Bradley student Cheslie Tamms’ new business is something to write home about: a custom lettering and card design company called Lettering Works. Tamms’ company creates original and artful hand-designed greeting cards.
“I think the main appeal of my products is the uniqueness,” Tamms, a senior graphic design and Spanish double major, said. “It feels more genuine when you give a card that isn’t like all those Hallmark cards you find on the shelf in a grocery store.”
Tamms said her passion for hand lettering started in high school.
“I really liked the contrast between the rules of typography and the freedom of the illustrative aspect,” Tamms said. “I could take these fonts with these long typographical histories behind them and combine them to make something new.”
According to Tamms, her high school hobby eventually snowballed into a business.
“I’ve always wanted to start a business, although I thought it would be much further down the road, but given the work that’s been building up for me, it made more sense to make it a business instead of just freelance work,” she said.
Tamms said she was slightly intimidated by the amount of work that goes into starting a business.
“It’s tricky bringing both the business and art side together,” Tamms said. “It’s a lot to manage on top of other things like finance, social media and teaching yourself new skills.”
However, she said her time at Bradley helped her with this process.
“The ability to integrate different majors and departments into getting whatever project you want completed is really helpful,” Tamms said.
Tamms said she hopes to expand her business by the time she graduates in May.
“I’m planning on taking on a full-time job at an advertisement and marketing agency, building up clients and hopefully launching it as a full business,” Tamms said.
In addition to managing Lettering Works, Tamms said she is working on getting her book “Just My Type of Lettering” published. The book is a guide to hand lettering and explains Tamms’ personal creative process.
Tamms said she started a Kickstarter to fundraise for her book, and the campaign ends March 9. Students can support her project at www.kickstarter.com/projects/1001282600/just-my-type-of-lettering-a-how-to-book-on-hand-le.
