Calligram Designers

Type your word, draw your picture and get a calligram in few seconds with TypeDrawing with just a touch. It is so easy and fun! TypeDrawing is an application for iPhone and iPod Touch. Like calligrams, drawing with letters is what the application is all about. I was amazed the first time I tried it on my husband's iPod Touch! - I typed the sentence, Everything is all right, right now. - I chose a white background paper - I selected the font style, its size, color and opacity - and then just let the intuition flow and drew a vase of flowers, just with my index finger! Then - I saved it in an iPhoto Album - went into iPhoto and sent it directly to my husband as a sign of gratitude for introducing to me such an interesting and fun application. And all within few minutes. On Flickr there is a TypeDrawing Group Pool and it's clear how many people are enjoying and using their creativity with this tool. I am exploring it daily and I am finding it truly amazing. It allows an entirely...

by Rick Ligas Some of us believe that the only real revolution is the personal revolution and that the only peace that exists in the world is our own internal peace of mind and heart. This calligram, titled Free your mind , by Laura Ruggeri , shows that belief in a clear and subtly powerful way. Looking at a world that seems so unpeaceful (even if, on any given day, there are billions more peaceful people than non peaceful people) we are reminded that peace starts within each of us and flows out to our family, friends and beyond. It doesn't exist anywhere else. This lovely calligram quietly reminds us that there is nothing mysterious or difficult to understand about world peace. It reminds us that world peace is simply our individual peace of mind and heart naturally projected into the world from our daily actions. If we want a peaceful world we have the responsibility to become and remain peaceful individuals. "Free your mind instead" comes from the lyrics of Revolution ...

The word STUFF is part of the logo-title designed by Ruben DeLuna for the very succeful 20-minute documentary THE STORY OF STUFF with Annie Leonard .  "The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever." says Annie. As you can see the letterforms are made by stuff that everyday we consciously or unconsciously buy, collect, store-and-forget-we-have, stuffing our environment and, most importantly, stuffing our mind. In the yoga tradition the mind is called "citta vrtti" translated in english as "the mind stuff". Stuff that comes from the past and stuff that we desire in the future could be objects, memories and emotions that in some way stuff our lives. Try to open your closet. Can you find something you do...

a yoga calligram card by Laura Ruggeri From the depth of my heart I wish you a Summer full of: cheerfulness compassion courage determination friendliness generosity love openness peacefulness purity strength tolerance trust wisdom These are in alphabetical order only for convenience but... let's set up our priorities and sincerely follow them! May this Summer shines from within You.

by Ben Duarri-Screen Prince The third calligram in The Royalty Series , Jimi Hendrix , is entirely hand drawn lettering using lyrics from "Are You Experienced?" , from his break-through album of the same title. I drew from the phsychedelic posters of the time such as Martin Sharp's Bob Dylan cover print of Oz magazine,“Blowing in the Mind” and the work of John Van Hamersveld, Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelly, among others. Here, Jimi is elevated to a sun-god status, a messiah of rock and roll, with little sun rises in his eyes and mouth refering to the line “ we'll hold hands and then we'll watch the sun rise from the bottom of the sea... ” that makes up his jaw and arched moustache and side burns. The overall impression I wanted to acheive was that of an apparition or hallucination in a cloud of purple smoke and golden sunlight passing through it. So far, one edition of 20 of the classic gold -lightly blended with green edges at the beginning of the run- and purple...

by Ben Duarri-Screen Prince This, the first of my The Royalty Series , a portrait of the mercurial artist known as Prince . Using the lyrics of his dacefloor classic b-side to Lets Go Crazy - Erotic City, Prince at the height of his Purple Rain era circa 1984. The song was hard to single out from such a vast opus, but the reference to bringing to life a whole dark erotic personality of a city, ”funking in2 the dawn” and ”creamy thighs“ swayed it. I set out to make an image that was truly erotic only using the lyrics, face and eye contact with the viewer. I looked at lace and lingere, decorative motifs and flourishing from baroque to art-nouveau and blended it with Shakespearian calligraphy. All the letters were constructed with pen and ink and correction pen then photocopied. So far, only one edition on A2 stock printed in a tinted gold blend and purple and magenta blend has been printed along with three small Artist proof editions of seven, on coloured papers and soft col...

With this post we'll start showing the calligram art work by Ben Duarri-Screen Prince . by Ben Duarri All my work is hand drawn, mostly using dip pens, written in ink and screenprinted as a 2 colour screenprint in gold and blue or purple and maybe more colours. Calligrams stimulate both sides of the brain simultaniously creating balance and the opening of the 3rd eye. I am starting The Cult of the Calligram and I want to bring calligrams and the making of them to a new generation reared on mind supresants and imagination killers. I want to find ancient middle eastern calligrams and 20th century european calligrams and contemporary calligrams and calligrams from all time and space that ever were are and will be and gather them together and give a whole generation the tools to communicate with joy and passionate poetry that can only be achieved by creating calligrams. I have spent the last four years making and printing, making and printing and now my first series of calligrams: The...