Design Monograms with Style
A course by GM Meave , Designer, Illustrator, Calligrapher, and Typographer
Joined February 2016
Learn to use calligraphy and lettering to create dynamic and clever monograms
- Spanish with subtitles in English
- 100% positive reviews (221)
- 3731 students
Learn to use calligraphy and lettering to create dynamic and clever monograms
Graphic designer, illustrator, typographer, and calligrapher Gabriel Meave teaches you how to design a monogram based on the key letters of a graphic identity using calligraphy, lettering, and typesetting techniques.
Letters are so much more than just lines. They are powerful ingredients that can be mixed, twisted, interwoven, and composed into unique identities. Discover the secrets of monograms, the laws of symmetry and asymmetry of written signs, as well as the styles that will enrich your typographic choices. This course takes you beyond simple corporate identity to get the most out of the alphabet.
What will you learn in this online course?
28 lessons & 28 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (221)
- 3731 students
- 28 lessons (5h 15m)
- 28 additional resources (26 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish
- Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software for this course
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Design a monogram based on the key letters of a graphic identity.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Designers, illustrators, calligraphers, typographers, and lovers of creativity in general who want to delve into the world of monograms, logos, and emblems.
Requirements and materials
For materials, you need paper and a pencil, as well as a computer installed with Illustrator and Photoshop and a scanner.
Reviews
Gabriel Meave is a graphic and typographic designer, illustrator, and calligrapher, born and based in Mexico City. His work spans editorial and book design, corporate identity, logos, graphic work, calligraphy, and font design and typeface families.
He has illustrated narrative, fantasy and fiction books for authors such as Gabriel García Márquez, Juan Villoro, and Cornelia Funke, and designed special typefaces for companies such as Telcel, the financial newspaper El Economista, Jumex, and El Palacio de Hierro stores, as well as the institutional font of the federal government of Mexico.
His original Arcana and Organic typefaces are distributed internationally by Adobe Systems, and he has carried out design and branding projects for Mexicana de Aviación, Corona, P&G, McMillan, Pearson Education, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Ogilvy & Mather, and various agencies, publishers, and design firms.
Throughout his career, he's received five awards from the Type Directors Club of New York and three from the Association Typographique Internationale and several of his photographs have been selected for the Tipos Latinos biennials in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012.
His calligraphic and illustrative work has been exhibited in various forums and spaces, including the solo show "La mano que mece la pluma" at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum in the historic center of Mexico City. In addition, his work has been published in the main international design magazines, such as Communication Arts, Novum, Ètapes, Typo, and How. Phaidon Books, in their book Area_2, published in 2009, listed Meave as one of the hundred most important emerging designers in the world today.
Content
-
U1
Introduction
-
Presentation of my work, publications and sketchbooks
-
Influences, references and a bit of history
-
What is a monogram? What role do letters play in a logo? What differentiates the typography of calligraphy?
-
-
U2
Key words, anatomy and geometry
-
Abbreviations, acronyms and key letters of a graphic identity
-
Not all the letters are the same: typographic anatomy
-
Axes of composition, symmetry, layout and reading direction
-
Axes of composition, symmetry, layout and reading direction 2
-
Sketch and draw a geometric monogram
-
-
U3
Style and Calligraphy
-
Calligraphy styles: principles, history and bases
-
Logos and monograms based on italic calligraphy
-
Logos and monograms based on italic calligraphy 2
-
Logos and monograms based on Gothic calligraphy
-
Logos and monograms based on Gothic calligraphy 2
-
Logos and monograms based on the English calligraphy
-
Logos and monograms based on paint brush lettering
-
-
U4
Style and Typography
-
Typographic languages
-
Sans serif types applied to monograms and logos
-
Serif types applied to monograms and logos
-
Monograms and logos based on incised forms
-
-
U5
Combinations and accessories
-
Levels of information and composition
-
How to mix typography with calligraphy
-
Volumetry, profiling, filleting and various finishes
-
Graphic accessories: envelopes and blazons
-
-
U6
Original and vectors
-
Preparing and refining a final original
-
Preparing and refining a final original 2
-
Notions of digitization, vectorization of monograms and applications
-
Notions of digitization, vectorization of monograms and applications 2
-
Notions of digitization, vectorization of monograms and applications 3
-
-
FP
Final project
-
Stylish monogram design
-
What to expect from a Domestika course
-
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
-
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
-
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
-
Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
-
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
-
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
-
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
-
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
studiocq
This was a wonderful class, with a superb teacher! Mr. Meave's teaching, resources, and videos helped me understand the subject, and inspired me to come up with many creative ideas. I can now design monograms in many styles, and feel I've achieved my goals for this class. I would recommend this class to anyone interested in monogram design, or anyone who is seeking a creative outlet. It was definitely worth the time I put into it. A+!
francescoj
Ottima esperienza!
View translation
Hide translation
corabrown
Not a class for complete beginners, but very interesting if you want to learn how to find and make connections between letters. Good value for my time. The demos are real time which helped me understand the fine points of forming monograms with different tools (flat nib, flex nib, brush, brush pen) and typography sources. The instructor is very good at explaining what he sees and how he improves the monograms. The handouts are useful, but do not provide complete alphabets or book citations.
onasiskristie
I enjoy this course very much - practical, comprehensive explanation and demos.
anagarlandmeyer
Recomendable.
View translation
Hide translation