works & thoughts

New blog 'Type & Press' is online!

2011-07-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
I have some good news:) I'm happy to announce that my new letterpress blog - 'Type & Press' went online this morning. Yay! So please update your bookmarks.
Type & Press' is a blog dedicated to the love of wood type and letterpress printing. The goal of this blog is to document experiments, catalog and share inspiration. Feel free to browse through old and fresh content, explore resource pages or submit links and interesting letterpress-related projects.

Thank you all for your interest and I hope to see you soon!
Armina

This blog is moving

2011-06-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. And there is a reason for it - I decided to move this blog to a new level - to a new blog platform. New blog will have a new name, new look, more features, more links to resources etc. The content will not change, I would still be posting about woodtype/letterpress related matters and everything I used to post here will move along to the new platform. This blog will continue its existence, but as an archive, it will not be updated anymore.

The new blog is planned to go online in the middle of july.
If you want to be notified you can subscribe using the form below.

Keep me informed!

Thank you all for your interest and I hope to see you there!

Poster. Dominic Rechsteiner.

2011-05-11T02:29:00.000-07:00

Nice letterpressed poster made by a Swiss designer Dominic Rechsteiner. I like the combination of wood type and linocut.

found via Swiss Legacy

WNY Book Arts Center. Kickstarter

2011-04-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

The WNY Book Arts Center has grown from a rough idea into one of the most active letterpress printing and book arts centers in USA in a very short time. But woodtype has become a scarce commodity for printers and now with eBay sellers cashing in one letter at a time, full sets of woodtype have become very scarce.
'A collection of woodtype from a local printer has come to the attention of WNYBAC and we are torn up that we cannot muster the funds to buy it up. If we do not, the seller has decided to sell on eBay. We are looking to secure the funds to purchase this collection for use in the WNYBAC printshop. It has been dormant for more than 50 years, and we'd like not only to make it available to the local printing community, but also to woodtype aficionados by distributing specimen sheets of the fonts that haven't been printed in decades.'

Help Buffalo's WNY Book Arts Center to buy wood type by supporting them on Kickstarter

Godspeed poster by Studio on Fire

2011-04-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Godspeed is a recent work by Studio on Fire made for 'Artcrank' - a poster show for bike people. The construction of this poster is an assemblage of prints created with actual bicycle parts (love the idea!). Used bike parts were inked up with a brayer and printed by hand. These prints were then digitally arranged on top of a pencil sketched layout. It was plated in photo polymer and printed on letterpress in 2 colors.

check out for more pictures here

Matthew Carter and his first wood type

2011-04-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Interesting article on eyemagazine blog about how Matthew Carter designed his first wood type using a computer-controlled router cuts.

Wood type by Lead Graffiti

2011-04-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

12 line Bradley as first font of wood type

Many of those who is printing with wood type had to work with damaged wood letters of incomplete letter cases. Lead Graffiti design studio came up with a solution to make letters from endgrain Rock Maple using random sized blocks which helps counter any warping and with as accurate a type height as is achievable in wood (which shrinks and expands based on humidity and temperature). This technique gives a lot of opportunities: creating a new (own) wood type, replacement of damaged letters etc.
So, if you have missing characters you can supply a proof and Lead Graffiti will supply it in wood. Great!

read more about the project

FPO Awards

2011-04-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of design competitions organized every year, but this one is special!
"Organized by UnderConsideration, the FPO Awards is a judged competition that celebrates the best print work from around the world during 2010 — a direct extension of the popular blog FPO: For Print Only.
The FPO Awards categories are focused on print production over project type. Categories are open to design professionals, students, printers, and hobbyists as long as the work was produced in a minimum quantity of 50. Work must have been produced in 2010."

Deadline: 3 june 2011

more information here

"This Flickr set shows the selection, inking process, and larger versions of the lock-ups above."

3D printer

2011-04-02T04:38:00.000-07:00

On 31 march, the MIAT museum hosted an event about 3D printing. The idea of event belong to department of Applied Engineering of Hogeschool Gent.

RepRap in action.

test letters printed from different materials.

got freshly printed letter in my hands:)

unfortunately the surface of the printed letters is not perfect yet, (but we all knew that, anyway:)

Pure Reversal

2011-03-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

PureReversal from Build on Vimeo.

'Pure Reversal' is a short film produced by Build for the launch of the new typeface 'Nokia Pure' (created by Dalton Maag). Bridging digital to analogue Build commissioned a woodblock version of the typeface, highlighting the craft of Matt McKenzie of the Paekakariki Press.

