Next in our series of Handmade Type Workshop contributor interviews is Natsuki Otani – a young Tokyo-born illustrator (and editor of Illustration Rally) who works with ink to create beautiful and bold freehand type styles.
What led you to making ‘handmade type’?
Working by hand is more natural to me, my illustration is mostly hand drawn or hand made, so it feels more comfortable to approach typography in the same manner as my working practice.
What are you favourite materials to use?
I love to work in ink, I like the way it always turns out differently and the random nature of how it mixes, plus I really love colour and inks suit this perfectly!
What (or who) inspires your work?
I am inspired by those daily little things, like birds and clouds, the things I can see from my window and even the television sometimes sets me off. As well as this I love music of all types and listening while I work is always inspiring.
There seems to be a trend for all things handmade in design at the moment, why do you think this is?
I personally think in times like these handmade crafts and designs feel so special as they are constructed for you, so that even if it is not an expensive brand, the personality of a handmade design makes it feel unique for the viewer and this gives it more relevance when it is hard to feel special or individual.
What projects are you working on now and what does the future hold?
I have some exhibitions to prepare for and I have an animation project that I’m really excited about, it’s more a self branding project so that I can branch out and get a wider range of work.
Learn how to create letterforms with ink in Handmade Type Workshop and discover more of Natsuki’s work at her website.
Taking font creation back to basics, Charlotte Rivers‘ new book explores innovative ways to design contemporary lettering of all kinds, examining everything from classic design examples to 3D and illustrated fonts, digital lettering and radical conceptual alphabets.
Handmade Type Workshop is ideal for anyone looking to move beyond existing typography and fonts to create, explore and use original or customized letterforms and available now from our website.