Author of The Art of Lettering: Modern Calligraphy in Four Easy Steps, Stefan Kunz, has been traveling the world with his increasingly popular art form, collaborating, conducting workshops and inspiring people. In this candid chat with IndieFolio Network, the artist recalls his creative journey, and talks of his inspirations and future plans.
How did you stumble upon hand lettering and what made you so passionate about it?
I looked over my Instagram, and didn’t see any beauty in it. So I decided to either do something for real or not do it at all.
I started with an app, adding text over it, and then just creating small pieces. When the app didn’t allow me to grow and move on anymore, I reached the beginning of my hand lettering.
I actually started to draw by hand because that’s the only way I knew how to break out of the limitation of the app. In the beginning, I just wanted to post something on Instagram every day- my goal was to grow on Instagram. So my lettering had to be bettered and perfected. I started getting better and that made me more passionate.
You quit your bank job to pursue hand lettering full time. In India, pursuing a niche design practice like this is still considered to be risky. What advice do you have for young minds who want to follow their passion?
Well, I would definitely say that in Switzerland it’s pretty much the same thing.
Pursuing hand lettering or something as niche is not considered to be a good idea. For me, I needed to have a diploma or something else I could fall back on. In case it wouldn’t work out. That’s why I took up banking. I always knew it was a short term thing. So quitting the banking job was just something that felt natural to do. And then finally the question you have to ask yourself is- do you have enough runway to build up your business?
I had different incomes. I was still shooting weddings at the time. I wanted to do different things. But lettering was always my main thing and I finally had enough saved up to be able to pursue this full time. I stopped doing wedding photography and stopped doing everything else I was already doing to sustain.
So it’s still considered risky, but my advice for any young mind who wants to follow their passion is to be smart about it, and think about the next steps. Whatever it is that you want to be doing, really to focus on that. Save up money first, make sure you have a plan, and that you follow it.
You were in Delhi for a workshop recently. How did it go? What did you think of India’s fast-growing design community?
Delhi was great. I didn’t have that much time nor did I have that many opportunities to see the city. But it’s a very interesting place. The workshop went really great, and I had a great time with everyone that attended. They were really amazing and I got to learn a lot from them too. Being in a different culture, learning from new people…I can see that from YouTube and social media that a lot of people from India are joining these platforms, and populating them, and designing like crazy. That’s really what encourages me and inspires me- to see more people, get in touch with their creativity, and be able to live out their creativity.
Who is your biggest inspiration? Where do you take your inspiration from?
Well, one of the things that I teach in my workshop is that inspiration really is everywhere.
You can’t really see it, but you really have to open your eyes. So it’s like looking inside your fridge. If you don’t see anything in your fridge, it’s because you’re not looking, you’re not actually taking those items out. So for me, inspiration is really whenever I decide to apply it. I can see it and that’s very helpful.
There are people that inspire me in business, and there are people whose design inspires me in the creative field. Usually people that have achieved a lot, that have worked with brands, and can show me how it is possible, inspire me.
What is your most memorable project and why?
There are many different ones! There’s one that’s for the airport at Zurich- that was very memorable for me because it holds a special place in my heart. Every time I come home or I land there, that’s the first touch point where I feel like home.
So that always is a beautiful reminder, and having my work done at the airport is, and was, very special. So probably the next big thing could be an airline or someone that I like to fly with. But also, one of the most amazing projects was with Coca Cola, for a world kind of stay in 2018. They reached out and this piece of work got onto Times Square, which was one of my biggest dreams. It was really special to me. It has a positive message. It speaks of just the kind of things I like to talk about.
What’s next for you? Anything we should be waiting for?
There’s definitely something big in the works, and there’s other projects too. We’re working on tools. We’re working on workshops. I’m mainly trying to help other creatives and lettering artists to create more, and hopefully also find ways to inspire more people.
