Design a signature

A signature is a part of your personality that you show to others. Whether you want to perfect your handwritten signature, create a digital signature for your blog or website, or add a signature to your email messages, here's how to do it.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Handwriting your signature

Step 1. Determine the content of your signature

If you looked at the signature of a thousand different people, you would probably see that not only do they look very different, but the content is also different. Some people use their full name, others just their last name, and still others just their initials. Start by thinking about what exactly you want to include in your signature.

If you're concerned that someone could easily copy your signature, it might be better to make your signature a little longer and legible by using your full first and last name and writing it clearly. It's much easier to copy a scribbled signature than the details of a neat, legible signature.
Signatures that consist only of initials (with or without the initials of all first names) are usually seen as more formal and businesslike than signatures with a full first name.
Sometimes people leave out their first name if they don't like it and sign with only their last name. Sometimes they only use the first letter of their first name instead of their first name.

Step 2. Write your signature

Before moving on to your actual signature, try writing your name in your regular handwriting a few times. You may automatically add decorations and details in suitable places as you write your signature over and over again. Writing out your signature helps to find out where you want to add or remove something, and what should be emphasized and what not.

Decide what you like about your written signature. Do you like the italicized letters, the size or the shape of some letters? Remember this so you can copy it when you personalize your signature.
Pay attention to how big you write. Studies show that people with very small signatures are often overlooked, while those with very large signatures are often arrogant or outspoken. Try to make your signature an average size, about the size of your normal handwriting.

Step 3. Decide how legible your signature should be

Before you move from a plain written name to a signature, make sure your name is somewhat legible. Some people's signatures are as legible as their handwriting, while other signatures look more like scratches and scribbles and are illegible. You obviously want your signature to be hard to copy (which you could do by making it illegible), but you also want to stay true to who you are and not mess up your signature.

To make your signature less legible, you can either write the letters closer together or flatten them and write them further apart.
If you don't want your signature to be legible, don't do this by omitting letters or writing sloppily. This is not professional and your signature will not look very good.

Step 4. Start making changes to your signature

Practice on a sheet of paper to write your name in different ways. Try out some of the changes you would like to make. Start with small things, then gradually change the way you write your name (instead of starting something completely new right away). Below are some suggestions for things you could change:

Make the capital letters in your name a lot bigger.
Make a decoration or curl at the end of letters (especially the "T," "Y," "E" and "G").
Change the shape of round and oval letters (especially the "O," "U," "C," "R," "B" and "P").
Writing your name in italics in the traditional way and using calligraphy.
Underline parts of your name.
Add other shapes and embellishments.

Step 5. Perfect your signature

Once you've decided what to add or remove from your current signature, start incorporating these aspects into your new signature. Don't make major changes to your signature right away, as this will feel unnatural and you'll likely forget some things you wish you could have changed. Instead, over the course of several weeks, you slowly add things and leave them out until you've designed a personal signature.

Practice writing your signature daily to speed up this process.
It's important to be consistent when changing your signature. If you can't make your signature look roughly the same every time you write it, then you probably shouldn't change it as much.
When in doubt, it's better to change little. Even though you may want a beautifully crafted signature, it probably won't work for the first few months. Keep it simple and slowly add more and more details.

Method 2 of 3: Set a signature for your email

Step 1. Think about the content of your signature

Unlike a handwritten signature or a signature for your blog, a signature for your email messages is not meant to resemble your actual handwritten signature, but to add some personal information at the bottom of every email you send. This usually concerns your full name, your contact details and your postal address. Do not add personal information, short phrases or quotes to your email signature.

Step 2. Set a signature in Outlook

If you have Microsoft Outlook on your computer, you can easily set a signature for your e-mail messages. To add a signature in Outlook, open the program and perform the following steps:

Go to the "Tools" menu, choose "Options" and then select "Email Format".
Click the "Signatures" button about halfway through the dialog box.
Enter the information you want to put in your signature. When you're done, click "Ok" and "Ok" again in the previous window.

Step #3. Set up a signature in Gmail

To create a signature for your Gmail account, log in to your account and follow these steps:

At the top right corner of the screen, click the gear icon, scroll down, and then click "Settings".
In the settings, look for the "Signature" section and select it.
Enter the information you want in your signature and then click "Save changes" at the bottom of the window to set the signature.

Step 4. Set up a signature on Outlook.com

If you would like to add a signature to your Outlook.com email account, please log in to your account and complete the following steps:

Click the "Options" icon (the gear icon) in the top left corner and scroll down to the "More Email Settings" option. Click here.
Find the "Format, Font, and Signature" button and click it.
Enter your signature as you would like it to appear in your emails and then click "Save".

Step 5. Set up a signature in Yahoo Mail

Click the "Options" button in the top right corner and then the "Mail Options" button.
On the left side of this page, look for the "Signature" button and click on it.
Enter your signature as you want it to appear in your e-mail messages and then select the option "Show a signature on all outgoing messages" so that the signature is automatically sent with your messages.
Save your signature by pressing the "Ok" button.

Method 3 of 3: Create a signature for your blog

Step 1. Use an online tool to create a signature

As blogging has become very popular, many online blogging tools have become available, including tools to create your own personal blog signature. If you don't want to put your real signature on the internet or are not very good at graphic design, you can go to a website that will give you a lot of different options for your signature. Just go to such a website (such as Signature Maker or Sign Now), and follow the step-by-step instructions to create your own digital blog signature.

Step #2. Create an image to use as a signature

If you know a lot about graphic design, use your talent to create a personalized signature for your blog using your favorite photo editing or graphic design software. Use the fonts the program has, or try drawing your signature digitally. Your drawing can then be saved as an image and inserted in a custom size at the end of each blog post.

Step 3. Scan in a handwritten version of your signature

You may not want your real signature floating around the internet, but you can make a nice version of your signature on paper and scan it. You can then open this image with a photo editing program on your computer so that you can update and make it clearer. Then you can upload the image to your blog.

Some cell phones have apps that let you create scanner-like images for your blog or save them to your computer

Step 4. Add your signature to your blog posts automatically

If you don't want to manually add your signature to the end of every blog post, you can also use some HTML code to do it all for you. Copy and paste into your blog post template.

Tips

Look at other people's signatures and use them to get ideas. For example, Walt Disney had a unique "D" in his signature, and John Hancock and Queen Elizabeth had personal decorative signatures.
Official documents: a signature can in principle be anything; even a cross will suffice. Don't make the signature too big so that it fits easily on forms and you can retype it quickly and easily. Make sure your signature isn't too frivolous (for example, with a triple curl at the bottom) so you don't get into trouble with officials or agencies.
- When applying for a new driver's license, a signature with all kinds of lavish curls, drawings and symbols such as smileys, for example, can be refused by the person behind the counter because your signature does not come across as serious.
- The government has its own rules and these can change, so keep it relatively simple and don't add unnecessary lavish embellishments to your signature.

Warnings

If you change your signature too often, you may lose access to things like your bank account.
If you have a signature that is too complicated and difficult to write quickly, it can be difficult to verify your identity in certain cases.
Make sure that your personal signature is the same as that of your identity card or passport.
It can be nice to use a nickname and a gel pen when signing something personal like a birthday card or yearbook, but this is generally not allowed when you need to sign official documents, such as a contract.