Signature ideas

Six signature directions for Ella

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 E · hover one to see it in use

Understated · flowing · fully readable

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

the full name · a capital on its own shelf · finished on a long sail

A level and dense hand. The capital is only 2.1 times the height of the letters after it. The double "l" in "Ella" goes down as one motion, so the middle of the name never stops.

Confident · flowing · signature-legible

One weight the whole way through, which is what makes it read as modern.

the full name · a capital on its own shelf · closed with a small loop

An urgent and airy hand. It leans 28 degrees off vertical. It is the rare one that ties off with a small loop instead of flying away. The "r" in "Worth" is the letter carrying it, because that is where your hand is already fastest.

Commanding · sharp · signature-legible

Drawn in stages, the way a considered mark is.

the full name · a capital on its own shelf · finished on a long sail

A rounded and theatrical hand. Every turn is rounded off.

Confident · sharp · fully readable

Long and low, it takes the whole width of the line.

the full name · a swept capital · underlined in one return stroke

An airy and upright hand. The letters are set well apart. It is also one of the few here that runs a long swept approach into the E.

Understated · sharp · signature-legible

One movement, barely interrupted, which is why it repeats.

the full name · finished on a long sail

A measured and theatrical hand. The pen keeps one pace instead of accelerating through.

Commanding · flowing · fully readable

Generous with its loops, and unembarrassed about it.

the full name · a capital on its own shelf · finished on a long sail

A quick and angular hand. The line carries the momentum of a hand that never slowed down.

What Ella gives a designer

The capital E 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 l reaches into the ascender line, which gives the mark its upper silhouette and the double l is a rhythm no other letter pair gives — two identical strokes that must agree.

Ella 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