Spicing my handwriting

January 13, 2012 8:00 AM

I'd like to use different fonts, decorations and little icons when I write on my paper notebook. I'm thinking stuff like Mike Rhode's. Do any of you have any other examples of cool handwritten notes for inspiration?
posted by jgwong to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

Best answer: Metafilter's own mrs.pants has some wonderful examples of gorgeously hand-drawn letters on flickr; most notably in the moleskine and sketchbook collections. You will swoon.
posted by iconomy at 8:18 AM on January 13, 2012

Best answer: My friend, CK, does some cool notes.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:21 AM on January 13, 2012

A long time ago on MetaFilter, I'm guessing 10 years or more, somebody put up a link to some scans of handwritten notes that were beautiful. From what I vaguely remember, each page had a theme, and there was text and pictures in all sorts of orientations. The pages were, I think, green and from a lined notebook.

For some reason, I remember a name something like 'Maia', but that spelling doesn't seem correct to me. I'll keep digging.
posted by veedubya at 8:45 AM on January 13, 2012

I'd say just start practicing. Use a cheapo doodle pad or something until you are comfortable with different styles if you want to keep your nicer notebook clean. I have a small bound travel journal I take with me on trips, I write down what I did that day before going to sleep. I scribble little pictures in it too, but it's something I have done since I was in grade school - adding little drawings to help me remember something or to illustrate an idea or just because I wanted to draw a little person doing something fun because I was bored.

(Note to the wise: If you start keeping a travel journal, throw a backup of some sort into your suitcase or carry-on bag and leave it there. The last big vacation my wife and I took, I forgot my journal (gasp!) and had to make do with a small notepad I bought at a gift shop. Pages from this pad are now stuffed into my old travel journal, and I have intended for 6 years to transcribe them permanently into the journal.)

Dear god has it really been 6 years since we took a real vacation together? Ugh.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:35 AM on January 13, 2012

Lynda Barry has some lovely books that are a blend of comics and handwritten notes and doodles. Check out One Hundred Demons and What It Is.

I also really like the old Life in Hell comics that are closer to infographics than narratives. That might be a little far from what you're looking for, but they always come to mind whenever I'm writing lots of little bits of things.
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:11 AM on January 13, 2012

For more inspiration here are a few examples from the exhibition and accompanying book Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts... etc. from the Archives of American Art. Look through some fo the fully digitized collections for more inspiration.
posted by kaybdc at 10:59 AM on January 13, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for your suggestions, all! Keep 'em coming!

Mrs. Pants' art is absolutely awesome. Thanks a lot, iconomy!
posted by jgwong at 2:23 PM on January 13, 2012

Best answer: I believe veedubya you're thinking of Maya's Micronomicon which is currently inaccessible but here is a cached copy.
posted by wannalol at 4:32 PM on January 13, 2012

Best answer: There are tons of member-submitted samples of handwriting on the Fountain Pen Network.
posted by pimli at 11:06 AM on January 14, 2012

Rian Hughes has several books of hand-drawn fonts. The books are grouped by decade and are really big & full of goodies. I use them for inspiration when working on my store's sidewalk sign board.
posted by Fui Non Sum at 2:03 PM on January 14, 2012