While you write your calligraphy letter by letter, keep in mind that your readers will see it as a whole. You communicate something to them through the overall layout of the page, the skill and materials, and the choice of text, plus the interaction among these three elements. Don’t forget that you are usually very close to the paper for hours when you letter; the details that seem so important at ten inches are not what your readers will first notice at ten feet.
To take a fresh look at your rough draft or finished page (or to study other people’s designs), get up from your chair and step into their shoes. Stand where they stand; look through their eyes. Hold the paper at arm’s length. Tape it to the wall and back off. Squint at it. Turn it upside down. Look at its reflection in a mirror. Glance at it. Stare at it. Go out for coffee and look at it later. Try to SEE it for the first time.
The purpose of this book is to help you learn the basic letter forms of the broad pen alphabet and then arrange them into beautiful, interesting original pieces of calligraphy. Beyond the shape of each individual letter, a good calligraphy design communicates on these levels: LAYOUT. Is it balanced? Appealing? Challenging? Does the empty space help you read the lettered areas? Does the shape of the text make sense when you read the words? Is there variety as well as repetition? Do the colors and decoration stick out of the design, or, enhance it? Have you, the artist, learned something?