First Anniversary gift, personalized version of Desiderata written in calligraphy & computer font superimposed on wedding photo

Long Poem in Calligraphy for not a lot of money ~

Do you have a really long poem and a short budget? Sometimes you need a lot of words to express your feelings. Or there is a poem that you really love and want to have written in calligraphy. But you know it's going to cost a lot because it takes a long time to write out!  

There are so many long poems and texts that we love. It could be a Best Man's speech at a wedding, Biblical scripture, a long epic poem (such as "IF" by Rudyard Kipling, or "Desiderata"). 

You may not have the budget for an expensive long piece of hand-lettered calligraphy. 

Keep reading! there's good news!

post-it notes with reminders

Your text probably doesn't look so great scribbled on lined yellow paper, or typed and stuck over your computer with a thumbtack? Think of all the "post it notes" you'd need to write out the entire poem! LOL

Lower Cost Option For Long Poems

We now have thousands of fonts available on our computers. Fonts on computers have come a long way thanks to Steve Jobs.

With all the tributes to Steve Jobs, one thing tends to get forgotten: the man helped us write. Jobs was the first to give us a real choice of fonts, and thus the ability to express ourselves digitally with emotion, clarity and variety. "Throughout the campus," he remembered at an address to students at Stanford in 2005, '"every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphied." So, having dropped out and finding himself a free agent, he decided to take a class in this art. "I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating."
At the time, the student dropout believed that little he had learned would find a practical application in his life. But things changed. Ten years after college Jobs designed his first Mac, and it came with something unprecedented -- a wide choice of fonts.

Combining Calligraphy With Computer Fonts Saves Expense

Best man's speech in calligraphy and computer font to save cost

Using calligraphy for titles and personalization gives your long text the look of custom calligraphy. It can look great and costs a lot less than writing out the entire text by hand.

In fact, doing titles give a professional calligrapher the opportunity to show off how calligraphy enhances any text. The titles can draw attention to your text and the meaning of important lines of text.  

Instead of writing out your entire poem or text of any kind entirely in calligraphy I combine computer calligraphy that makes the text look like  custom designed calligraphy. 

The titles in this blog are actually a computer font that looks like Italic Calligraphy letterforms! And there are thousands of available "fonts" (in calligraphy it's called a "hand") that you can choose from.

When I combine hand calligraphy with a perfectly chosen computer font it saves you money without sacrificing the look of custom calligraphy. Because I'm using Photoshop along with hand written calligraphy, I can combine a great looking computer font with handwritten calligraphy titles and personalization. It makes personalization and phrases stand out even more. They can be bolder, have more flourishes (if you like that look), a different contrasting color and I add effects such as a drop shadow. That makes the piece look totally custom!

Adding Calligraphy Leading Letters to Computer Font

Another way to make your long poem designed with a computer font is to add hand designed calligraphy leading letters into the text. It gives the look of a totally custom handwritten poem without the high price of writing out the entire poem by hand. 

long poem leading letters in calligraphy with computer font

 I think you'll agree, it really looks like custom handwritten calligraphy! Especially when the text is combined with a perfect background picture, the result is fabulous! Truly! Check out these examples below.

Anniversary gift- lyrics with photo of the couple walking in colorado with a composite background created with Photoshop
First anniversary love letter with selfie of the couple superimposed on photo background from Hawaii less expensive option computer font with calligraphy
couple's photo with hand calligraphy combined with computer text saves time and lowers the cost for first anniversary gift

How much does the calligraphy cost?

How do I determine the price of your calligraphy art? I love doing calligraphy and making people happy. That's why I ask your budget when you submit an inquiry. I try to work within your budget whenever possible. But remember the phrase "starving artists"? I am working for a living and have been a professional calligrapher taking classes, studying and practicing for many decades! But it doesn't make it take a shorter amount of time to write out your text. 

So, when you have a really long text, consider combining calligraphy with a beautiful computer font and a beautiful background as a great solution to save money. Let's make something for YOU!