#sparkchamber 092721 — Alanna Flowers
Communication is not only what you say, but how you say it. Today, #sparkchamber shines a big spotlight on Alanna Flowers, a lettering artist who helps clients tell their stories through the use of bold lettering and design.
“I started my career as a Graphic Designer and then a Design Manager for an international company. After almost five years there, I left to run my own business, AGF Design Studio.”
Unlike calligraphy — a visually striking but penmanship-based pursuit — lettering is an emotive, design-based undertaking. The art of lettering is in drawing, rather than writing, both individual letterforms as well as complete phases to emphasize, reinforce, more deeply express the meaning of the words.
“Lettering has been a passion and a hobby of mine since around 2014, and over the years I’ve been very inspired by other letterers like Jessica Hische, Martina Flor, and Mary Kate McDevitt. I think part of what inspires me about those artists — besides their talent — is their teaching. They’ve been generous with sharing their processes and experiences in courses and books. And even though I didn’t know it in the beginning, it was shaping me for the most pivotal moment of my career thus far.”
Paying that generosity forward, Alanna offers the AGF Design Studio channel through YouTube, with tutorials and product reviews to inspire and advance your own lettering journey.
1.] Where do ideas come from?
I’ve come to find that most of my ideas can come on randomly at any moment. For this reason, I try to write them down as soon as they come to me. I do attribute a lot of my inspiration to the visuals I’ve surrounded myself with in my workspace. Other than that, in my Brooklyn neighborhood there are so many beautiful old-school and hand-painted signs. I’m always taking pictures when I see something interesting because they inspire my lettering.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
A lot of what drives me is thinking about where I started. Thinking about the version of myself that couldn’t quite imagine that my dreams for my career were actually possible keeps me working hard. It also reminds me that there are probably plenty of people who might also have that mentality. I want to show others, especially young women of color that whatever they can imagine for their art, business, or career is possible.
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
I’m early to bed and early to rise. I like feeling like I’m getting a jump start on the day. Most of the time I’ve already written down my to-do list the night before so I know where to get started. Also, I have a self-imposed rule of no looking at emails before 9 a.m.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
This is hard! Sometimes I need to step back from whatever I’m working on for a while to be able to finish it. Whenever I come back to it, I just have to trust the gut feeling that tells me it's done.
