Chapter 16

Certificates

In This Chapter

Looking at the materials you need

Filling in names on preprinted certificates

Creating a certificate from scratch

Fixing mistakes

Presenting your finished work

After people discover that you can do calligraphy, it’s inevitable that you’ll be asked to do certificates. The most common job you’ll be asked to do is fill in names on preprinted certificates, which is a pretty easy job. In other cases, someone may ask you to create a hand-lettered, custom-designed certificate. In this case, you would have to design and create a one-of-a-kind certificate.

Although certificates are most often used to recognize achievement, to honor service, or recognize the completion of a training program or course of study, like a graduation diploma, certificates don’t always have to be totally serious. A certificate can be humorous and unofficial, as well. In this chapter, I touch upon different kinds of certificate projects, from the simplest to the most demanding and from the serious to the sarcastic, and I give you plenty of pointers so you can do all kinds of certificates well (see Figure 16-1 for a couple of examples).

Figure 16-1: Examples of finished certificates.

Not all certificates have to be dead-pan serious and formal. Figure 16-2 gives you an example of a certificate that I did just for fun — a diploma for a Master’s degree from the college of hard knocks! The translation of the Latin phrase is “There’s no free lunch.”

Figure 16-2: A master’s degree from the college of hard knocks.

Making Sure Your Materials and Skills Are in Order

To do certificates you need to know:

At least one alphabet really well: If you know two or more alphabets, that is even better. Which alphabets are the best ones for certificates? I suggest you use these alphabets in the following ways:

Italic, Bookhand, or Copperplate for the main text

Roman, Blackletter, or Uncial for the titles

How to draw guide lines: You can find out more about drawing guide lines in Chapter 3.

How to do flush and symmetrical designs: I cover these designs in Chapter 14. In fact, if you have not looked at Chapter 14 yet, I strongly encourage you to go through that information before you tackle this chapter. There is a lot in that chapter on designing a quotation that you can use to create a certificate.

Because there are different kinds of certificate jobs, the materials are not always the same. Here’s a rundown of the tools you need for particular jobs:

Pen: For small, not very serious jobs, such as lettering names on preprinted certificates for such things as an elementary school science fair, you could use something as simple as a marker. However, if you are doing anything that is the least bit serious and official, the only acceptable pen is the dip pen.

Paper: For official documents, the choice of paper is an important consideration. You should always choose archival quality, acid-free paper so it won’t turn yellow or become brittle with age. Never “cut corners” when it comes to selecting the paper. For small, not very serious jobs, I recommend that you use the Strathmore or Pentalic paper I describe in Chapter 2.

In this chapter, I explain the basics of using a mock-up which you place underneath the real certificate to serve as a guide for your lettering. For that reason, my instructions assume that you will be using paper that is lightweight enough for you to see through.

You can get archival quality paper that is manufactured to resemble parchment. There are several brands available, and it is usually called “calligraphy parchment.” The lighter weights of this paper are fairly translucent and are an excellent choice for a certificate.

Filling In Names on Prepared Certificates

How difficult can it be to write some names on preprinted certificates? It’s not very difficult at all:

Prepare to use a spare. Always ask for at least one extra certificate so you can test your pens to see which pen is the best choice. Unfortunately, many certificates are printed on paper that causes some inks to bleed. When this happens, you may have to resort to using a marker. Also some certificates are printed on a slick kind of paper that will cause your pen to skip or the ink to smear too easily. Experiment with your pens to see which one is best for the job.

Obtain the spelling and capitalization of names. Make sure that you know the exact spelling and capitalization of all the names before you begin. I always request a written list to work from. Because you can spell and capitalize names in so many different ways, I just don’t trust my own ability to get them right.

Use a simple technique to center names. Normally names have to be centered on certificates, and some people are very good at doing this by eye, but not me. Here’s the technique I use (find out more about this technique in Chapter 14):

1. Letter all the names on another piece of paper.

2. Cut the names into individual strips.

3. Center the strips above or below (depending upon your preference) the space on the certificate where you plan to letter the name. The easiest way to locate the center of a strip is to hold it up to a light and fold it so the first letter overlaps the last letter of the name. The fold is the center. You can find the center line of the certificate by just measuring it.

Working from Scratch

Creating a certificate from scratch may seem like a daunting task if you’ve never done anything like it before. However, I’m confident, if you already know how to do a couple alphabets and you’ve lettered some quotations (see Chapter 14), that you’re ready to take the plunge. Making a certificate can be an exciting and rewarding challenge!

If you want the experience of making a certificate but no one has asked you to do one, you can always think of someone you know who deserves recognition and make one for that person. Your certificate could be a “World’s Most Extraordinary” award for a boss, spouse, doctor, friend, babysitter, teacher, pastor, neighbor — you get the idea.

In the following sections, I make sure you get the right start and take all the right steps to make your certificate the best it can be. If you do make a mistake, however, I give some pointers on that as well (see “Fixing Mistakes,” later in this chapter).

