Draw a perfect 'S' in 15 seconds with this typography trick

S tutorial
(Image credit: Markus Spiske on Pexels)

Whether it was a sneaky doodle or busted out when creating poster designs, there was a time when everyone loved bubble writing. And although you may no longer be in primary school, if you want to create a condensed 'S' shape, then a child's tip may be just the thing.  

Lettering artist Ian Barnard has tweeted a super-short video demonstration of how to create a condensed 'S', saying that the tip came from his daughter. Barnard's condensed 'S' is sharper than standard bubble writing. It's got a cool urban edge to it, similar to the ones we see in our favourite graffiti fonts. Check it out below.

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The condensed 'S' has evoked warm memories for people commenting on the Twitter thread. Bonez Designz remembers it as the 'Superman S':

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Whereas Erica Rodriguez speaks for the crowd that made some small adjustments to make it a dollar sign:

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In fact, according to YouTuber LEMMINO in a video about the 'Universal S' (below), the condensed 'S' has been spotted as far back as 1890, in a book called Mechanical Graphics, so it's clearly a popular choice.

But it's a tricky one to master due to the letter's awkward geometry. So next time you need to draw yourself a geometrically perfect, well-balanced 'S' just get yourself one of the best sketchbooks available, and follow the advice from Barnard's daughter. 

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Georgia Coggan

Georgia is lucky enough to be Creative Bloq's Editor. She has been working for Creative Bloq since 2018, starting out as a freelancer writing about all things branding, design, art, tech and creativity – as well as sniffing out genuinely good deals on creative technology. Since becoming Editor, she has been managing the site on a day-to-day basis, helping to shape the diverse content streams CB is known for and leading the team in their own creativity.