You don’t need fancy handwriting or calligraphy experience to create a lettering style that sells. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I design unique hand-drawn letters for greeting cards, calendars, and even sellable fonts—starting with just one simple letter sheet. This process is fun, low-pressure, and full of creative possibilities.
Watch the Tutorial
This post is part of my iPad Art Breaks series, where I share relaxed, insightful tutorials for building a creative portfolio. If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your hand lettering into products or passive income, this one’s for you!
Why Lettering is Worth Your Time
Hand lettering adds emotional value and character to your designs—and buyers love it.
I’ve sold thousands of calendars, won Minted design contests, and licensed multiple fonts and greeting cards using funky, handmade lettering styles that began as simple letter sheets like the one in this tutorial.
What You'll Learn in the Tutorial
You don’t have to be a calligrapher or lettering pro. You just need a few simple techniques, a consistent style, and the confidence to use it across your creative work.
Find Inspiration from Vintage References
Learn how to collect inspiring vintage type from ads, magazines, and creative commons resources—and turn that into an original, personal style (without copying).
Set Up a Lettering Template in Procreate
Use a simple guide system to keep your letters aligned, balanced, and scalable for future use in fonts or product layouts.
Sketch a Full Alphabet Using Only a Few Shapes
Discover how to reuse letter parts like bars and circles to speed up the sketching process and build consistent visual rhythm across your alphabet.
Build a Reusable Asset
Learn how to transform your finished letter sheet into a design element for calendars, greeting cards, logos, or even full commercial-use fonts.
Optional Finishing Touches
Add fills, colors, outlines, or shadows to match your branding or product use—and copy/paste your letters directly into sellable designs like digital cards and planners.
Want to Go Further?
If you’re excited about lettering and ready to turn it into a full product line, don’t miss the Calendar Bootcamp and join the Studio Membership.
Calendar Bootcamp
Learn how to design, format, and plan your own custom calendars for art licensing or product sales
Create evergreen calendar products that boost your income year after year.
