Beyoncé, Obama, Lady Gaga – what does their handwriting say about them?
guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/14/celebrity-handwriting
guardian The Guardian
Beyoncé, Obama, Lady Gaga – what does their handwriting say about themBeyoncé, Obama, Lady Gaga – what does their handwriting say about them?
Philip Hensher has lamented the decline of pen and paper in the age of email. In a blind test, we gave him some celebrity handwriting and asked him to tell us what it reveals. (Answers below.)
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Handwriting samples 1 & 2, from the same letter … what do they have in common?
1. It looks as if this person either hasn't been taught how to write, or has forgotten all about it – maybe someone under 30. The few ornamental features – the looping f – have been put together on the writer's own initiative. It's not an elegant hand, but one which impatiently gets the job done. I don't believe they write much by hand normally, though the awkwardness may be down to left-handedness. Is it a politician? Someone who is conscious of the distance between them and the rest of the world? The gap between words is larger than usual, a graphologist would note.
2. There's something exuberant about this hand. The forward lean, the crowded words, the way the pen hardly lifts at alll. This is a person highly conscious of what impression they make, not necessarily very confident by nature. They've been taught handwriting at some point, or thought about it – the loops are consistent and form a strong style. Not a showbiz personality, I wouldn't have thought.
3. 'Even a little babyish'. Photograph: Samuel Cardwell/AFP/Getty Images
3. Oh dear. I try to find something individual and likable in everyone's handwriting, but this is a bit sad and even a little babyish. Those fat loops on the L are not very mature, nor the way it all squashes into the middle zone, with not much in the way of ascenders or descenders. It just stops dead on the line. If you got a love letter written in this hand, you would probably think of Jane Austen's Mr Collins: the author would do, in efficient, practical terms, but they are not going to be romantically exciting.
4. 'Sexual dynamite'. Photograph: Brooks/INFphoto.com
4. Easy. A massive showbiz star. Sarah Bernhardt immensely annoyed Queen Victoria by taking up a whole page of her autograph book with one signature. Look at those massive sexy loops on the Ls, Ys and Ds. Gosh, this one's sexual dynamite. But very creative visually, too: the way every ligature seems to be considered and carried out – or a letter printed, not joined up, just for the hell of it. It's warmly disorganised, leaning forward and backward, venturing into mid-word capital Rs for no good reason. Is itSu Pollard? No – somewhere behind this glorious outpouring of sexy love is a good American school student.
5. 'Was she taught by Irish nuns?'
5. This person is writing about a political wife, but she (I think it's a woman) isn't a politician herself. She's practical and highly efficient but dangerously speculative, with a focus on the world around her. She's got short bursts of powerful sexiness. Close up, the stronger impression might be of her high, incisive intelligence. Obviously a creative person – the pen rises from the paper, sometimes with every letter. And those mid-word upper case Rs! Was she taught by Irish nuns? Or is she just serious trouble? Oh my days, people don't say "no" that often to this one.
6. 'Very well-drilled and formal'. Photograph: Spink/PA
6. From the graphic style, a very well-brought up girl, born somewhere between the late 19th century and the early 20th century. It's not particularly expert, but is very well-drilled and formal. Again, those big gaps between words, conscious of the distinction between the writer and the rest of the world. Could it be royalty? The loops are fanciful but efficient, and done very conscientiously. A graphologist might say that this person had a stronger spiritual than a sensuous side, and that they were very, very good indeed at keeping things secret.
7. 'Lacking the last degree of patient application'. Photograph: Sothebys/AFP/Getty Images
7. Bold, impatient, certain to get their own way, but somehow lacking the last degree of patient application – that last word is just dashed off as if the sentence couldn't be over soon enough. It's an educated English hand; it looks like an intelligent person to me, but one who maybe doesn't practise their handwriting very often. They learned it once, and the remains of the letter forms are discernible, but they disintegrate somewhat in the course of even a dozen words. Most of us are like this now, not exercising our pens a tenth as much as our typing fingers.
8. 'Did he or she find happiness late?' Photograph: SWNS.com
8. A beautiful hand, personal and characteristic, full of flow and life, done with an excellent pen. It's curious how it has extrovert qualities – the loops, the ligatures, the flow – but also a slight hesitation in the backward lean. Could that be a remnant of an earlier, more withdrawn phase in someone's life? Did he or she find happiness late? This person is quite visually gifted. The writer gives the impression of being very sociable, and genuinely liking people – look how the ligatures link one word to another – and of taking great pleasure in his or her own existence.