Filmed on location at his workshop in Walthamstow, a ltd-edition print was produced and printed on his original 1959 Heidleberg KS Cylinder 38 x 52 Press.

source

found via Erik Desmyter

Wood Type

2011-03-28T03:34:00.001-07:00

This entire weekend I spent at the museum, sorting out the wood type (50+ letter cases). It took me some time to find all missing pieces and organize everything alphabetically. But I had a great fun!

Wood Type

2011-03-28T03:28:00.000-07:00

Now, the next step is to identify each one of them, as there is no records at the museum. Something tells me it will take much more time than just sorting it out:)

Letterpress (second edition). David Jury.

2011-03-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

After a succes of 'Letterpress:New Applications for Traditional Skills' in 2006, RotoVision has released a second (updated) edition - 'Letterpress: the allure of the handmade'.
'Newly revised and updated with luscious and inspiring images of contemporary work, this book allows today’s graphic designer to rediscover the creative potential of letterpress. Thanks to its physical presence on the page, letterpress has a unique and visual impact, and offers a powerful means of expressing ideas through a more intelligent use of type.'

found in RotoVision Catalogue

Memory game

2011-03-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

"Built Icons" memory game is a wonderful result of craftmanship of Marcel Gohring from Druckwerk printing studio in Basel. This game box includes 48 letterpress printed cards (each card is designed using wood and metal ornaments) and a folder with impressive photos of lock-outs (I can imagine how time-consuming it might have been). The entire box is available for purchase here. On my wish list!

found via letterology

This type illustrations slightly reminds me of work by Almost Extinct.

Blog

2011-03-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I came across this interesting tumblr blog. It is dedicated to the art of print-making, no matter what techniques has been used.
A lot of inspiration out there!:)

found via printeresting

Get Up Printing Kit

2011-03-12T02:57:00.000-08:00

Love the idea of handmade stamps for Barcelona based 'Get Up Hair' stylist. It's fun and flexible!

made by Alexis Rom Estudio

Oakland wood

2011-03-05T02:33:00.000-08:00

These wonderful wood letters of Oakland (by Zuzana Licko) were created by Evan Christie (School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, WA). "Typefaces of the past, many of which are now staples of modern graphic design, took physical form as moveable type," said Evan. "I wanted to use a typeface that was never meant to take physical form, and Oakland was the perfect typeface to use because it embodies the birth of the digital era where nothing is tangible." Christie milled the maple down to type height and etched the letters in long strips using an epilog laser engraver. They were then cut off the strip into individual blocks.

source

I'm curious about the prints:)

Letter March

2011-03-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Letter March is an interesting project by Aymie Spitzer, a graphic designer located in Brooklyn, New York.
'This is an experiment in carving one linocut letter per day in an attempt to complete an entire alphabet by March 31st. Chosen typeface: Champion Gothic by Hoefler & Frere-Jones.'

Looking forward to see more lino carved letters.

Making Books

2011-02-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

This nice video, produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films Inc. in 1947, shows laborious process of producing books. Amazing!

Книга Букв (The Book of Letters)

2011-02-20T03:57:00.000-08:00

While surfing on we love typography I've spotted some interesting images of cyrillic wood type. Apparently those images are coming from an exhibition in Moscow called 'Книга Букв' (The Book of Letters). It has been orginized by designers Maxim Gurbatov & Anna Tsjaikovskaya.
In this exhibition there are texts and images. But the images of this book are to read and the text - to watch. Here is the story told by authors: "Once upon a time we stumbled upon wood characters. They were laying on the dusty pavement near the gates leading into the printing house. For us, to found a dozen of old wooden letters was like to become an owner of map that leads to the Treasure Island. So the letters hunt had began! It became immediately clear that in Moscow there was nothing to find. So we brought six bags of letters by truck from the printing house of the 'Pravda Severa' newspaper, from Archangelsk. We orginized this exhibition because we wanted to show that letters are beautiful, they combined art, technology and literature, and if their service in the printing industry is over, then their place is in the art.'

exhibition is open from 16 to 28 februari at 'Mars' Gallery, Moscow (map)

I wish I was there…

click here for more pictures

Almost Extinct

2011-02-17T00:51:00.000-08:00

'D' is for duck

'Z' is for zebra

Just came across this lovely project by Almost Extinct.

'Back in the day wood and metal type revolutionised the creative industries. With the introduction of new technology many type houses now face extinction. Today it is easy for anyone to manipulate typefaces and design layouts.
'Almost Extinct’ is a project that seeks to rediscover this ‘craft’. The idea is to source leading experts in this field to help design and print an alphabet of animals without the use of a computer. Some of the designs require many passes of the printing press with letters at various angles. Others require overprinting with a precise weight of ink. All of them require the sourcing of the perfect wood or metal letters, that should ideally suit the scale of the animal.' Once they will have all the animals they will hold an exhibition of prints with the sourced letters that were used next to them.