Although in this section I show you the simplest method for designing and creating a certificate, it doesn’t mean that you’ll get mediocre results. Your results will look totally professional in all respects. Just follow these steps to get started right:

1. Make certain you have the exact wording for the certificate. The wording needs to be one hundred percent accurate and the grammar, spelling, and punctuation must be error-free. This is something that you cannot afford to make a mistake about. It could be incredibly embarrassing if, for example, a word was misspelled or a date was incorrect and no one noticed until after the certificate was presented. Sometimes, just to be absolutely certain that everything is correct, I have enlisted the help of an English teacher to proofread the wording for me.

2. Make several preliminary sketches to develop an appropriate design for the certificate. In selecting a design, take into consideration how formal the award is. A design for a high school graduation diploma should be more formal than a diploma for kindergarten graduation. A design for an award honoring a person at retirement for many years of service should look different from an award for a company’s top sales representative.

Figure 16-3 shows three very basic designs for certificates – the basic symmetrical design, the symmetrical design with a curved title, and the same design with the addition of a border.

If this is your first experience making a certificate, I strongly recommend that you stick pretty close to one of these basic designs. You can become more adventuresome with your designs once you’ve mastered a basic certificate.

3. Make a rough drawing that shows the wording and the placement of each line of writing as it will appear on the certificate. Decide how you are going to give emphasis to the wording by the sizes, styles, and weight of the letters.

Think in terms of a hierarchy of emphasis. What is the most important thing to emphasize? What should be the most prominent line of text? What should be second, third, fourth, and so on? Create a visual order of emphasis by using different sizes, weights, and styles of letters. The most important words — usually the title — should be the largest and boldest letters. The least important should be the smallest and lightest. Generally:

The title has the largest and boldest letters.

The body of the certificate has the medium size and weight letters.

The text for date and signatures is the smallest of all.

When different alphabets are used together within the same design, the rule is that they are used in their historical order. For example, Roman, Uncial, and Blackletter should be used before Italic, Bookhand, or Copperplate.

Figure 16-3: Three basic, traditional designs — a good starting place.

Creating a mock-up

Using a mock-up makes it easy to create a number of copies of the same certificate. This is especially helpful if you know you’ll be called upon to produce a specific kind of certificate on a repeated basis. If you’ve already decided on a design for your certificate (if not, see the section, “Working from Scratch,” above), you can begin to create the mock-up. Just follow these steps (see Figure 16-4 for examples of two finished mock-ups):

1. Letter all the lines of writing on a separate sheet of paper. Use the same styles and sizes for the letters that you plan to have on the finished certificate — this is, after all, the mock-up. You can draw guide lines if you want to.

Don’t be concerned at all about the placement of the lines of text on the page. Simply concentrate on good lettering with good spacing. If you intend to curve the title, go ahead and letter it as a straight line. After you create your mock-up, you can curve the title; just check out the section, “Curving the title” to discover a simple technique to get this done.

2. Cut all the lines of text into strips.

3. Rule off guide lines for your design on another sheet that’s exactly the same size of the finished certificate you’re creating.

4. Attach the strips onto this sheet in their correct positions.

Although the final product should always be done with a dip pen, the pen sizes that you use for the lettering on the mock-up need only be the same size as the dip pens you will use on the certificate. You don’t have to use a dip pen for the mock-up. As long as the pen nibs are exactly the same size, you can use markers or a fountain pen if you feel more comfortable working with it.

Figure 16-4: Two mock-up examples.

Curving the title

If you want to curve one or more of the strips, here’s a simple, almost fool-proof method you can use (Figure 16-5 shows you the curved title on a mock-up):

1. Use a compass to draw an arc to represent the curved base line exactly the way you want it on your mock-up.

2. Take the strip and mark the center.

3. Trim away everything below the writing line (including the descenders).

4. Cut slits in between each of the letters, position the strip on the mock-up, and

5. Bend (carefully!) the strip to conform to the curve that you drew on the mock-up.

6. Tape it down when you have it correctly positioned.

7. Darken all the guide lines on your mock-up by tracing over them with a marker.

Figure 16-5: A curved title on a mock-up. Note the cropped g.

Lettering the actual certificate

After you create a mock-up (if you haven’t yet, I highly recommend it — just check out “Creating a mock-up,” above for details), the only thing you have left to do is letter the actual certificate:

1. Place the blank certificate paper on top of the mock-up so the writing is visible underneath.

2. Attach both of them to your writing board using drafting tape.

3. Letter the certificate using the mock-up underneath as your guide.

As you are doing the certificate, endeavor to make the letters even better than the ones you are following underneath. Do not try simply to trace over the letters. Instead, follow them for the correct placement, but strive to make them even better. Trying to trace the letters will make it difficult for you to use smooth and rhythmic strokes.

