OnTheSpotStudio’s fonts are a definite must have, but do you know her story? Check out her interview below;
Could you tell us about yourself? Where are you from, what do you do, etc.?
Hi! I’m Tiffany Willett, owner and designer for OnTheSpotStudio! I live in Kentucky. Besides creating designs for logos, branding, font designing and hand lettering, I also make dog accessories! Collars, tags, etc.
How did your design journey begin?
I’ve been doing calligraphy since was around 10 years old. Over time, I’ve made tons of progress with practicing my lettering, styles, etc. I’ve been doing logos and branding for 10+ years and specialize in hand lettered designs. A few years back, when I got my first iPad, I started playing with font development. Hello rabbit hole ! 😂 Obviously, I ran with it and am still learning things as I go!
Featured product: Unicorn Letters
Where do you usually find your inspiration?
That’s tough. It really all depends on my mood. If I’ve had a great day, I’m likely to letter something pretty and whimsical. If I’m in a mood, it’s more messy and quickly lettered.
Featured product: Colleen
Any favourite design references that you can share that might be helpful for other designers as well?
Check out Missy Meyer. She has some good tutorials that helped me when I was stuck or needed a little guidance. Also, use good software. Type 3.2 was a great one to start with. Also, Fontographer & Glyphs are great as well (I can’t recommend windows based software since I run Mac). Those are the three I work with most.
Featured product: Rowan
What are the most common design problems that you face?
Sigh. There’s no easy way to describe this, but pirating is the most common problem. Websites that offer our fonts for free, and when someone is looking for a specific font, they tend to ask things like, “Anything similar to this but free?”. That hurts. We font designers spend hours lettering, developing, cleaning up, testing our fonts to make sure they are the best for the consumers. Font creation is a tedious task, and a lot of hard work goes into it. However, I love it nonetheless. Besides that, when I see my fonts or designs traced on products, as not only is it illegal, most of the time it looks pretty bad! (Sorry, but I can be pretty blunt about this.)
Featured product: Delilah
Final question, do you have any advice or tips for anyone starting to sell their designs?
Patience. Be prepared to really know your software. Make sure you know what software the designs you create are compatible with as you will be asked a lot of troubleshooting questions! Ensure you know your audience as well. If your focus is on crafters, use keywords that will draw them to your designs . Lastly, make sure you have fun! That’s the most important part. You should love your job and process of creating your designs. That’s when the best designs usually surface!
Featured product: Freya