Looking forward to see more typo-animals:)

read more about the project

Drukwerk in de marge

2011-02-15T02:17:00.000-08:00

Recently I came across a very useful website - 'Drukwerk in de marge' (in Dutch). 'Drukwerk in de marge' is a foundation that unites people engaged in printing. Founded in 1975 it counts now more than 560 contributors, of which approximately 200 are active printers (mostly in The Netherlands).
On the website you can also buy & sell letterpress (and other printing related) materials.

link

letterpress wallpaper

2011-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

This typology wallpaper from Wall & Decò seems to be three-dimensional, an optical illusion that gives the impression that the wall consists of type blocks. Nice idea.

found on the style files

Adana test

2011-02-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

Recently the museum (MIAT) both a smaller printing press - Adana 8x5 (in quite good state). I never worked on it before (always worked on bigger presses), so I spend a couple of hours testing it. It was fun! I produced a lot of missprints:) I still need to find a balance between ink quantity and practice more.

Wood type

2011-02-14T13:10:00.001-08:00

On sunday I started to arrange the wood type collection we have at the museum. I realized I completely underestimated the work that I've been planning:) The collection is spread over various typecases and it is a challenge to find the missing pieces. I hope (with some help of colleagues) I can finish it by this summer. The next step will be printing the specimens.

to be continued

Type cabinet

2011-02-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

This will be a future 'home' for a part of woodtype collection at the museum (I'll be posting some examples later). Like the typography on it, but still don't understand what it has to do with beer:)

Film poster. Februari

2011-02-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

test n°2

Second day at the workshop. I've made some changes and printed some tests. Not entirely happy with the outcome, so I will be working on it tomorrow. Noticed that the wooden letters and lines has completily different heights, so I need to adjust almost everything:)

Film poster. Februari

2011-02-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

test print

This year, after a long break, I'll be able to visit the printery more often. So yesterday I started a new project - film posters, which I will be doing each month. Films are shown in a very special location at the MIAT museum and the next comming film is one of my favorites - 'Les vacanes de M.Hulot' by J.Tati.

more images next week

Adventures in Letterpress by Brandon Mise

2011-01-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

'Adventures in Letterpress' is a book dedicated to the beauty and physicality of doing things the old fashioned way. It is curated by Brandon Mise and will be available for purchase from february 22, 2011 here. I've contributed to this project so I'm excited to see this book;).

Brandon Mise is a letterpress printer from letterpress studio, Blue Barnhouse.

update: this item will be relased on 19th of april

Long Live Print!

2011-01-17T01:56:00.000-08:00

"Long Live Print" art prints from designer Jeremy Slagle are sure to make any letterpress geek smile. Printed at Igloo Letterpress and available here.

found via Bangback

MovE

2011-01-04T11:21:00.000-08:00

Poster for 'Circus De Jongh', 1953 (Het Huis van Alijn)

Poster for 'Cirkus Tondeurs', 1944 (Het Huis van Alijn)

Poster for 'Cirkus Minnaert', 1954 (Het Huis van Alijn)

Recently, while surfing the web on holidays, I discovered interesting website - MovE (only in Dutch).
It collects more than120.000 items from 48 museums and apparently it is the biggest online archive in Flanders (Belgium).

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T02:26:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very Happy New year!

American Wood Type: 1829–1900. Rob Kelly

2010-12-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

Rob Roy Kelly is remembered as a passionate and committed collector. He is best known for his book 'American Wood Type, 1828–1900: Notes on the evolution of decorated and large types and comments on related trades of the period'. And it is back in circulation! It is an opportunity to get this out-of-print and influential book at an affordable price.
The reissued edition of American Wood Type: 1829–1900 is available from Liber Apertis Press ($35 plus p&p).
Be sure to check out Rob Roy Kelly's amazing Wood Type Collection at the University of Texas in Austin.

found via eyemagazine blog

Reverting To Type.

