S A YOUNG DESIGNER I was totally enamored with drop caps. Invariably, I would assign at least two a week when I was art director of the Times Book Review, sometimes three or four. They were done mostly by illustrators, and the model I gave them was “think illumination!”
The designer and letterer Jessica Hische seems to have a similar fascination with the alphabetical starter, the initial cap, the big letter. She daily presents her own and guests’ letters in The Daily Drop Cap. It is a handsome website, that makes me nostalgic for the days when illustrators would call me (no email then), hoping they could do a weekly initial or two.
Go here to sample the current batch. And here to view my favorite drop cap.
