About

My name is Luis Santana, I’m a creative from New York City, born and raised in The Bronx. My interest in letterforms started at a young age. It was the only thing I could take with me growing up in a home where we were constantly moving from place to place. My passion for lettering began when I was in elementary school. I remember getting into trouble when my mother found out she would send me to the 99-cent store to buy a few composition notebooks. I would use these notebooks for punishment. She would have me sit down and write “I will not curse” and “I will not talk back” 1,000 times. At some point I would get bored and start doodling the letters to put an end to my boredom. She started realizing that I was enjoying myself “too much” and then had me hold the book up to the wall so that my arms would get tired. I felt with the action of writing on the wall is how I was introduced to graffiti... During lunch in school, I would draw the first letter of people's name for either their cereals or for 10 cents so that I could buy snacks after school when I was heading home. Hand lettering is a constant reminder to myself of how I can turn an unpleasant moment into something beautiful. 

Inspiration comes from my daily surroundings. Such as Architecture, different sounds, motion in the city, nature, graffiti, the OG sign painters, broken bricks from project buildings, rain drops that splattered on a window and more! As if all of these things were in one huge melting pot birthing my own style of letters.