2010-12-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

foto by Alistair Hall

I'm a frequent reader of 'We Made This' lovely blog and yesterday I've spotted a lot of pictures taken at the new letterpress show Reverting to Type at the Standpoint Gallery.
Take a look at all these beautiful works from the show on Alistair’s Flickr set

Uppercase. Issue 8

2010-12-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

picture by Bethany Heck

Lovely Canadian magazine Uppercase is releasing their new 8th issue (in february). This issue is dedicated to their love for ink on paper and includes an interview with Studio on Fire, a collection of wood type and the stories behind letterpress printing. It will inlcude works of 50 designers and printers and each copy of the magazine will have an actual letterpress sample.

found out more information on Uppercase website

Adana

2010-11-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

A modest work for a colleague (using a sentence by B. Franklin)

From now on, the MIAT museum is a happy owner of Adana press! I actually never worked on it yet (I normally work on a Iron Hand press), but I'm planning to run some tests next month.

Mr Smith's Letterpress Workshop

2010-11-28T01:29:00.000-08:00

And once more about Reverting To Type exhibition :)
The Creative Review team visited the studio of independent letterpress printer, Kelvyn Smith (UK), as he prepared for the Reverting To Type letterpress exhibition. Quite inspiring.

update. check out for more impressive images (and 1 video)

Reverting to Type Exhibition. London

2010-11-27T05:22:00.000-08:00

Recently I've spotted an upcomming exhibition dedicated to current interest in lettepress. 'Reverting to Type' is an exhibition of contemporary letterpress practitioners, showcasing how a centuries-old craft is being reinvented for modern day usage. The exhibition is curated by Graham Bignell of New North Press and graphic designer Richard Ardagh and features prints and publications by progressive practitioners from around the world as Hatch Show Print (USA), Typoretum (UK), Yee Haw! Industries (USA) and many others.
Im not sure I can make it to London by then but I'm looking forward to see some pictures of the event.

Standpoint Gallery, 45 Coronet Street, London N1 6HD
10th–24th Dec 2010 and 4th–22nd Jan 2011
Exhibition open daily 10am-6pm

Letterpressed holidays cards. Poppytalk

2010-11-21T03:33:00.000-08:00

Hello Lucky! Caroling Creatures by Luxe Paperie

Recently, lovely Canadian blog Poppytalk (I'm sure many of you are familiar with it) posted a selection of letterpressed holidays card.
Enjoy the part 1, 2 and 3.

Fund the Film with Kickstarter!

2010-11-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Some while ago I've been posting about Linotype: The Film, a feature-length documentary film centered around the Linotype typecasting machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886.
Recently they have launched a 30 day Kickstarter fundraising campaign to fund the film. We all can help by donating via Kickstarter!
I'm looking forward to watch the film!

Japanese movable type

2010-11-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I discovered these beautiful images of Japanese movable type. I absolutely love the shapes and would like to see more examples of Japanese letterpress printing.

Fabien Barral/ Letterpress Workshop

2010-10-27T02:48:00.000-07:00

Works of Fabien Barral are always original and done with a great taste. His latest work made during a letterpress workshop at the Design College of Australia is another prove of it.

more images here

p.s. check out the upcoming letterpress calendar

Lego+Letterpress

2010-10-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

Fans of pixel art Justin LaRosa & Samuel Cox came up with an experimental idea-combining lego and letterpress. It worked perfectly!
The prints were produced for the College of Design's october student gallery showing (here are some 'making of' pictures), and the results are available for purchase here.

found via design work life

Combination of lego & letterpress reminds me the tests by one of the volunteers, Tim, during letterpress workshop I took 2 years ago at the MIAT museum (image below).

In fact afterwards the museum organized weekly workshops for kids (6-12 years), where they learn to print using mostly lego tiles. Kids like it very much!

Historische Drukkerij Turnhout

2010-10-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Recently (while surfing on internet) I came across private printery/museum in Turnhout (Belgium)-Historische Drukkerij Turnhout . The collection is quite impressive and everything is working perfectly. The museum is open one weekend in a month and the entrance is free. I certainly need to make some time free to visit it.

Type an Sich 5/ 14.10.10-17.11.10

2010-10-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

'Jo De Baerdemaeker, Joke Gosse and Omar Chafai are young Belgian typeface designers whose work is exhibited at the fifth edition of Type an Sich, organized by Catapult. Their typefaces will be on display, including the different steps of their design process.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 14th of October at Designcentrum De Winkelhaak, Antwerp (in collaboration with Duvel-Moortgat) and runs until Wednesday 17th of November 2010.'

