think löçãl
Drawing a masthead is a nice change of pace. While a typeface contains hundreds of different glyphs, a masthead is usually just several letters long. You even know what order they go in. In contrast, the parts of a typeface can be assembled in almost any sequence and the letter drawer must plan for that.
There are some folks who delight in obscure letter combinations, archaic diacritic marks, and other linguistic minutiae. And it is important to take care with such details. Sometimes, I also like to just draw though.
I had a great time drawing this masthead for a magazine produced in my hometown of Providence. A script is always an interesting challenge for me so I was happy when they sent me sketching in that direction. We ended up with an upright informal brush treatment. Rhode Island Monthly also features two of my typefaces, Dispatch and Stainless.
Speaking of magazines, aficionados in the United States and Canada should check out Stack America. It is a brilliant service that delivers otherwise hard-to-find independent magazines right to your mailbox.
