Nut Harvest Lettering for Frito-Lay

While grocery shopping this morning I saw the Nut Harvest lettering I created back in 2004. I was pleased to see my lettering still in use on a Frito-Lay package after 6 years.


This is the series of rough sketches used as drawing templates. The sketches I work from are always rough as refinements happen while drawing in Illustrator.


Whenever I create lettering with an arced baseline I usually start by drawing the lettering on a straight baseline. This method allows me to keep the letter weight, height, drop lines and highlights consistent. When all the elements are properly drawn I will draw an arc and turn it into a locked guide. I will then skew each individual letter to match the baseline arc. I have used the envelope tool in Illustrator to bend letters but occasionally I end up with too much distortion at the ends of the arc. Hand skewing allows me better control of the letter form.


This version was based loosely on a baseball style script. The key element that made this lettering pop was the interior drop shadow shape as shown in blue.


The rough edge effect for this lettering was created with the distort roughen filter. All the white deckled texture was made with the brush tool while using a Wacom pen to stipple the texture. When finished with the texture effect I closed all the small shapes with a pathfinder filter. Back in the pre Mac days I would have used a rapidograph pen and marker to texture a photostat of the lettering. Much easier to do this in present day with a Wacom tablet.