MARINA SCHUTTEL
Expressing Myself through Lettering
Portrait courtesy of Marina Schuttel.
3rd year Bachelor of Architecture student at Wentworth Institute of Technology
Marina Schuttel is a passionate designer pursuing a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Born and raised in Brazil, Marina has always dreamed of becoming an architect. After two years of technical course in design construction in Brazil, she moved here to finish high school and is currently on her junior year of college at Wentworth Institute of Technology. She is also a board member of their Freedom by Design club. Marina has always been passionate about hand-lettering design. The Instagram page @schuttelm was created with the purpose of spreading good thoughts to others and sharing the designs she creates during her free time. Her biggest dream is to be able to impact the environment and future generations through design for change opportunities.
Inspiration
What inspired you to pursue lettering and design? How did you get into it?
Since middle school, I have always liked to create handmade cards for the people that I love, create mood boards in my room, keep journals.... In 2015, I heard of lettering as a set skill for the first time and started following many people on Instagram and YouTube to learn new techniques and to see the work they did. It was so exciting for me to realize that what I did had a name and the many things I could pursue with that.
I also had a heavy influence in the world of Graphic design, when I had a passionate teacher during high school and she almost made me want to change majors.
Chasing my dreams in a foreign country, I found many barriers, but I held on to good thoughts and my passions, to win over the daily battles.
Hand lettering became my biggest hobby and a way of expressing myself through inspiring ideas from everyday life. With this trajectory, I created many designs, and in between studio overnights and stressful deadlines, I created @schuttelm.
Image courtesy of Marina Schuttel.
Image courtesy of Marina Schuttel.
Time Management
How were you able to maintain your time especially as a student studying architecture?
Lettering was always a part of my life, my way of decompressing from the stress of the real world, and boy, don’t we need moments like that when studying architecture! But it wasn’t and it isn’t always easy. A way that I found to create content for my page and to do other things throughout architecture school, is to time block and to focus during the time that I designate for specific tasks. As well as prioritizing tasks based on deadlines, importance, and difficulty.
Ideas
Congratulations on starting your own shop! All of your designs are so motivational and positive - what inspires them?
Thank you so much! All of my designs come from daily inspirations, movies, songs, the bible, and sometimes random thoughts that come to mind while I shower. Anything that enhances my mood and that inspires me, I believe it has the potential of becoming an inspiration to others. That is the main reason why I created my Instagram account.
Image courtesy of Marina Schuttel.
Lettering Timelapse, Marina Schuttel. Image courtesy of Marina Schuttel.
Process
Can you show us a quick visual guide to one of your lettering designs?
Resources
What are resources (tools, influence, mediums) that you use?
I started doing hand-lettering on paper, using Micron pens (architect’s faves), Stabilo pens, Poscas, and brush pens. Lately, for a matter of time and switching between mediums, I have been creating the final version of my designs on my Ipad. Procreate has been my go-to for the past year, but I have also been experimenting with Illustrator for Ipads during the past week, and I love it so far!
Image courtesy of Marina Schuttel.
Want to #Letter? Follow These Steps!
What are the bases to start lettering? How do you get creative? What digital programs do you use?
Lots of sketching. When I started there weren’t as many workshops as there are today, so I have not done one before, although I am sure that would be a great way to start. For me, it was a lot of trial and error, playing with letter sizes and shapes. But the most important thing is to not be afraid of creating, to create every day! Buy lettering books and get to know different types of letters. Follow people that inspire you, and learn from who you like the most. Many of the masters of lettering provide workshops nowadays, my favorites are Stefan Kunz, Talita Marques, Threeologie.
As for digital programs, I use Procreate, and Illustrator for creating designs, and have just started using the Illustrator app for Ipads.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wish would happen and it did not?
I wish that people would start making their actions suit their words, and not just follow trends in our young architects’ society.
