Q&A with Lana Hughes

Following our recent ‘Tottenhome’ collab with Lana Hughes, we caught up with the local lettering artist (and her furry sidekick Sumo) to find out more about the process behind her eye-catching artwork, how she comes up with her positive messages, and why she’s a loud and proud Tottenham resident.

Check out Lana's Zone Arts collection here.

Hi Lana! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your practise? 

Hi! I’m Lana, a local lettering artist & graphic designer. I live & work in Tottenham with my partner and my little dog Sumo. Some of you may already know us - I often work with local businesses & I’m always walking my dog around town...She’s very loud, I’m sure you’ve heard us on one of our walks! So I’m a full time designer based up in the brilliant (shoutout) @artisthivestudios! where the majority of my works are created, I have a huge love for typography and all of my works revolve around lettering of some kind. I mostly begin my design process with drawing lettering by hand using an iPad & Apple pencil, which is how I designed Tottenhome, & I’ve also very recently taken up chain stitch embroidery on a 100yr old embroidery machine too! 

What inspires your joyful, positive lettering designs?

There are SO many things that I take inspiration from in my designs, I’ve always been so into vintage signs & those beautiful old neon signs you see in America, especially 1960s Las Vegas & motel style. Vintage packaging design (they don’t make em like they used to!) 90’s hip hop & rnb - there’s so many great lyrics out there I wish I had come up with myself! I try to create pieces in my personal work that can be open to the viewers interpretation, and people can give their own meaning. As well as some words I design just for fun, just because I liked the word at the time!

You’re a proud Tottenham resident, what is it about the area that you love?

I’ve lived all over London, but until I moved here, I always struggled to find an area I wanted to stay in, they just didn’t really feel that much like home to me. I moved to Tottenham just 3 and a half years ago, and once I moved here I felt like it was my home for reasons I can’t quite explain very well, more of a feeling I guess. Cheesey, I know. For me Tottenham felt like the first place in London I’ve lived that has a great sense of community, I actually got to know many of my neighbours, people helping each other out and so on. I never got that feeling in any other place. I’m sure it exists, but for me it didn’t unfortunately. My street here even has a Whatsapp group, which consists of all our neighbours, in case anyone needs help, I mean how nice is that?! And once a year we have a street party where everyone brings a national dish to share.  (Thanks neighbours if you’re reading this!) 

Where did the idea for the concept and design of Tottenhome come from?

I actually had the idea a while back, when thinking about how lucky we are to call this town home. Especially considering how we’ve all been stuck indoors during these 2 lockdowns and the majority of our time is now spent at home, so instead of being upset about it, I wanted to celebrate that this was somewhere I felt happy and fortunate to be. You know, your safe space, your own little slice of London. And I really like plays on words, so it had to be done didn’t it?!

Finally, what are your top tips for buying gifts this Covid-Christmas?

Shop small, and if you can, shop local. What with so many amazing businesses on our doorstep... shopping close to home is a great to support local businesses, your neighbours or friends, and ensure they can continue to do what they do best during these difficult times. And you never know, sometimes your purchases might even be hand delivered too, if you’re shopping locally!