How to Design Lettering Layouts (6 Step Process)

Learn how to design lettering layouts with a step-by-step process that takes your idea from a rough sketch to the final piece.

Designing lettering layouts can be frustrating, especially if you feel like you don’t know the steps you should be taking to create one.

It might feel like there’s something you just don’t “get” about designing them.

(I used to feel that way sometimes.)

But artists don’t “magically” produce lettering layouts; instead, there’s a simple process that is used every time to design one. It all starts with good old pencil sketches.

Over time, as you create more layouts, it becomes easier and quicker to go through the design process and come up with compositions that you love.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the steps of the layout design process so you’ll have a clearer direction to follow when designing your own.

Make sure to read all the way to the end, because there’s a free gift waiting for you there 🎁

Step 1. Write your quote

Start by writing out your quote in regular handwriting.

Getting those words written down on paper helps you start visualizing how they could be arranged.

Now you can also decide how to break it up into lines.

Just read through the quote and add a line break wherever it sounds most natural. I use a slash to mark where the line breaks will be – nothing fancy!

For an example, I’ll work with the quote “Any day spent with you is my favorite day” by A.A. Milne.

I broke the sentence up like this: “Any day/spent with you/is my/favorite day.”

You may decide to change where the line breaks are later on, but this is a good starting point.

Step 2. Choose which words to highlight

Read through the words again and select which ones you want to highlight.

These will be the words that you emphasize in the composition, and they can be made to stand out with larger sizes, different styles, or embellishments like banners.

Circle or draw a box around the words you want to appear most important.

Step 3. Make thumbnail sketches

A great way to test out layout ideas is by creating thumbnail sketches, which are just small, quick drawings.

These make it easy to decide on a layout without having to sketch it on a larger scale.

Write out your phrase using your chosen line breaks and start experimenting with different lettering styles.

Try different ways of emphasizing the important words. Arrange the elements in different ways and try to puzzle them together.

Make as many thumbnail sketches as you need to, and don’t worry about making them neat or precise.

This is all about trying different things and getting the ideas flowing!

By the end of your sketching session, you’ll likely have a number of layout ideas that didn’t work, as well as some (or at least one!) that you like and want to develop further.

Step 4. Sketch your favorite layout

Now you can pick your favorite thumbnail sketch and sketch it out on a larger scale.

Take a little more time to draw the letterforms neatly and figure out how things will fit together.

If it helps you, you can use a ruler to draw guidelines for yourself first.

As you draw the layout concept on a larger scale, you’ll probably start seeing things that need to be changed.

Step 5. Tweak and adjust

Take a step back to look at your layout as a whole.

You could also take a picture of your work and look at the picture; this really helps you see things that you didn’t notice before!

You may see inconsistent spacing, letters that are too big or small, empty spaces, or lines that aren’t centered.

Whatever it is, take note of it and plan to fix it when you retrace your work.

If it helps you, use a colored pen to mark up your sketch to remind yourself of what needs to be changed.

Then use tracing paper to sketch it out again, making adjustments as needed.

And repeat! This step could really go on forever.

It usually takes at least a few traces to complete a lettering composition, and often many more than that.

If you end up doing too many traces though, you should probably just put it away for a while!

When I started learning composition, I would trace the same design over and over, not actually changing much with each trace, and still not be satisfied.

Sometimes it’s best to take a break or work on something else so you can revisit your work with fresh eyes.

Step 6. Try different layout variations

If you’re happy with your layout, great!

If not, or if you want more than one layout option, look back at your thumbnail sketches (or make more) and find another idea to try.

You may choose to go in an entirely different direction than you had planned!

Experiment with a different lettering style (here’s a super easy one) or try switching styles around.

Break the lines up a little differently or change which words are emphasized.

If you have empty white spaces that stand out too much, try using flourishes or small illustrations to fill it in.

Related: 21 Easy Ways to Embellish Hand Lettering

For my layout, I sketched out a second version that worked out better than the first, even though I didn’t end up emphasizing the words the same way.

I would still like to work on these layouts more, but I went ahead and traced them in ink to see how they were looking.

Sometimes it’s helpful to do this so you can see how the composition looks in ink compared to pencil.

Especially since some layouts can look great in pencil but don’t look as good in ink!

And there you have it: the step-by-step process for designing lettering layouts.

Final thoughts

If you’ve been wanting to create compositions but haven’t been sure of what steps to take, I hope learning this process gave you a clearer direction to follow!

AND, to make it super easy for you, I made some layout templates that you can just print out and fill in if you’re feeling lazy.

Get the FREE lettering layout templates here!

Want to know some common lettering composition mistakes and how to avoid them? Read this post next: 5 Lettering Composition Mistakes (& How to Fix Them)