Starting a Lettering Morgue File
The name itself sounds scary.
But, the term “morgue file” has been in use for years. According to an excerpt of this video:
“A morgue file originally was the paper-folders containing old files and notes that were kept by criminal investigators, and old article clippings kept by newspaper reporters, in case they became of later use as a quick-reference. In modern usage, its scope has expanded to cover many post-production materials for use of reference, or an inactive job file…The term has also been used by illustrators, comic book artists, designers and teachers.”
The video is based on a Wikipedia article, but it’s consistent with most references.
By that definition, I’d think of Pinterest as an all-encompassing, modern day, digital morgue file. Like many, I use Pinterest to collect ideas on everything, including letters. In fact, one of my favorite lettering artists-the very prolific, Stefan Kunz-uses Pinterest like a morgue file to generate ideas about what kinds of styles to use in his work.
Honestly, right now, for me, neither the strict traditional or digital version of these options work as a great source when I’m drawing letters. A filing cabinet is just impractical. I’m a full-time working mother and new wife. I’d never look at it. And Pinterest gives me so much shiny, object syndrome when it comes to letters, I’d never figure out what I wanted to do next….Not to mention, when I Pinterest-surf, my time to actually draw goes down the drain exponentially.
Nope. I go to Pinterest to procrastinate.
Not surprisingly, when I researched morgue files, I found an interesting case of an award-winning artist who threw out his morgue file of three years. In the end, he felt keeping a traditional morgue file had hampered his personal voice. It just didn’t inspire him when he used it.