My fascination with beautiful letters began in the 5th grade. Twenty years later, in 2001, I turned this love of letters into a business.
After several years doing high-end wedding invitations and social stationery, logo design, and magazine editorial, I began designing greeting cards for Sunrise Greetings (now Hallmark), Papyrus (previously Marcel Schurman), and American Greetings.
I love all things lettering and I am happy knowing with the explosion of interest, calligraphers across the world will carry on the tradition of beautiful hand lettering! I love hearing from other letter lovers so drop me a note!
Formal bio:
Erica McPhee began lettering in the 5th grade and accepting commissions for her work in the 6th grade. She continued to strengthen her skill and train in calligraphy, lettering, & design and still takes regular lettering workshops several times per year with world-renown calligraphy & lettering artists.
She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire in 1991 earning a BA in Communication, with equal emphasis on media studies and interpersonal communication. Despite a growing career in human resources, she left the corporate world to start her own lettering and design business, Paperwhite Studio, in 2001. Her design work quickly gained favor in the high-end social and celebrity invitation market.
However, in 2003, she began studying homeopathic medicine in pursuit of a homeopathic practice after her son was recovered from autism using homeopathy. Long hours of study requiring less stressful deadlines resulted in shifting her design focus to logo, lettering, and greeting card design, earning such high profile clients as Mercedes Benz, Esquire magazine, MTV, Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Company, Sunrise Greetings (now Hallmark), American Greetings, and Papyrus. A move to Florida and a change in the interpretation of alternative medicine laws there, resulted in a return to full time lettering and design in 2008.
In 2013, Erica launched the Flourish Forum an online community with over 8,000 members for those who love calligraphy and the lettering arts. Then in 2014, she launched Dasherie Magazine, a full color print magazine dedicated to featuring both classic and modern calligraphy. She publishes, edits, and designs Dasherie from her home studio in southwest Florida.
