Martin Schmetzer is a freelance letterer and illustrator based in Stockholm. His passion for letters started with graffiti at a young age and paved the way for the style that defines him today. For every new commission, he does a new type of letter, always handmade with signature Schmetzer curves.
Your sketches are very tight. Can you talk about your process?
martin schmetzer: I always start with drawing pen on paper when I design—rough sketching first to explore different compositions and solutions for the client to consider. Once a favorite is selected, I draw more finely, tightening the lines and honing the details before I redraw it in Illustrator.
The combination of woody slab serif and (vaguely blackletter-influenced) calligraphy is interesting. Talk about that choice (earlier sketches have lettering with more similarities to the script).
I have worked with Communicatering before, so they had quite a clear image in mind for the typography, referring to previous designs I had done. They specified that I should avoid Gothic letters with too much fracture and instead focus on a type design with more motion and curves. This ultimately led to a handcrafted, authentic style with a modern touch.
Was your design inspired by more traditional aquavit packaging?
No, not really; it was more inspired by old Christmas beer labels and traditional Swedish “Julmust” designs, with a blend of old and modern aesthetics and color choices not immediately related to Christmas. Instead of using a large Coca-Cola–red Santa Claus, they wanted more of a “Jenny Nyström”–style elf/Santa.
The Julaquavit lettering is quite consistent in the sketches, but the logo seems to vary each year. Was there a lot of development before these sketches, or does it have a previous source?
I had freedom in designing this label. The arch-shaped label and border were already set, though, since this is a shape Gotlands Bryggeri wants to use consistently now throughout their beer and spirit range.
What are some of your historical influences?
I came in contact with hand lettering through graffiti, which I believe shows in most of my work. I enjoy bombastic designs and don’t agree with the saying that “less is more.” Also vintage Victorian hand lettering is a big inspiration to me, with the high level of detail and diligence they had back then.
product: Julaquavit
client: Gotlands Bryggeri
agency: Communicatering
creative director: Jens Frithiofsson
designer/hand letterer/illustrator: Martin Schmetzer
medium: Pencil, paper, and digitial
country: Sweden
Schmetzer’s precision shines on a project that turned out to be a labor of love. “It was such a fun commission,” he says, “that I never even took all the extra hours I spent into consideration.”
For this project, Schmetzer drew his rough sketches slightly more tightly than he usually would to “do my vision and concept more justice.”
“The sketching process is most valuable to me,” Schmetzer says. “The computer is a fantastic and necessary finalizing tool, but it also limits my shapes and composition if I do not start first by hand, where I can go whole hog. After this stage, I have a quite clear vision of how I want the end product to turn out. But smaller details are often changed or added along the digital process. There is something abstract about letters that attracts me. You can make each letter of the alphabet look different in unlimited ways yet still be legible. I enjoy the interaction hand-drawn typography can have to the meaning of the word and how the letters next to each other play together.”