Fixing Mistakes

If you make a mistake lettering the certificate, it usually means that you must start over. However, in some instances, you can make minor corrections. Try to make a correction before you decide to throw your work away and start over. Remember, if you can’t make a correction successfully, which means the correction must be invisible; you have to start over.

You can try to make a correction by using one of the following techniques:

Remove the error with a scrape. A very small amount of “erasing” can sometimes be done by the following method:

1. Make sure the ink is completely dry.

2. Use a new, clean, single-edge razor blade to gently scrape away the mistake. Actually, you will be shaving away a very thin layer of the paper. This will only work on good quality paper that is thick enough to withstand the scraping.

3. Use a burnisher to smooth the paper where you scraped, if you successfully removed the mistake by scraping it. Burnishing should enable you to letter on top of the correction.

Alter the letter to look like another. Sometimes when you have made the wrong letter, you can alter it slightly by a combination of erasing and relettering. For example, the letter r can easily be changed into an n.

Put a design on top of the mistake. For example, once when I finished lettering a quotation, much to my consternation, I discovered a drop of ink that had splattered near the bottom. I simply drew a small star on top of it and placed another star at the bottom so the two were perfectly balanced. They looked completely intentional. No one ever suspected that one of the stars covered a mistake!

With the widespread use of correction fluid, I feel compelled to add that you should never use correction fluid on a hand-lettered certificate. The only time it is acceptable to use correction fluid is when you are creating something that will be photocopied.

Adding spaces for signatures, dates, and seals

Certificates usually require dates and signatures. If you need to draw lines for these, the best implement for doing the job is a ruling pen (see Figure 16-6), which should be available at any store that sells drafting supplies. They’re also available from John Neal Booksellers (see Chapter 2 about materials and supplies).

Figure 16-6: Using a ruling pen.

Ruling pens are really quite easy to use and give you a perfect line of very fine width which is perfect for a certificate. The ruling pen has a knob on the side for adjusting the width, and you fill it from the side. Always use the ruling pen with a straight edge.

If you’ve never used a ruling pen before, I encourage you to get one and try it. I think you’ll be amazed at how perfect the lines are that you can draw with it.

Running for the border

A border around the edge of the certificate can sometimes be a highly effective part of your design. If you want to use a border, just make sure that it doesn’t overpower the rest of your design. The best rule to follow when it comes to using a border is that an understated border is usually never a problem, but a border that is too wide or looks too dark and heavy will always spoil the design. See Chapter 17 for more on borders.

Resolutions

This is not about the kind of resolutions you make at New Year’s but special kinds of certificates that are used to honor someone’s service to an organization or community. Official resolutions are hardly ever preprinted (at least I know of none). They almost always have to be done by hand.

The form of the official resolution is simple:

At the top is the word “Resolution.”

The text is a series of statements preceded by the word “Whereas.”

After each “Whereas” there is a comma.

At the end of each Whereas statement there is a semi-colon and the word and.

After the series of “Whereas” statements, a closing statement begins with the phrase “Now, Therefore Be It Resolved.”

Here is an example of how a resolution might be worded:

Resolution

Whereas, John Smith has served the Stoneville School Board from 1995 to 2006; and

Whereas, he has contributed to public education in the Stoneville community; and

Whereas, he has given unselfishly of his time and energy to the School Board; and

Whereas, he has faithfully and diligently performed the duties of a member of this public body;

Now, Therefore Be It Resolved that the Stoneville School Board does unanimously recognize John Smith for his invaluable services and contributions to the board.

Given this ____ day of (month), (year), at Stoneville, Ohio.

Polishing Your Work with a Presentation Folder

When it comes time to deliver your finished work, it’s important that you put some thought and preparation into how you’re going to present it for final approval.

I like to make a nice, hinged folder with silk ribbons fixed in the corners to hold the finished certificate in place (see Figure 16-7). The folder can also have a ribbon tie on it, and on the outside of the folder you can put your business card or a decorative label that has your client’s name and your name done in calligraphy. You can even place the folder on a lightweight display easel at the time of the “unveiling.”

Having a presentation folder is not necessary by any means, but I believe it’s to your advantage to show off your work in the best possible way. As they say, you have only one chance to make a first impression, and a presentation certainly has an element of making a first impression. It really helps if the client goes “Wow!” when he or she first sees what you have created.

The folder also allows you to keep the certificate out of view until just the right time to show it. If you are presenting the certificate to more than one person, you can make certain that you have everyone’s attention and that everyone has a good vantage point before you lift the flap.

It never hurts to add a little dramatic flair whenever you present your artwork to a client. I have found that people love it; it highlights the value of your work and makes them feel important, too. Plus it’s simple:

Use mat board for the flap.

Use 3/16-inch thick, black Gator board for the backing of the folder.

Use cloth decorator tape to secure the ribbons for the corners and to make a hinge at the top for the flap.

Thread the ribbon ties through holes punched in the boards.

Figure 16-7: The completed work in an elegant-looking presenta- tion folder.