Thursday, October 25, 2012

Johanna Calligraphy vs. Cursive

To me, calligraphy styles are more visually pleasing. I think it has to do with the varying letter thickness, which we perceive even subconsciously. The thickness varies with the angle at which the pen is held.

We're all familiar with Times New Roman. Have you noticed that the letters have changing thickness? You could conceivably write Times New Roman with a calligraphy pen, but not with a ball-point pen. The font Arial, though, has uniform letter thickness. I'm a Times New Roman person more than an Arial person, so I'm with the calligraphy crowd. Plus, it's what I do, so.

A few examples below might help you make up your mind.


Calligraphy:

Calligraphy, fountain pen
Calligraphy, using a calligraphy marker


Handwritten styles:

Cursive, with ball-point pen

Cursive, more flourish, with ball-point pen

Handwritten, cursive, with thin Sharpie