Monograms beguile me.
I first came across them when I figured out that J.R.R. Tolkien’s diddy on the cover of Lord of the Rings was actually his initials:
J. R. R. T.
It took me awhile to make mine, but I finished it a few years back. You’ve probably seen it around here. It’s at the end of every post:
Lancelot Timothy Michael Schaubert
A monogram, when done well, symbolizes the person into a single reprintable character. It’s more than a sum of letters. It takes the sum of a person’s names, the sum of their gifts and their quirks and then amalgamates all of it into one iconographic. Tolkien’s isn’t just JRRT. It’s more. It’s a part of his world. You could feasibly find it carved into a ruin somewhere in Middle Earth. It’s the man and the myth combined into a symbol.
No wonder some of our ancestors used them for letters instead of house seals.
Well, short story long, I had two monogram projects going. One, belonging to my bride Kiddo, I started when I fashioned my own. However, her name eludes me, escapes me. I’m Kvothe caught above that courtyard of wind with no name to speak, no monogram to write:
I can’t get hers right.
In addition, I wanted to give all of my groomsmen signet rings with monograms made by yours truly. I can’t find a jeweler who will simply take my designs and put them in a ring. If you know someone who can, let me know. I’d still like to forge those rings. I’m dying to have a custom-made Schaubert-House seal and to give that pleasure to others.
As a small consolation prize, I finished some monograms for my friends. Seven are for guys in my wedding. All of them are, in my estimation, monograms.
There’s funnier ones, like Peter ___ Corado, who refuses to tell me his middle name, even after all these years:
That other one’s Micah Paul Balu.
Then there’s my lifelong twin Andrew Graham Nash, the Portland musician, alongside Robb John Kimball Jones:
My writer friends Colby Lance Williams, Ellie Ann Soderstrom and Kyle Christopher Welch next to an old, old, frickityfrackin’ old logo from a writer’s group I helped start:
Heath Ryan Schaubert (my brother) next to Jordan Ryan Schultz (my “fraternal twin”):
Derek Hammeke of Key Productions:
The Gonzalez’s:
And finally Jordan Howerton who to this day remains in my phone contact list as “Jo Jo How.” He started “The j” back in college – sorry Jordan, couldn’t work an empty stroller into yours. His monogram is below to the right of Taylor Ann Collier’s (formerly Hahn – “The Amazin’ Asian”).
To give you an idea of how much thought I put into each of these, I’ll explain Taylor’s. A taylor, historically, is a tailor – one who creates fashionable clothing custom fit for a patron. I wanted something needle-point taut, but also Asian. I couldn’t use Korean – from Taylor’s home country – because many Korean characters are too round. The best blend of sleek needle-point and Asian is Japanese. T in Katakana Japanese came up as weird version of To on my phone. Dang cellphone, never transliterating right and always dying! A came up as Ya. C came up as Ko or Ro. I made do and bended them between both letter systems. Those letters became this:
What about you?
Have you ever checked into your family crest
or sealed a letter with a monogram?
Happy sealing!
Your monograms are so cool! I’m sure your friends loved them! I love hearing your thought process behind them all as well.
Thanks so much, Jillian. Yeah, they’re liking them for the most part. Some I feel like I could make better, but I’ve been stewing on this for three years now, it was time to share a bit.
Thanks for the words, and the “tip” via comment.
Also, sis, it’ll take some time before I can get yours out. My pc and mac both crashed.
I’ll get it for you, I promise.
Colby, if you read this at all, yours has a bouncy ball in it.
Ahh, the Tolkien monogram! Great post – gives me something to chew on, or scribble about, or do a bit of research on at the very least…and nice work on those monograms of yours, too!
mmm…. Tolkien.
Thanks, gobbledygookedy. I love them. Of course, some of this is my opinion interjected, but hey, what isn’t?
I certainly prefer it when they’re more than just a letter mashup. Most of the monograms in major league baseball don’t really mean much, you know?
Forgot to mention that my monogram pulls some symbolism from my world alongside my life.
Perhaps writers should come up with pen-monograms, rather than names!
Love this post, Lance. Nicely done.
Thanks, August. I think that’s a great idea! Of course, I kinda like the moder noirs – those unearthing the underbelly plots like the first national treasure or like the manchurian candidate. A pseudo-gram would work well for that kinda stuff.
Think the Robert-Downey Sherlock Holmes
what a clever idea!
Well thanks!
I heart that! Great idea! : )
thanks.
This is so cool, you made me want to make one for myself
Actually, Yor, I’m making one for Jillian Dodd (above) so if you want to give me your full name (or initials), your basic interests, your family ethinicity and such, I can whip one up for you as well.
Update: my pc just crashed, so it might take longer than usual…
Sweet!
My initials are Y & R and I am in love with words, writing, movies, tv shows, and pretty believer of God’s love.
Giving you my early thanks and no worries I believe I have more years to live and I can wait. Get well soon to your PC.
ooops I adore books and notebooks too
okay, I’ll see what I can whip up alongside of Jillian’s. Keep an eye out for pingbacks.
[...] retina, but never took the time to learn vectors or illustrator. Vector images would have made the monograms cleaner. Some day, [...]