HOW-TO MAKE YOUR HANDWRITING A FONT

As promised I am going to discuss turning your handwriting into a font. I am not going to go into the step-by-step as there are too many variables, but I am going to load you with resources and get you pointed in the right direction to get started on your project today.  I did a lot of research on this for a branding client I worked with which I highly recommended that they create a custom font (typeface) for their brand as their logo was just a type treatment and it would be a beautiful, subtle and elegant way to continue to brand their company.  For you my friend, you may want to do something like this to brand your blog/company and make it as unique as you are or even to get into font production. 

• ONLINE FONT CREATION-There are a few online font tools to create a font from your handwriting. Although it is fun to be able to see your hand created as a font so swiftly, these lack the ability to adjust your font and make it more precise, but if you want something immediately than this may be a good route to go for you in the beginning.  Both Fontifier and Myscriptfont are a complete a template, scan it + upload = font is created!

• SOFTWARE-The most popular and the one across the board that I found most custom fonts are created with is called Font Lab.  Like most new software you start to use there is a learning curve, but it is a robust software and if you plan on creating many fonts that you may want to re-sell this is definitely something you will want to look into. It's an investment for sure.

• HIRE A PRO-If you are serious about becoming a hand lettering designer or don't have the patience or time to learn a new software program I highly recommend a professional font creator; someone that knows the software inside and out and can anticipate situations with your font design that you may not. There are so many little nuances that come up that it would be nearly impossible for you to produce a perfectly production ready font on your first go.  I corresponded with Silas Dilworth a professional font designer and asked him if he could give us an idea of cost for the average person to hire a font designer of course this is just ballpark range and not a stone cold figure, his answer was "anywhere from $1,500-$5,000".  I have invested plenty a pretty penny into my business so that seems like a rather fair amount for a design that is yours and you can sell like hotcakes if it's amazing (which I know yours is). I think most entrepreneurs want passive income where they produce something and don't really have to worry about production costs or fulfillment. Font design, if you are a talented enough sounds like it could be very lucrative. If you want to look into hiring a pro Silas would be a great resource (he emails you back like lightening) and here are a few other candidates that I don't know personally but seemed pretty legit--Font Haus, David Occhino, Typotheque.

Good luck!  If you do create a font let me know, I would love to see it!

P.S. If you like the 'today' font in the graphic above you can add it to your font collection for free here.