Lately, I have put in a valiant effort to change my handwriting permanently to architectural lettering. If you are looking to learn how to write like an architect or greatly improve your handwriting in general, keep reading. Using the rules and practice guides below has done wonders for me. Before we get into that, first, let’s discuss the notion of architect letters.
What is architectural lettering?
In the fields of design and architecture, all blueprints, drawings, and designs use a form of architectural lettering. This style of architectural handwriting, simply stated, is block letters that are universally easy to read. Centuries ago, architects established this style of lettering so that all writing on blueprints was uniformly legible. We are likely to make fewer costly mistakes caused by misreading information when using architectural letters.
Practicing architectural lettering used to be a part of the curriculum in all architecture and design education. Since the advent and almost complete takeover of computer drafting, it is no longer mandatory nor taught in school (for the most part). This means many must now practice at home on their own if they are to draft by hand.
For me, it is still a necessary part of the job, and I have been unsatisfied with my architectural lettering since I first started drawing and drafting by hand at the beginning of my career. Bad handwriting form tends to make any design look amateur, no matter how good the drawing may be. I have found that the quality of architectural handwriting certainly has the ability to enhance or sour the quality of a design or drawing.
I have searched the internet far and wide for the best architectural lettering practice guides and digital architectural typefaces that I could find. Since it took me a while to find some great guides for practice, I figured I would share them with you, but first, let’s discuss the rules of architectural lettering and the tools that will make it easier for you to accomplish this lettering while drafting by hand.
Learning Architectural Lettering: How to Improve Your Handwriting Quickly and Easily Share on X
Architect NDP, the typeface I used for practicing my architectural letters
How to Write Like An Architect
Architectural Lettering: Some Simple Rules to Follow
- Use guidelines on your piece of paper. Draw your own guidelines with a ruler or you can use lined paper or grid paper to practice.
- Guidelines control the height and line space of architectural lettering. The maximum size is 3/16 of an inch. Beyond this size, the letters require a width beyond what a single stroke is capable of producing.
- Use a small triangle ruler to control the straightness of your vertical.
- Keep all verticals perpendicular to your guidelines.
- Begin all strokes from the top of your guideline. Never draw a stroke from the bottom up.
- Circular strokes are plump ovals on a forward slant. Draw your circles in a single circular motion.
- Draw horizontal strokes from left to right. Draw top and bottom horizontals on top of the guidelines. Middle horizontals split the distance from the top and the bottom.
- All letters are roughly the same width, and when done correctly, they should be as wide as they are tall. Each letter sits inside an imaginary square.
- Don’t cross the strokes of individual letters if you can help it.
- Do not leave gaps between the strokes of your letters.
- Do not use serifs.
Architectural Lettering Practice and Architectural Typefaces
Download these typefaces to create templates for practicing your architectural handwriting. Once you have some lettering guidelines, you’ll be able to write like an architect in no time with a little practice.
Architect NDP Typeface
This typeface, Prov Architect NDP, is the closest template you will find to practicing your more casual and stylized architectural handwriting. I recommend this font and typing out all letters, characters, and numbers on a piece of paper, then printing it. You can use tracing paper, grid or lined paper to practice the letters.
Tekton Typeface Architectural Lettering
For a cleaner, more sophisticated look, use this typeface, Tekton, which is closer to the style of architect Frank Ching mentioned in the video below. These letters also make a great guide for practicing your architectural lettering.
How to Write Like an Architect Video
In this video, you’ll learn how to write like an architect the correct way so you can improve your architectural lettering and handwriting style no matter what your profession.
Are you looking to improve your handwriting? Have you already mastered architectural lettering? If so, how long did it take you? Are you happy you did? Is there any more information we can provide you to help you learn architectural lettering? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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This feels like back to elementary school when the teachers gave me a bad mark for rounding out the wrong parts of the alphabet letters!
Obviously there’s a technical need to communicate accurately but I find it interesting that on architectural drawings the loss of individuality in writing is juxtaposed with the designer’s illustration/vision- which could only really be his/her own. Neat stuff. Looks like it could be time-consuming to try to adapt, though :)
Maybe this should be mandatory training for renowned professional chicken-scratchers: doctors?
-J.
I learned in my drafting class. Took about 3 months of drawing to master :)
the u tube video is great but is there an actual sample i could download as I am trying to master the u tube style myself?
Johanne:
It really is like going back to elementary school. It’s brutal. It is somewhat stylish though in its simple complacent nature. I’ve always wanted to write like this but never bothered to learn. I’m finding the process mind-numbing but I’ll get there.
And yes doctors should learn this handwriting. It seems preposterous that doctors don’t have any requirements or standards in this regard but I suppose it must be that the mistake of one doctor kills one person potentially but the mistake of an architect or designer has the potential to kill thousands.
msottovoce:
I’m glad to hear that some schools still teach it. 3 months though. I am not looking forward to the next 2 months more of this.
Jane:
I updated this post with the closest thing I found to the Youtube video style: The Prov Architect NDP typeface. It costs $20 to download but its worth it.
I found it easiest to do my own template where I mastered each letter separately from the video but I chose to be less sloppy and stylized than the video shows as that wouldn’t fly in my industry. Once I had my own template I practiced from that. I hope this helps.
well, it’s naturally integrated with the overall drafting drawing learning. you learn as you go :)
hey!!!! i’d like to 2 comment on the above video…. its not really important and compulsory to follow the same style of lettering as shown in the video…. if u are an architect, u will develop ur own style of lettering…. don’t just blindly copy the style shown in this…. think about it…. develop ur own style…. be creative…. architects are supposed 2 b creative…. don’t follow wat others say…. follow ur hand…. it knows wat 2 do….
