I doubt whether I can convey well enough the impact that Tom Gourdie’s teaching of the italic hand has had on me throughout my entire life. I’d been taught handwriting at primary school and was pretty good then, but when Mr Gourdie opened the art room door to his style of handwriting, it just seemed such a natural thing to do.
I can remember the handwriting style I had been taught at Primary being very jagged and angular, whereas Tom’s style was very much more natural and flowing. Below you can see a sample page from one of Tom’s books that shows my writing as it was several months after joining his art class as a 12-year-old (on the right) and how it looked after four years of Tom’s training. The large swashes were merely embellishments on the normal, everyday style. I never did understand why, in the book, he placed the ‘after’ before the ‘before’.
After about a year, I entered and won the ‘Look and Learn’ national handwriting competition. My prize was a fountain pen and £25, with which I bought myself a new bike, and the school received £50, with which they bought a slide projector.
Whether the handwriting kindled an interest in lettering and graphics, or whether I already had an eye for both, I can’t remember, but there is no doubt that both have developed hand-in-hand ever since. I’ve enjoyed the many compliments I have received over the years and would like to think that I can find the time and opportunity to pass on this craft to another generation.
Tom Gourdie ( www.tomgourdiesgallery.co.uk) produced several books on handwriting and pushed to have his Simple Modern Hand adopted by British schools, as it had been in Scandinavia and East Germany. He also travelled the world, teaching and converting many to his style. He was awarded the MBE in 1959 for services to handwriting.