Graffiti Concepts for Type People with Kel Troughton

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Learn drawing techniques and understand letter structure from a graffiti writing context to enhance your type and lettering work. This workshop focuses on graffiti pieces and the rich subculture of graffiti writers—a tradition of letterforms that originated on New York City subways in the 1970s. Through drawing exercises, history lessons, and demonstrations, participants will learn how to adapt ideas from the graffiti world while respecting the artform and its practitioners. You'll work on a series of drawings, developing one idea into a lettering piece, drawn alphabet, or foundation for a new display typeface. Kel will help you see the graffiti around you in new ways and leave the workshop with fresh ideas and a deeper appreciation for graffiti work. No prior experience with graffiti writing is necessary—just a type or lettering practice and curiosity for other forms of letter making. No computers are required for this workshop.

Required Materials

• Canson Marker Paper pad (9" x 12")
• #2 Pencil, ruler, eraser, sharpener
• Various sized black markers from fine to wide, including a chisel tip, such as Sharpie brand
• Tablets with drawing software are permitted but most of the initial sketches will be on paper

Kel Troughton is a type designer, lettering artist, graffiti writer, and educator, living in Oakland, California. Kel worked as the graffiti consultant for Letterform Archive including co-curating the exhibition “Subscription to Mischief”, showcasing the 1990s graffiti community and the independent publishing that documented it. He started writing graffiti in 2000 and has continued to add letter-based interests ever since. He studied type design at Type@Cooper West, worked at Monotype, and currently works on freelance type and lettering projects. His company Overlap Type focuses on type design that utilizes ideas from his graffiti experience. In short, Kel is a letter person.

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