Have you ever observed the handwriting of an architect? The architectural handwriting style is distinctive and appears uniform. This style has been cultivated by architects for a long time to ensure that all their writings on blueprints are legible, minimizing errors during construction.
Even in the current era of digital drawing production, manual handwriting remains a crucial aspect of an architect's work. Besides serving as a communication medium on-site, poor handwriting tends to make any design look amateurish. All handwriting must align with the quality of the design.
If you are an architecture student seeking to enhance handwriting skills or an individual eager to learn to write like an architect, here are some tips and techniques I offer.
Choosing Tools
Select tools and media that facilitate your practice. I have created a handwriting guide that can be downloaded here to assist you in crafting architect-style handwriting. You can print this guide and use it as a reference. Additionally, you may employ a tracing pad to simplify the process of imitation. The following are alternative writing tools and papers commonly used by architects:
Uni Kuru Toga Advance Mechanical Pencil, its pencil lead rotates, ensuring consistent sharpness and line thickness.
Pentel Touch Sign Pen dan Sharpie Ultra Fine, ideal for use on tracing or translucent paper.
Bienfang Tracing Paper Roll, used for tracing over guide lines and Lettering Worksheet.
Dot Grid Notebook, features a dot pattern as an alternative to guide lines..
Style and Technique
Although appearing uniform, each architect has their own handwriting style. I will explain my handwriting style and basic architectural handwriting techniques. You can discover and develop your own style, but ensure that your handwriting is easily readable.
Always start from the top left corner of the letter to maintain consistent letter spacing.
Prioritize creating vertical lines before horizontal ones to ensure proportional horizontal lines in some letters.
Ensure that vertical lines are always perfectly upright.
Overlapping at text corners may occur for faster writing; this is not an issue and can add an artistic touch.
Always use uppercase letters as they are more reader-friendly.
I use straight horizontal lines, but you can incline them upwards.
Maintain a square proportion; the height and width of letters should always be the same.
Practice, Practice...
After grasping the basic techniques, you can begin practicing and developing your own handwriting style using the guide I provided. Mastery requires consistent practice, akin to practicing cursive writing back in elementary school.