Celebrity Handwriting: Jack Layton

Jack Layton: Dynamic All the Way!

Jack Layton’s signature has numerous strengths. These strengths appear in his 2008 signature as well as his 2011 signature, indicating his consistently dynamic personality was evident no matter what he went through.

Both of Jack’s signatures move up on his page, indicating his optimism: He believed things would work out well, no matter what.

Jack’s very high capital letters indicate his confidence and self-esteem. Jack believed in who he was, what he stood for and what he did.

The very long stroke above the capital ‘J’ in Jack’s first name indicates his enthusiasm and charisma. Jack was a natural leader: All he needed to do was to get excited about what he did or wanted to do, and everyone would want to be a part of it. The fact that this particular stroke ‘flies’ above the stem of the capital ‘J’ indicates Jack was a visionary, long-range goal setter.

The initial hook on the capital ‘J’ in Jack’s 2008 and 2011 signatures indicates ‘acquisitiveness’. Jack wanted to acquire ideas, thoughts, innovations. The final hook on this ‘J’ in Jack’s 2011 signature indicates tenacity: Whatever Jack accomplished and achieved, it was his.

The ‘a’ in Jack’s first name resembles an ‘o’, indicating he worked hard and made everything he did look easy. The pinched look of this particular letter ‘a’ indicates that Jack did far more for others than he realized. The tall, very slender loop on the ‘k” of Jack’s 2008 signature indicates he had very high principles and values that helped him guide his life.

The break-away stroke in the mid-portion of the ‘k’ in his first name indicates Jack’s initiative: Jack didn’t want for anything, but started moving on whatever could be done.

The very firm downstroke in the ‘y’ of Jack’s family name indicates his determination. The fact that this particular downstroke is so long indicates his need for change: Same/old wouldn’t last overly long before Jack ‘changed things up’. The hook at the end of this particular downstroke indicates Jack was someone who desired independence, was security minded, and someone who was conscious of his past.

Jack’s very high t-stem in his family name indicates he was a real go-getter who would always bite off way more than he could chew and then run to keep up. He needed to be in control so that if anything went wrong, he could do ‘damage control’.

Jack’s t-bars in both signatures move downward on his page of writing, indicating his need and ability to take charge. Both these t-bars join to the next letter, indicating Jack’s ‘fluidity of mind’. This fluidity not only enhanced his communication ability, but also helped him talk his way into or out of almost every situation. This trait would also help him smooth over difficult topic and move them to ‘safe waters’ without anyone realizing he had shifted the subject.

The downstroke on the ‘n’ in Jack’s family name pulls to the left, indicating reserve, suggesting that people may think they knew Jack, but in truth it would take time for someone to really get to know Jack to truly be able to say they knew him.

The period at the end of Jack’s 2008 signature indicates decisiveness, indicating he at that time was broadcasting unconsciously “I have the last word”.

"Snail Mail My E-Mail" project promotes Hand-written letters

‘Snail Mail’ project promotes art of letters

The information and quotes in this blog are from CNN, and were written by Doug Gross on August 4, and relates once again to the importance of hand-written letters. Snail Mail My Email is a service created by Ivan Cash, a San Francisco designer and art director. The service lets users turn an online message into a handwritten letter. Since July 15 over 2,300 e-mailed letters to be written and then sent out. Snail Mail My Email users may request a doodle, flower petal or other extras to be included in their letters. Here are excerpts from Doug Gross’ article:

“The concept is simple. Since July 15, anyone interested has been able to e-mail a letter to the project’s volunteers. They turn around and hand-write the letter – complete with extras like a doodle, flower petal or lipstick kiss if desired – and mail it to the recipient.

Cash, who recently returned to San Francisco after a stint working in Amsterdam, said he’d been an avid letter-writer in college and the few years after. He said there’s something about the process of pulling out a pen and paper and crafting a message with your own hand that makes it more personal and well thought-out.” But eventually, he said, he began defaulting to e-mail and Facebook message like a lot of people. “Snail Mail My Email” was born as a way of getting back in touch with the joys of putting pen to paper, he said. “This isn’t a project that’s out to make money or be a forever solution,” he said. “This is just a jumpstart to help raise awareness.”

Apparently more people were interested than Cash guessed. In the project’s first two weeks, 2,300 letters were sent out “I’d originally thought I’d get five to 10 letters a week – and I was hoping I’d even get that many. He said. He’d originally planned to copy the letters himself. But when he got 1,000 e-mails on the fourth day, he considered canceling the project. After posting a request for help, he now has 134 volunteers literally lending a hand.

Kristin Huben of Montgomery, Illinois, is a volunteer who read about the project on a tech blog, sent her sister a letter through the site, then jumped when she saw Cash’s call for help. “I’ve always loved writing letters,” said Huben, who said she’s written nearly 50 so far. “I think it’s really become romanticized in an era of e-mail and Twitter and whatever – it’s an amazing thing to send a letter or receive a letter and think, ‘Someone took the time to do this.’” “Hands down, I would say that 90% of them are love letters,” she said. “I just feel so lucky to be part of a couple’s love story. It’s really sweet.”

Cash has penned more than 75 letters including the text of a man’s proposal speech to his wife, letters to President Barack Obama and even an acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, from the “Harry Potter” series.

There’s something about a personal letter that e-mail or texting can never replace said Margaret Shepherd, author of “The Art of the Personal Letter: A Guide to Connecting Through the Written Word.” Shepherd said she supports the “Snail Mail” project as a way of enlightening people about the value of a handwritten note. But she’d still prefer to see participants just pick up a pen themselves. “Your mom wants to see your handwriting, and she wants to hear your voice, not a stranger’s,” she said.”

Be sure to view my 5-minute “Power of the Pen” DVD on my Home Page at www.handwritinganalysistoronto.com