It has been said that a signpainter might only really nail one or two Ss in their entire career. That’s why I wholeheartedly prefer the extremely low-risk, low-stakes, and low-fumes world of type!

Here’s an S that is really blowing it.

And now here’s that same S with those issues resolved.

Here are two rule-breaking Ss with a thin spine. They get away with it because they are reverse contrast.

As we’ve previously mentioned, Ss terminals echo through many of the letters.

And now that I think about it, it’s a feature that goes way beyond just that.

When drawing the s, make sure you flip it backwards, upside-down, and back again, while you measure and evaluate in context.

Lots of times, especially in italics, the lowercase s has different terminals than the uppercase. I could talk all day about S/s, but that’s good for now. ✌