Signature ideas

Six signature directions for Luis

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

Generous with its loops, and unembarrassed about it.

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

A level and measured hand. The capital is only 1.9 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 "r" in "Worth" is the letter carrying it, because that is where your hand is already fastest.

Confident · flowing · signature-legible

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

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

A spare and angular hand. Only 12 loops in the whole mark.

Commanding · sharp · signature-legible

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

both names in one unbroken line · a capital on its own shelf · finished on a long sail

An urgent and grand hand. It leans 27 degrees off vertical. Almost nothing else here runs both names together as one word.

Confident · sharp · fully readable

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

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

A deliberate and angular hand. It is built in 10 separate strokes. It is also one of the few here that ties off with a small loop instead of flying away.

Understated · sharp · signature-legible

Tightly massed, so it holds together small.

both names in one unbroken line · a capital on its own shelf · finished on a long sail

A compact and urgent hand. It stays 1.7 times wider than tall, where most signatures sprawl. It is the rare one that runs both names together as one word.

Commanding · flowing · fully readable

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

the full name · finished on a long sail

A grand and measured hand. The capital stands 2.6 times the height of the letters after it.

What Luis 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.

Four letters or fewer is the easiest length to keep consistent — Luis can be written in full on everything from a card to a contract.

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