Signature ideas

Six signature directions for Anna

Each one is a genuine drawing of the name — not a font — made by the same studio that draws the paid commission, with the design decisions stated under it.

Drawn from the name · 6 directions · capital A · hover one to see it in use

Understated · flowing · fully readable

It turns corners instead of rounding them, and that is the whole temperament.

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

A level and long-running hand. The capital is only 2.0 times the height of the letters after it. It is also one of the few here that lays a line back underneath the name. The double "n" in "Anna" goes down as one motion, so the middle of the name never stops.

Confident · flowing · signature-legible

No letter shouts over another, which is rarer than it sounds.

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

An unbroken and urgent hand. Only 7 pen lifts in the whole thing. It is the rare one that lays a line back underneath the name. The "r" in "Worth" is the letter carrying it, because that is where your hand is already fastest.

Commanding · sharp · signature-legible

Everything rounds, nothing is cornered.

the full name · a swept capital · finished on a long sail

A spare and grand hand. Only 7 loops in the whole mark.

Confident · sharp · fully readable

One letter does the performing, and the others hold still for it.

the full name · a swept capital · finished on a long sail

A dramatic and upright hand. The stroke swells and thins by a factor of 2.8.

Understated · sharp · signature-legible

Tightly massed, so it holds together small.

the full name · a swept capital · finished on a long sail

An unbroken and level hand. Only 6 pen lifts in the whole thing.

Commanding · flowing · fully readable

Written at speed, and it shows in the best way.

the full name · closed with a small loop

A compact and even hand. It stays 3.3 times wider than tall, where most signatures sprawl. Almost nothing else here ties off with a small loop instead of flying away.

What Anna gives a designer

The capital A carries the mark. There are 2 distinct professional constructions of it on the studio's shelf, and which one a design commits to changes the whole gesture.

The rest of the name sets the terrain: the double n is a rhythm no other letter pair gives — two identical strokes that must agree.

Anna is a compact name. Nothing needs abbreviating; the six directions below spend their effort on character instead.

Making it yours

These studies are drawn on the first name alone, because that is how the question is usually asked — but a working signature is built on your full name: the second capital, the balance between the two words, and the short everyday version are where the real design decisions live.

The studio draws twenty directions for your full name in about a minute, and the kit — the files, the report that explains the design, and the stroke-order lesson — is what the three you choose become.

Other names