Shopify space to celebrate the season and create some typographic, holiday-themed work. Enthusiastic folks brought all of them own DIY tools and supplies, and Beau's Brewing Company brought delicious beer samples. All-in-all, it was a fantastic night, filled with lots of letters and laughs. Plenty of photos below.

  

 

       

Thanks to everyone came out during this busy season and made the event a success.

Happy Holidays from your friends at Ligatures. See you in the new year!

Holiday treat from 'Sign Painters'

The 'Sign Painters' DVD is now officially available for pre–order! Packed with 30 minutes of bonus material and a beautiful letterpress design by the legendary Bob Behounek, the DVD’s will ship out in January 2015. Get your copy here!

Happy HoliDIY

Please join us Wednesday, December 17 for our special holiday event. Proud to be partnering with Beau's for the evening's refreshments.

Space is limited - sign up today!

(Event poster lettering & illustration by Davin Risk)