In Belgium we are not spoiled by various typo/graphic events (unlike neighbour countries). So I'm looking forward to it!

to be continued…

foto link

Dock 2 Letterpress

2010-10-03T03:33:00.000-07:00

Recently I discovered beautiful works executed by letterpress studio Dock 2 Letterpress (USA). Absolutely love their typographic poster & t-shirt (wich is unfortunately sold out). Alongside with custom design & printing the studio gives various classes & workshops: intro to letterpress printing, typesetting, hand press, vandercook etc.

website
etsy
twitter

How Ink Is Made

2010-09-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Absolutely love it! A Chief Ink Maker shows how colour and ink is created from the raw ingredients--powder, varnish, and passion. Everything designers and printers need to know about the process, the challenges and joy of ink making.

Presented by Peter Welfare, president and head inkmaker, The Printing Ink Company.
Written and produced by Ian Daffern
Directed and Edited by Tate Young

Find out more about it here

Films

2010-09-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

Recently I've spotted a couple of interesting films about letterpress printing and the stories behind it. I'm excited to see that the interest towards this authentic but (until last couple of years) almost forgotten craftmanship is rising.

1. Typeface. Kartemquin Films. 2010

Typeface focuses on a rural Midwestern museum and print shop where international artists meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique. This film will be of interest to art and graphic design enthusiasts, to teachers as an educational resource, and to anyone looking for a film about perseverance and preservation in the heart of America.
You can order the Limited Edition Typeface dvd, it features extra scenes and a letterpressed woodtyped poster designed by Hamilton Wood Type Museum. Typeface is also available on iTunes. The film will also soon be available on Amazon VOD and Netflix. And one more thing! The creators of Typeface film came up with an inventive idea - they launched a Screening Request map tool to help fans bring this beautiful film in their city/country. I already voted for Ghent, so I hope it will come in Belgium one day :)

2. Linotype.

Linotype: The Film Trailer from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

Linotype is a documentary about Ottmar Mergenthaler's amazing Linotype typesetting machine and the people who own and love these machines today. Directed by Doug WIlson. Can't wait to see it when it is out.
p.s. I've seen the Linotype machine in action at the MIAT museum. Quite impressive.

3. Proceed and Be Bold! 20K Films. 2008

Proceed and Be Bold! is a documentary about American letterpress printer and artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. The film documents Kennedy’s racially and socially-charged posters, and it communicates his serious commitment to tradition and the handmade object.

The Vandercook 100 - Call for entries

2010-08-16T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Vandercook 100 is a self-publishing venture by the letterpess studio, Just Vandy.
The book celebrating 100 years of printing on the Vandercook proof press (1909-2009). the Vandercook 100 will showcase 100 internationally respected teachers, practitioners, and designers, recognized for their letterpress work and fot their love of the Vandercook proof press.

Selection process:
Your entry will be reviewed by a jury of leading design/printing professionals, looking for diversity in printing environments, biographies and work. We intend to feature the little guy as well as the master printer.

While the book may include samples of your work, its emphasis will be on images of your printing environment and Vandercook press (whether it be in your mother's basement or a world renowned institution).

The selected entries will be distributed world-wide in The Vandercook 100: Celebrating 100 artisans + 100 years of letterpress printing on the Vandercook proof press, assuring important exposure to the printing industry.

Submission deadline:
All entries must be received by October 1, 2010

more information here

Gentse Feesten 2010. Type experiment

2010-07-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

The printing area has been renovated recently, but still, it is not easy to find the material needed: the boxes with wooden type are not always accesible or types are not complete. So I thought to use everything I could find at the moment: wooden type, metal & wood ornaments, etc, and try to 'make' words from these elements. So I 'assembled' the sentence, run some tests, saw some mistakes (words 'stick with it' are too heavy, 'd' from 'and' looks awkward etc) and decided to change the composition to make it more dynamic. But this will be work for next week;)

Gentse Feesten 2010. Type experiment

2010-07-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

During the 10 days of Gentse Feesten I finally succeeded to make some time to go away from my computer and play with movebale type (at the MIAT museum).

Gentse Feesten 2010

2010-07-26T01:11:00.000-07:00

Gentse Feesten is a 10-days music festival with a large variety of events (not only musical) all over the city Ghent. The printing part of MIAT musem organized something special too. This year' task was to typeset and print a newspaper ''De Feestgazette' using printing machines available at the museum. The idea of printing the newspaper at the museum came from a very young but promising writers collective - StampMedia.
Here is the way how it worked in practise - the young journalists wrote an article (about festival), it was send via a computer to Linotype to produce lines of text, then it was typesetted, printed, corrected and the next day it was printed (1000ex) and distributed around the city. To speed up the process one side of the newspaper was already printed a week before on offset press (at the museum). The volunteers putted a lot of time and effort to get everything perfect and the result was incredible, I loved the way it looked!

photo source

OFFF 2010. Julien Valée

2010-07-06T05:16:00.000-07:00

Montreal based motion designer Julien Vallée showed his impressive portfolio and presented an amazing OFFF 2010 sponsor titels. I absolutely love his work!

