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Outside of my hand lettering, I’m a big marketing and design nut, so I wanted to dedicate March to some of my favorite Designisms. Struggling with finding yourself in your online identity, or searching for a few tips and tricks to help your following get to know you better? I think these 5 tips will get you started. Be sure to check out the rest of the month’s designs here.

1. Always Triple Check your Spelling!

Typos are embarrassing. They’re even more embarrassing when you spend 2 hours crafting the letters by hand. But hey, everyone makes mistakes, and I’ll be the first to laugh at it! Don’t take yourself too seriously, roll with the issues, and make something better tomorrow!

I’m always embarrassed to let a spelling error out in the wild through an email or caption. Even more embarrassing when you spend hours hand lettering one! Always triple check your work! Poor use of language and grammar gives your audience a bad first impression of who you are, and can kill some level of respect or detail almost immediately! This one is getting framed for the office (bonus points if you can find my typo!)

2. Just My Type!

Get it? Because typography? Share with that special someone to let them know they’re just your type!

This one was meant as a demonstration piece, and was one of my favorites through exploring dimension in my hand lettering. As I always say, design isn’t about just making something look good, it’s about creating an experience that your viewers want to participate in and share with the people in their life! Go ahead, visit the post on Instagram and tag your special someone!

3. Make Something Today

In the words of Stefan Kunz, make something today… EVEN if it sucks. And sometimes it’s gonna suck. But hey, that’s growth! Love seeing all these daily challenges people are pursuing for growth. Keep at it!

The daily challenge mentality has definitely taken off in the last couple years, encouraging artists everywhere to stop dreaming and start doing! There’s a fine line between perfecting a piece of art, and obsessing over details and delaying actually making it happen… so make like Shia LaBeouf, and just do it! Inviting your audience to witness your growth and struggles is not only encouraging, but also incredibly inspiring to your vision and mission behind your craft… use that to your advantage!

4. Be Your Self

Don’t be a faker. Being you is the best way to communicate with other. Especially in this weird world of likes and shares, engage people by being yourself!

It’s so sad to see people transforming themselves to conform with algorithms and popularity… you have been blessed with an awesome individual personality, and exactly zero other people have that same capacity! Capitalize on your quirks, and don’t be afraid to be a little uncomfortable. In a world of stereotypes and trends, someone acting like themselves is a fresh breath of air, and something that sets trends instead of chasing them.

5. Choose Optimism

You can’t control the things around you, the challenges you face, or the outcomes of others. But you can dictate how you respond to them. Optimism isn’t blind hope for a false possibility, but a perseverance to leave everything you touch better than when you found it.

Be a beacon of hope, not a spiral of hatred. Remaining optimistic means constantly pushing yourself, shooting for the stars and exploring uncharted waters! Yes, it means welcoming in occasional failure, but it’s like working out a muscle; the only way to grow and thrive is through the pain, fighting for a better tomorrow!

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