I think the LOL is because you seem to think what hand lettering is is design.
It depends, like always. It can be design.
Also, holy shit I can't believe I'm even bothering to respond to the creator of this garbage:
I see you put a lot of effort into your post digging out some of my shit. Why do you think it's garbage though? Logo design isn't my strenght, that's why I participate here.
Hand lettering is maybe 1% of the target audience its used for. Feel free to look at any portfolio out there right now and I'd bet 4 out of 5 will have hand lettering as part of their schtick. That's a problem. Why? because it's not showing any relevant skills except they can do the same thing everyone else is doing.
But this applies to everything. It's always about the details, and context. Hard to tell if you only see the result. If you're a designer you should know.
You're talking about category, not a trend. There always has been a handmade/organic over synthetic/mass produced demographic since the beginning of the industrial revolution (or at the very least, on the large scale, since the last quarter of the 19th century). The trend is how designers (in this case visual designers) treat the category. The Hipster 2.0 trend took from the hand made look, the lettering and the "calligraphy" of the first generation of Hipster design, combined that with a rough biker look and the modern take on the 1920's art deco look and made the second generation of Hipster. Now, I might note that it's actually a pretty great look and a neat development. However, it comes back to a trend not being the answer for everything. These companies that are getting the hand made look in their identities aren't always going to be on the level they are at now. They're not always going to be the same company they are at the time they get their identity. And what's more? Instead of having an identity that best identifies them and helps them stand out from their competitors, they get just another hand made identity. ... not every business is an Etsy shop.
I was talking about a lifestyle, and companies selling to customers of this lifestyle. Somebody who prefers slow food over fast food might prefer slow fashion over fast fashion too, don't you think? It's much deeper than Hipster 2.0 memes in my opinion.
I understand the difference between lettering and calligraphy. The problem is, I let calligraphy keep it's pre-2010s definition and be something that is a time honored practice that has a very specific aesthetic and that hasn't been completely destroyed by a bunch of wannabe graphic designers. For the record, I'm talking about visual communication design/graphic design and not graffiti as the primary applicable subject. This is what I mean by Graffiti not being design. Does it have an element of design to it? Of course. But it's not graphic design except to graffiti artists who want to be considered as professionals. Graphic design is a profession that you have to go to school for (if you're going to do it right). As someone who has worked with people who are or were graffiti artists that are now "graphic designers", I can tell you all... 7 that I can think of that I know, all of their work is shit and they work freelance for the bottom dweller ad and design firms who produce the shittiest shit of design. ... Actually, I take that back. I know one guy who does graffiti and is also an OK designer. However, he works primarily in web design and reuses pre-made templates. He's also a shit graffiti artists. So, go figure. I went to school with this guy and the only reason I give him credence is because his work is polished on a consistent basis. (That's more a matter of craft though and less of design).
Graphic design is just a hobby for me I picked up with blending my interest in business and graffiti, I'm not running a design business though. My creativity and time would be to expensive for others to pay anyway. I couldn't have no full control over something I design, and I know how shitty the graphic design business really is.
I'm using the skills for myself mostly, branding for my own businesses. I see graphic design as a part of branding, and branding a part of marketing, and marketing a part of business. It's a blast to be responsible for everything and have the full creative control over the branding of a company.
While I don't disagree with your comment about the need for a flexible vision of the composition in your mind or that that part takes time, I do disagree with everything before that. If you think understanding the letters is the easy part, than you're doing it wrong. This is something that takes constant practice and you can never really stop learning from. Just look to the Bauhaus and to many of the cornerstone design programs in the nation for that. You may want to look into some of the noted typographers of our time as well. They'd disagree with you. They say it in interviews all the time. Saying "understanding the letters is the easy part" and then following that with saying "You need to understand the impact of the entire word and the composition of the letters. It's not a sum of it's parts." is like saying "I don't need to turn the wheel to drive the car." I'm not saying you're entirely wrong - you just can't assume you're going to run when you don't even have feet.
One is just harder than the other, didn't meant that it's easy to learn, only easy in comparison. I'm drawing letters for a long time and started very young. Understanding the composition enables you to iterate much faster without even drawing a single line. Waste of time to talk with you, you'll never understand.