Word Up
The Art of Lettering in the Age of Instagram
By Callie Tansill-Suddath
Hand Lettering by Boosaba Tantisunthorn
A group of people crowd around circular patio tables at Bump 'n Grind on the corner of Newell Street and Blair Mill Road in Silver Spring.
Some sip drinks and pick at snacks; all are buried in their sketchbooks. A woman carrying a yoga mat walks by and admires Heather Kopf’s newly completed floral “H.” Her eyes light up as she explains how she's been searching for a drawing group.
Christy Batta, one of the group’s founders, explains it is not exactly sketching — it’s hand lettering. Though, “we’re not strict,” she assures the passerby.
The Unofficial Hand Lettering Society of Silver Spring (SSLetters for short) meets every second Tuesday of the month. For two hours, members practice the art of creating fonts and text — everything from calligraphy to bubble letters.
At the September meeting, everyone is working on a different letter of the alphabet, which will eventually be combined to create a complete set. At the next meeting, someone from Soul & Ink will do a live screen printing demonstration with the design.
The meeting’s atmosphere is remarkably relaxed. At 6 p.m., the intersection mere miles from D.C.’s city limits is crawling with noisy traffic, but it doesn’t seem to bother the hand letterers. They are entrenched in their art and conversations. Kopf, who works in neurological research, says the gatherings are a “nice reprieve from working with brains.” She is scheduled to host the next meeting, which will have a pumpkin spice theme. November will be recipes; December will be holiday cards.
SSLetters began in 2015 when Amina Ahmad, the owner of a Northeast D.C.-based candle company called Handmade Habitat, hired Batta to create her logo. They quickly discovered their shared passion for hand lettering and began scheduling dates to practice the craft.
From the beginning, SSLetters has been more of a collective than a club. Ahmad and Batta used personal social media accounts to welcome friends in the area to join their creative sessions. As more people came to meetings, the two decided to see if anyone outside their circle of friends would be interested in attending the doodle sessions.
They began to subtly advertise the meetings, which was more successful than one might expect. “Our networks tend to have a pretty good reach,” Ahmad says. “[They are] comprised of people who also have their own audiences that like small creative businesses.”
Meeting times were also posted to local blogs, and fliers were affixed to bulletin boards in coffee shops. New people began to show up at their former location of Silver Spring’s Catylator Makerspace (it has since shut its doors). Today, 10 to 20 people typically show up monthly.
“When I’m at home on my own, even if I’m interacting with online tutorials, I can get in a self-judgey place.”
Seeing so many people in one space glued to something that isn’t electronic is a rarity. YouTube channels such as How to Hand Letter and The Happy Ever Crafter boast roughly 241k and 160k subscribers, respectively. You can search the term “hand lettering” on Instagram and find countless short clips that will teach you the basics.
So, why, in 2020, is there even a need for SSLetters?
Participants say much of the human component of crafting is missing in shorter tutorials like those on Instagram. Even longer videos on YouTube often lack narration. You’ll just watch a brush swirl on the page, effortlessly leaving a letter in its path of ink. But, like any skill, you have to be good before it can look so easy.
Ahmad thinks the isolation of learning from internet tutorials might hinder some people’s success. She calls the meetings, “an encouraging space” that make it so you “don’t get stuck in your own head.” Batta adds, “When I’m at home on my own, even if I’m interacting with online tutorials, I can get in a self-judgey place. The community we have is very encouraging and full of positive energy that just helps keep me motivated and upbeat about making things.” Plus, Kopf says, “when working with other people you can develop your own style.”
It has never been easier to learn a new skill independently. You can find interactive guides to languages, music, crafts, and countless other hobbies at the click of a button. But, does ease and accessibility outweigh human connection in the learning process?
The SSLetters crew doesn’t think so.
