The Calligraphy Society of Ottawa

Hiring a Calligrapher

How do I make a request for calligraphy work?

Contact the Calligraphy Society of Ottawa and give us as much information as you can. Key points are:

• By what date do you need the lettering work completed?
• What is the volume of work (e.g. number of envelopes)?
• Do you have a style of lettering in mind, or an example?
• Do you have the media already (e.g. envelopes, certificate, etc.)?
• Do you want colour or gold ink used?

The CSO will send out the request to the active calligraphers in Ottawa. We leave it up to them to contact you with a quote or for more information. Our calligraphers are independent who will enter into an agreement with you for calligraphy services. As the CSO has no knowledge of their availability, we make no guarantee on a calligrapher responding to your request.

Will requested work be done by a professional calligrapher?

There are some professional calligraphers in Ottawa and some very talented semi-professionals. Requests for calligraphy are only sent to current members of the Calligraphy Society of Ottawa where they regularly participate in workshops from advanced instructors.

We take great pride in our art and will try our best to ensure the calligraphy fits your requirements.

Can I commission works using Eastern scripts/ideograms (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, etc.)?

No.

The Calligraphy Society of Ottawa is focused on Western scripts, particularly those based on the Roman alphabet. We recommend contacting a community service centre for the appropriate locale if you're looking to commission works in Eastern/ideogram-based languages.

What type of calligraphy do your members perform?

Most calligraphers specialize in a few scripts however, because of the pool of talent within the CSO, most styles are possible. As for types of requests we fulfill; in the past, requests have included:

• Designing wedding invitations
• Addressing wedding envelopes
• Lettering wedding vows
• Lettering place cards, menus or poems
• Designing and lettering corporate certificates
• Completing memorial books for churches and other organizations
• Designing presentations and awards for universities and other institutions
• Completing inscriptions for family bibles etc.

There are many other areas where hand lettering craftsmanship will add the final touch. Contact us and see if one of our calligraphers can help with your idea.

How long will my request take?

Owing to limited time availability and the nature of the work and process involved in commissioning it, prospective patrons should get in touch with us as early as possible—preferably a month or more before your deadline, several if it is a large job. Timelines on shorter scales are possible for small, simple, and clearly-defined tasks from patrons with experience working with scribes.