Signature ideas

Six signature directions for Saul

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 S · hover one to see it in use

Understated · flowing · fully readable

Tightly massed, so it holds together small.

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

A compact and restrained hand. It stays 2.6 times wider than tall, where most signatures sprawl. The "r" in "Worth" is the letter carrying it, because that is where your hand is already fastest.

Confident · flowing · signature-legible

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

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

An angular and grand hand. The turns are cut rather than curved. It is the rare one that runs a long swept approach into the S.

Commanding · sharp · signature-legible

Nothing curls that does not have to, and nothing is missing.

both names in one unbroken line · finished on a long sail

A dense and angular hand. The letters are packed close together. Almost nothing else here runs both names together as one word.

Confident · sharp · fully readable

Drawn in stages, the way a considered mark is.

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

A level and upright hand. The capital is only 2.0 times the height of the letters after it. It is also one of the few here that runs a long swept approach into the S.

Understated · sharp · signature-legible

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

the full name · finished on a long sail

A dramatic and theatrical hand. The stroke swells and thins by a factor of 3.1.

Commanding · flowing · fully readable

Generous with its loops, and unembarrassed about it.

the full name · underlined in one return stroke

A long-running and grand hand. It runs 4.0 times wider than it is tall.

What Saul gives a designer

Everything starts with the S. The studio holds 2 distinct constructions of that capital — drawn from how professionals actually open a name — and each direction below commits to one of them.

What follows the capital decides the middle of the mark: the l reaches into the ascender line, which gives the mark its upper silhouette.

Saul 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