OFFF 2010. Hoss Gifford

2010-07-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hoss Gifford gave an amazing speach, full of inspirational insights. He gave a lot of tips, talked about making mistakes and showed how a very simple iPhone application can buy his lunch.

OFFF 2010. Dvein

2010-07-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I saw Dvein, creative collective from Barcelona- it was my very first OFFF festival in 2006. Then there where presenting their school project. Now, they grew up and became a motion and interactive studio with a very impressive portfolio. The motion pieces are abolutely amazing!

At the festival they were presenting some new works, spoke (with lovely Spanish accent) about collaboration with Alex Trochut (another Barcelona-based creative) and even called him via Skype to let him explane the workflow (that was fun!).

check out their works on vimeo

OFFF 2010. Neville Brody

2010-07-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

special act/interview by Neville Brody & Bazooka (FR)

Neville Brody introduces 'Antidesign Festival'

N.Brody practising his French

Bazooka collective

OFFF 2010. Craig Ward

2010-07-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

In the second part of his speach, Craig Ward showed the newest works and type experiments using different materials, from plywood and tape to silkscreened glas and bacteria.

OFFF 2010. Craig Ward

2010-07-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Amazing speech by Craig Ward!
Craig Ward is a British born, New York based typographer who likes playing with words.
In the beginning he spoke about his letterpress years, the first experience with Adana, showed experiments he did with wooden type and how they leed him to a various commisions (Creative review, Computer Arts and many more).

be sure to check out his
work
blog
behance

OFFF 2010. Steven Heller

2010-07-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

The very first speaker was Steven Heller, the author and co-author of many books, about the history of graphic design. This wise man gave a very interesting (and optimistic) lecture about the past & the future of design, spoke about nostalgia and wished everybody to 'keep it fresh' (as on the image above).

here is an intereting interview given by Steven Heller to étapes.

'Steven Heller wears many hats (in addition to the New York Yankees): for 33 years he was an art director at the New York Times, originally on the OpEd Page and for almost 30 of those years with the New York Times Book Review. Currently, he is co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author Department, Special Consultant to the President of SVA for New Programs, and writes the Visuals column for the New York Times Book Review. With Seymour Chwast he has directed Push Pin Editions, a packager of visual books, and with his wife Louise Fili he has produced over twenty books and design products for Chronicle Books and other publishers. For over two decades he has been contributing editor to Print, Eye, Baseline, and I.D. magazines, has had contributed hundreds of articles, critical essays, and columns (including his interview column "Dialogue" in Print) to a score of other design and culture journals. As editor of the Aiga Journal of Graphic Design he published scores of critical and journalistic writers on design, and currently as editor of AIGA Voice: Online Journal of Design, he continues to help build a critical vocabulary for the field.'
source

OFFF 2010.

2010-07-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

the venue

the graphics

the 'ideological father' Héctor Ayuso

t-shirt & catalog

spacy bar

In the end of june, for a 5th time, I've been visiting OFFF. This year the festival was celebrating 10 year of existence and have been (re)located to Paris. Festival showcases top digital artists, web, print and interactive designers, studios and many more. It was a 3 day of inspiration, beautiful people and nice weather. I absolutely loved it!
It is not easy to write about everything I've seen at the festival (as I did last year), but I've managed to make a small selection of things that catched my eye.

Reinventing Letterpress

2010-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

I have some good news to shear! Some while ago I've contributed a couple of works in a book 'Reinventing Letterpress: Prints by Contemporary Practitioners' by Charlotte Rivers. The works has been selected and this morning I got an email telling me that the book is out and available for purchase. I'm very happy to be part of this project and eagerly waiting my copy.

Charlotte Rivers
Rotovision
Chronicle books

Bookmark

2010-05-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

To celebrate new exhibition at the MIAT museum they came up with idea of making bookmark. I decided to create something contemporary while using the old materials. The museum liked the idea and it has been printed (500ex) on Heidelberg at the museum self. Pictures are following soon.