What is the best type of pen to use? My problem is lifting my pen off the paper and having a smooth writing….I feel like the pen sticks to the paper…thoughts?!?!?!?!
when you are starting off try a Pentel Flair, or any of the finer grade pens.if you feel you’re pen is sticking something in a 4.0 is probably going to help that, Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Pens are the best if you do alot of manual drafting or a rotoring college set. insainly expensive but they are awesome to use :)
[…] Architectural Lettering 2 artdepartmental.com […]
oh yeaH!!!!
THANKS FOR THIS POST! I am taking a drafting class and trying to practice my lettering :)
I am starting to work tutoring a middle school boy, whose “handwriting sucks”. I think this just might be interesting enough to get him to take up the practice. Thanks.
I learned by copying my father, who was a draftsman at Ford Motor Co. After he passed away, I was told by somebody else in the industry his work was like art, and he could tell a drawing was his just by looking at it! With CAD I doubt you could find such skills today.
Over the years my printing has become a little messy, and my “W” is not acceptable to me at all. Doing internet research has helped me find a new “W”.
Need advice: My 12 year old son prefers to print and I’m working with him on cursive, but it’s painful. I’m about to give in and work on making his print easier to read. Do you think it’s easier to write in print for note taking in high school and college type settings? That’s my main concern – quick handwriting when computers not allowed, and of course legibility.
Or do you think I should force him to write cursive?
I’m am currently a college student and I can safely say that print works perfectly well all-day-every-day. I haven’t used cursive since fourth grade (except for when the SAT required me to rewrite and sign a paragraph in cursive), and I don’t miss it at all. I’ve learned to write fast, and my handwriting is significantly more readable than if it was in cursive. If he likes to print, let him print.
Just noticed this reply – Thanks so much. It will really encourage my son I’m sure. Good luck in college!
I also stopped writing in cursive in fourth grade. Thank goodness I had a teacher who just wanted things legible. My signature is printed. I had no trouble keeping up and write very quickly. Even in college (before computers) most people thought my handwriting was typewritten. I have been practicing architectural lettering the last several months.
That is very much a relief to my son. Thank you for taking the time to reply!
Thanks Rose. This is so useful to me. Its hard sometimes, please give me more tips if you have them.
I’m an electrical engineer and produce lots of markups. This handwriting is so useful to me but its hard.
How long do I have to practice every day before I’m ready?
Tips welcome.
Thanks!
this is really long after your comment, so probably too late to be helpful for you, but anyway, I think the first thing to remember is that it’s not the days, but the hours. there’s a big difference between 5 hours a day, and 10 min. if you’re like most people, the most effective thing is likely to be to commit to just 15 minutes a day, but do it smart.
I’m currently changing my normal handwriting a bit, and also learning an old German cursive, called Sütterlin. there are a couple of interesting differences. because I’m starting from zero with Sütterlin, I’m making practice sheets in my word processor, as follows:
light grey upper-case top bound line
light grey lower-case top bound line
black base line
light grey descender bound line
with light grey letters to trace.
SO,
1. having letters to trace makes a huge difference because we can be consistent right from the start; instead of writing something that’s not right, and doing it again and again and again like I do with the effort to correct my regular handwriting.
2. having the various lines means that when I stop tracing and start just writing the letters, I’ll have guides that’ll keep me consistent until I’m naturally so. by contrast, with my normal handwriting, one of the big problems I’m having is getting the descenders in my ‘g’, etc., to be consistent.
if you do it this way, and pick up speed only as fast as you can and still make each letter perfect, your progress should be faster.
i had learn this five days before . its DIFFICULT :(
#sorry my english is broken little bit little bit .
That’s great big up
I started out as a mechanical draftsman / tool and die maker…with very rigid, formal (and oh, so boring) lettering skills. One year I got the chance to teach a drafting course that had a section of architectural drafting. My students were required to do tons of lettering practice sheets and I also joined them.
Being very “left brained”, I found it very liberating to begin exploring the artistic freedom that lay with in the right hemisphere of my thinker. The experience was so profound that I actually changed my profession to something that allows me to work with both sides of my brain. It’s awesome.
True to my nature, I would have to classify my lettering style as “mechani-tectural”…heavily architectural influenced, yet with a tad bit of mechanical spice…still appealing and suitable for both disciplines.
Does anyone know of any stencils to help learning to write in architecture style? Thanks. Ghoffman@siu.edu
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I wish they taught this style of writing at school. They don’t even teach kids cursive anymore!
I met a guy today and he had a hand written list with him, I told him his writing looked cool and he told me he had been an architect for 35 years and that’s how we write (us old schoolers anyway). Now I am determined to write like that too!
I worked for a law firm that handled construction defect cases. Then my handwriting was neat and uniform but at a slant. Anyway, there would be times we would need to see the plans and I was fascinated with what I saw. I studied them so much that I was able to tell if I was looking at a CAD created or if a Draftsman drew up the plan. It inspired me and I practiced for approx. one month with a few minutes a day. I now have mastered Architectonic lettering.
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I did not become an engineer but we learned architectural printing in high school and it was very serious and more polished than in the example above. Good article.
This blog on architectural lettering is an absolute gem for design enthusiasts and professionals alike. The detailed exploration of the history, techniques, and significance of lettering in architecture is both informative and inspiring. The appreciation for the craftsmanship and artistry involved in creating these intricate letterforms is evident throughout the post. The inclusion of stunning visual examples showcases how architectural lettering elevates the overall aesthetic and storytelling of a building. As a reader, I am captivated by the passion and attention to detail in this blog, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of design and architecture. Fantastic work! – Construction packages in Chennai – Icon Properties