Designer and illustrator Jessica Hische has a neat project — creating a fun, new capital letter every single (work) day. She calls it the Daily Drop Cap, and it’s intended for use to add a little bit of flair to everyday blog posts.
ach letter has a signture style — some are curlicued, others streamlined, but all are interesting and fun. Drop capitals, by the way, are one of several varieties of initials, each of which sets off the start of a paragraph more than a normal indent would. Wikipedia notes that initials can be on the same baseline as the first line of type, but extend upwards higher than normal (I think Vanity Fair does this, or at least they used to). Alternatively, the initial can sit flush with the top of the paragraph, and extend down. A true “drop cap” (and perhaps you can tell that I’m trying to stretch this paragraph out a bit) is when the lines further down the paragraph don’t get pushed over — they are flush-left with the left-hand side of the initial.
I don’t think that baroque drop caps fit with the current style of the blog, but I’m always thinking about a redesign, so who knows what will happen. I’ll definitely keep the Daily Drop Cap in mind.
(via Grain Edit)
Grant Hamilton
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