Copperplate is My Side Hustle
Doctors, lawyers, celebrities: There’s a new cosmetic surgery, of sorts, that has snared them all.
By that, we mean handing over money to hire a calligrapher for a fresh take on writing one’s own name in cursive. With a pen or another writing implement. On paper.
A corner of TikTok, Instagram and other social media is dedicated to signature design, and it’s keeping practitioners busy.
Priscilla Molina in Los Angeles does a minimum of 300 custom signatures a month, offering packages that include up to three ways to sign, limitless drafts or a new set of initials. She charges between $10 to $55, using the motto: “Where originality meets legacy.”
Molina said her Planet of Names clients include professionals and famous people in search of new ways to sign autographs, though her lips are sealed on the identities of high-profile signature seekers.
In general, Molina said, people come to her for signature makeovers for a simple reason: They’re tired of the way they sign their names.
“They’re not happy with their signatures. They don’t relate to who they are. They don’t give the message they want to convey to the world,” she said.
Molina and other signature doctors promise a range of styles. For Molina, that includes but is not limited to elegant, subtle, dramatic, sharp, classic, artistic, condensed, curvy, legible — or even illegible.
We want to know if the service is tax-deductible. Perhaps it beats donating your excess money to charity.