Signature ideas

Six signature directions for Brody

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 B · hover one to see it in use

Understated · flowing · fully readable

Compact, with its weight gathered in one place.

the full name · finished on a long sail

A level and upright hand. The capital is only 1.8 times the height of the letters after it. It is also one of the few here that hangs the name off the B as a stem. The "r" in "Worth" is the letter carrying it, because that is where your hand is already fastest.

Confident · flowing · signature-legible

It leans into the page, the way a hand in a hurry does.

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

An airy and restrained hand. The letters are set well apart. It is the rare one that lays a line back underneath the name.

Commanding · sharp · signature-legible

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

the full name · finished on a long sail

An unbroken and rounded hand. Only 8 pen lifts in the whole thing.

Confident · sharp · fully readable

Pressure where it presses, hairline where it lifts.

the full name · a capital that drops below the line · finished on a long sail

A generous and theatrical hand. It spends 51 loops getting through your name. It is also one of the few here that drops the B's tail below the line to weigh it down.

Understated · sharp · signature-legible

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

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

A long-running and theatrical hand. It runs 5.5 times wider than it is tall. It is the rare one that lays a line back underneath the name.

Commanding · flowing · fully readable

The capital dominates, and the rest of the name follows quietly.

the full name · finished on a long sail

An airy and spare hand. The letters are set well apart. Almost nothing else here hangs the name off the B as a stem.

What Brody gives a designer

A signature is won or lost at its opening letter. For B, the studio draws from 2 constructions observed in professional hands, and every direction below chooses one and holds it.

What follows the capital decides the middle of the mark: the d reaches into the ascender line, which gives the mark its upper silhouette and the y drops below the baseline — a tail a designer can turn into an underline or let hang.

Brody is 5 letters: room for a real rhythm without the fatigue of a long run.

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