ArtBistro

I have to come up with a 27th letter of the alphabet for my typography class using the typrface of some of our most famous typefaces ever, I have so far scribbled all over my sketch pad and came up with nothing. I think I need a home baked apple pie to get through this one.

Thanks for the helpful info I am going to try that right now

You can make a mark; but, you can't design a mark if you don't know what it stands for (or symbolizes).

Start with that idea and then make the mark to meet it.

Every letter in our alphabet developed from an idea or sound to be expressed and over time became a mere letter with a sound relationship attached.

[This is true of Japanese, too, its marks primarily based on a rice field [a square divided into 4 parts] and most additional marks are added to that  poetically to describe relationships.]

The "hand' of the calligraphy and the "face" of the typography are the second part of such a project to consider - unless the teacher was a dolt in setting this assignment out for you.

If, on the other hand, the assignment is to get you to look closely enough at any typeface, so you can see what attributes make that "face" the face it is, then choose any face. Make ANY shaped mark and adjust it so the: line, angle, heights, white space, weight are balanced to fit with the remainder of that "face".  Any diphthong (ae, oe, ie, etc.) or double consonant (sc, ch, sh, th, ph, wh, ng, gh, etc.) would be fair game for this kind of treatment, as a single letter.

whatever you have for notes as of now....turn them upside down, see if that jars the brain cells any

How about a mark that symbolizes the sound of a sharp intake of breath, like when you're a passenger in somebody else's car.