lettering arts
Stencil for poetry inscription
Stencil for poetry inscription

With more than a hundred panels to letter I used Adobe Illustrator to set out the words so as to avoid crossing vertical joints, and a plotter/cutter to make stencils, giving great accuray of alignment. The poet Carolyn Jesse-Cook gave generous advice on how the lines might be split across the available panels so as to retain their meaning.

The font is called 'Hoffman', available from Linotype. It was designed by Richard Lipton from letters drawn by contemporary Michigan lettering artist Lothar Hoffmann. Unlike Roman letters, which have serifs, the ends of each stroke are flat, or 'sans-serif' - Lipton sets them at different angles to give a lively, dancing feel to the inscription.

Stencil for poetry inscription

With more than a hundred panels to letter I used Adobe Illustrator to set out the words so as to avoid crossing vertical joints, and a plotter/cutter to make stencils, giving great accuray of alignment. The poet Carolyn Jesse-Cook gave generous advice on how the lines might be split across the available panels so as to retain their meaning.

The font is called 'Hoffman', available from Linotype. It was designed by Richard Lipton from letters drawn by contemporary Michigan lettering artist Lothar Hoffmann. Unlike Roman letters, which have serifs, the ends of each stroke are flat, or 'sans-serif' - Lipton sets them at different angles to give a lively, dancing feel to the inscription.