Signature ideas

Six signature directions for Louis

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 L · hover one to see it in use

Understated · flowing · fully readable

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

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

An upright and measured hand. It stands almost straight up, 20 degrees off vertical. It is also one of the few here 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.

Confident · flowing · signature-legible

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

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

An urgent and restrained hand. It leans 25 degrees off vertical.

Commanding · sharp · signature-legible

It gives itself room, and reads as unhurried because of it.

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

A deliberate and grand hand. It is built in 14 separate strokes.

Confident · sharp · fully readable

Pressure where it presses, hairline where it lifts.

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

A spare hand. Only 15 loops in the whole mark. It is also one of the few here that ties off with a small loop instead of flying away.

Understated · sharp · signature-legible

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

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

A generous and compact hand. It spends 39 loops getting through your name.

Commanding · flowing · fully readable

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

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

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

What Louis gives a designer

A signature is won or lost at its opening letter. For L, 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 dotted i leaves a mark above the line that a fast hand turns into a flick.

5 letters is the length most signatures are built on — enough travel for character, little enough to repeat exactly.

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