Lettering with Erik Marinovich

TO MEET · 03/29/2013

Lettering with Erik Marinovich

Designer Erik Marinovich sticks to one thing and does it well: lettering. He’s been in San Francisco for about three years now, sharing the Title Case studio space with fellow letterist Jessica Hische. Prior to his move, he was working in New York at various design studios, just when lettering was on the cusp of becoming popular.

Whenever working on projects for ad agencies, there always was a lettering component, and it always ended up being the piece that he dedicated the most time to. Eventually, he began to see agencies making room in their budgets to accommodate lettering separately. With demand increasing, he dedicated his business to letters only when arriving in San Francisco.

He and Jessica are embarking on their first collaborative project together soon. They’re working on all of the branding and packaging for a new market opening up in the neighborhood. It’ll be one that carries only products that they’ve made—ketchup, pickles, jams and fresh packaged goods. Even though this is the first project they’ve officially worked on, you can consider their studio space a work of art too.

Collaborating with friends, they designed the bookshelves, custom desks with built-in pencil holders and frosted windows. The walls are covered with a neat display of witty, well-lettered prints.

Workshops and speaker sessions are also held in the studio space. They’re really open to anyone! Day long classes introduce students to type and lettering. With just a group of twelve in each session, everyone becomes well acquainted with different editing programs and techniques. Plus, you end up meeting new people in the process!

“Doughnut Roundtables” are hangout mornings that turn their studio into a gathering space. It’s served as a way for New York transplants like Erik and Jessica to plant new roots, and for others to foster new relationships within their community.

Their community has been incredibly receptive to the idea. Erik’s found that there are many creative types who are always on the hunt for something new. At Titlecase, they’ll pick up at least a couple of new things—a donut, design inspiration and possibly a new buddy.