"Hello from..." Postcard Swap. Ladies of letterpress

2010-05-09T06:11:00.000-07:00

'Ladies of Letterpess' comunity came up with a nice idea for postcard swap. So I thought I should spread the word too:)

Here is more detailed information:

'What did you do on your summer vacation? The Ladies of Letterpress invite you to join us in a summertime postcard swap with the theme "Hello from...", representing the city and/or state where you live. The size of the edition will depend on how many participants join in, and we're hoping to have all fifty states represented (other countries outside of the US are invited too, of course!). Here are the requirements:

- Must be a member of Ladies of Letterpress (signing up is free and easy at LadiesofLetterpress.ning.com)

- Specs: cards should measure 4" x 6", and use cardstock similar to postcards (at least 100#)

- Process: any printing process, but must include at least one letterpress run, signed with your name on the back

- Edition size: tbd

- Cut off date for joining the swap: Memorial Day (May 31, 2010)

- Due date for finished postcards: Labor Day (Sept. 6, 2010)

- Cost: $5.00 to cover shipping

- Please confirm your participation (and send any questions) to Camille Robin at camillerobin[at]frontiernet.net with your name, city, and state (and country, if outside of US).'

link

Impressive. Publication

2010-04-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Recently I received an email from Gestalten announcing that the book in which my work is featured is now happily printed and available for sale. I'm proud to be part of this beautiful book and I'm eagerly waiting for my copy!
'Impressive. Printmaking, Letterpress and Graphic Design' investigates the interplay between traditional handiwork and current trends in graphic design.

MIAT. Poster

2010-04-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

The poster is announcing the activity of priting group at 25 of april - The Heritage Day. The thema of this year is 'Fake' and all museums in Flanders & Brussels are organizing numerous activities. It is absolutely free.

For some reasons, by combining 2 colors - yellow & blue, I didnt get the third one -green. I assume the blue was too dark and I've been using too much ink. The paper I used wasn't of the high quality, which also might have play a rol in this 'color' issue. Well, now I know what I would be doing next week :)

MIAT. Poster

2010-04-18T07:47:00.001-07:00

I had an idea about combination of two words 'Echt' ('Real' in Dutch) & 'Fake' and two colors - yellow & blue. These are some tests. Still not sure about a typeafce of 'in de drukkerij?!' ('in printing?!'). Something tells me it is not ok ;) So I will be fixing it next week.

MIAT. Poster

2010-04-18T07:29:00.001-07:00

Last week, after a long break, I started typesetting a small poster (A3). This week I added a missing line of text, adjusted the white space and did some tests.

MIAT. Workspace

2010-04-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick preview of workspace at the museum. A lot of machines have been added to collection and I stilll have to explore many of them. Iron press (the last picture) is what I usually work on. Although it is difficult to reach accuracy and precision, I enjoy working on it - iron press is the only press in the collections which allows me to print the big size posters (A1).

MIAT

2010-04-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some very interesting machines have been added to the collection of the museum. I dont' know exactly how it is working, but apparently it is setting/producing lines of text.

MIAT. Poster

2010-04-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

After many months of recontsruction of the printing area I'm finally able to work/print again. It feels good! Today I've spend some time trying to find back all material and began typesetting an A3 poster. It is just a test and it is full of mistakes. Next weekend they will be fixed, some more texts will be added and it should be printed in two colors.

MIAT. Wereldwijd Werken

2010-04-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

It is been a while sinds I have been posting something about Miat museum (where I am a volonteer). The reconstruction (with the printing area) is over and the 4th floor is open for public. I must say that things got improved out there: the space became opener/lighter and a lot of interesting objects/printwork have been added to permanent collection (pictures above). The only downside is that the printing area became slightly smaller, it is separated from the rest with a bridge. But, anyway, I am happy everything is open and working and I will have access to printing machines again:)

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T04:44:00.001-07:00

Wish you all happy Easter!

Typo Venice

2010-03-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

In january I took a trip to Venice. I loved the city and I wish I could have stayed there longer. Here is a small selection of 'found type' from Venice.

Typo Venice

2010-03-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

Type Milano

2010-03-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

Small Caps blog

2010-02-16T11:16:00.001-08:00

Small Caps is a bilingual (DE, EN) blog about typography & letterpress printing kept by Sabrina Sundermann from Berlin. It contains a lot of inspiring material produced by her and (sometimes) other designers, tips about letterpress printing, links and other interesting information. It is absolutely worth vsiting.

Printeresting. Online resource

2010-02-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

If you want to know everything about interesting printmaking you should visit the Printeresting.

'From “fine art” prints and limited edition multiples to xeroxed flyers and cheap inkjet printouts, we take a broad view of printmaking; all manner of printed matter has a place at Printeresting. Authored by multiple contributors, the site features regular posts on a range of print-related content, including artwork, news, reviews, technology, and critical discourse. While our primary goal is to highlight innovative print work, the site is also a place to keep abreast of developments in the field, and to take note when printmaking intrudes into popular culture.'

