Designing a graffiti name tag was one of my daughter’s recent assignments for her art class. It involved delving into the history of graffiti, exploring different styles, and learning about the terminology. Her design, above, involved chunky letters and a brightly coloured candy theme as fill. Loved it!
Materials
- heavy weight paper
- pencil and eraser
- markers
- pencil crayons
Instructions
1. A good starting point is to have kids look at different styles of graffiti writing. There are some great books to be found at bookstores and libraries, and endless websites online. Here are just a few:
A search for “graffiti letters” and “graffiti names” will also provide many examples of different writing styles.
2. Once kids have had a look at these styles, they can sketch out ideas, and design their own letters. Have them also think about themes they might want to use for filling the letters, like candy, insects, or elements from a favourite show or book. Another option is this cool website, which transforms your name for you:
3. Use pencil to draw out the letters of your name, onto heavy weight paper. Fill in the letters using markers and/or pencil crayons. Don’t forget to make an interesting background, but keep the colours subtle, so your name can really pop. Leave the outlining for last.
ArtClubBlog 
To make it real they should have let them do it on some old subway cars 🙂
LOL! Wouldn’t that go over well with parents!
Your daughter’s work is professional! Shows what a strong influence mother is on her sense of design and whimsy! Even when parents don’t have the background that you do I wish they’d give their children art supplies just to experiment with. That self expression is so important for kids!
Thanks Joyce. I’ve always felt the same way. It doesn’t have to cost a lot – a cute little tool box with some supplies, and plenty of imagination. In fact, that’s how I started out with my son. He used to watch that fabulous british show Art Attack, bring out his tool box, and have a blast making things.
How very cool!
Thanks!
so cool I recall creating graffiti art in high school art it was so super fun to do
come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Thanks Angie!
What a great idea! Love the candy theme! Thanks for linking up at Made From Pinterest.
Cool
I love graffiti art! I never thought of having my oldest son give it a try, though! Thanks for sharing this at the After School Linky!
What a fun project! I had a friend in high school that did names in graffiti (I don’t think she did the illegal kind), but it was so inspiring! I love this!
Thank you Heather! You’ve got me thinking back to all the chunky letter doodles I used to draw on my school binders, while I was “listening” in class 😉
I love that graffiti is considered art and studied! Your daughter’s name project turned out wonderfully. Thanks for sharing at Inspire Us Thursday on Organized 31.
Cute! I like the candies in the letters! Thanks for sharing at Submarine Sunday!