Kwintessens. Publication

2010-02-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

The year 2010 started quiet good for me;). Recently I got mentioned in the Kwintessens magazine. This article, 'Printing ink, machine oil and stained fingers', reveal the history of the reach collection of the museum and announcing the (re)opening of the printing departement in 27 februari 2010 (where I am a volonteer).
(some 'work in progress' pictures here)

Jump in if you are in Gent!

opening at 27.02.2010
Museum voor Industriële Archeologie en Textiel,
Minnemeers 9,
9000 Gent,Belgium
website

Links. Letterpress

2010-01-06T11:28:00.001-08:00

The EndGrain was born out of desire to have a website to share examples of experimental printing.

Repeat Press is a letterpress studio run by Mike Dacey.

WNYBAC Wood Type - Adventures in wood type creation.

Armand Heins

2009-12-19T05:23:00.000-08:00

'Armand Heins, etcher, lithographer and printer' exhibition is providing a look to the technical world of an artist. Seventy years after his death, the MIAT is putting Armand Heins back in the spotlight. This artist was a tireless etcher, illustrator and publicist who helped shape early twentieth-century Ghent. Thousands of drawings, lithographs and etchings of countless corners of Ghent and Flanders provide an overview of that era.

21.11.09-25.04.10
Museum of Industrial Archaeology and Textiles (MIAT)
Minnemeers 9
9000 Gent

TypoGent

2009-12-19T05:18:00.001-08:00

'Typo' images from Gent.

Found type

2009-12-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

Some old printwork I found this morning at the MIAT museum.

typoGent

2009-12-05T07:07:00.001-08:00

Some 'type' images I've spotted in Gent

Links. Letterpress

2009-11-13T05:09:00.000-08:00

Beast Pieces is the letterpress and design blog of Studio On Fire. Studio On Fire is a hybrid design and letterpress workspace in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pressing Letters is an effort to catalog and promote creativity in our currently expanding letterpress community. The goal of this site is to collect and display references and progressive letterpress design as it is published or found.

Woodtyper is an online journal focusing on wood type and related topics, such as large-scale lettering, decorative typefounding, letterpress printing, sign painting, penmanship, poster printing, engraving, etc. It is edited by Nick Sherman.

The Swayspace printshop is comfortably situated in a 2,000 square foot studio in the Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Brooklyn, a building that is home to hundreds of Brooklyn artists and artisans.

Briar Press is a community of letterpress printers, book artists, and press enthusiasts. The site is dedicated to the preservation of letterpress-era equipment and the art of fine printing.

Daily doodle

2009-11-11T02:29:00.000-08:00

Suddenly got nostalgic about Russian type and felt urge to draw. Not everything looks typographically correct but I enjoy making it. The text taken from a song 'Val's-Boston' by A. Rosenbaum.

some other drawings here: 1, 2

Gert Dooreman. Letterenhuis

2009-11-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

Last week I visited a retrospective exhibition of Belgian graphic designer Gert Dooreman (Letterenhuis , Antwerpen). So many beautifully designed books and posters!
The exhibition is open till 3 of january 2010, so I would stronlgy recommend it if you are in Antwerpen.

Gert Dooreman. Letterenhuis

2009-11-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

First thing you could see entering the exhibition was this huge wall.

Gert Dooreman. Letterenhuis

2009-11-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

Gert Dooreman. Letterenhuis

2009-11-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

Gert Dooreman. Letterenhuis

2009-11-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

Integrated2009

2009-11-01T02:39:00.000-08:00

Design conferences in Belgium are very rare and I was very excited when I discovered the Integrated2009 in Antwerp. It is a two days conference with an amazing list of speakers as Stefan Sagmeister, Siggi Eggertsson, Georgio Olivero, Jan Wilker, Erik Kramer and the legendary Storm Thorgerson. His presentation I will remember for the rest of my life.
I must admit that the event was very good organized. There was a place for young talents and for poster/book sign sessions as well (where I got a poster signed by Sagmeister. Yes!). At Integrated2009 I discovered new names as David Shrigley (UK) and Renaud Huberlant (BE). Although I have very poor knowledge of French (the presentantion of R.Huberlant was in French) I was able to follow it quite well, the work spoke for itself. Simple and intelligent. In the very end he shared with audience his latest news: Renaud Huberlant will curate an exhibition about Belgian graphic design in 2010 in France. I certainly don't want to miss that!

more details soon.

foto by Integrated2009

Lecture. Sara De Bondt.

2009-10-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, by a lucky chance, I found out that the Belgian designer Sara De Bondt will give a lecture at KASK (Ghent). I registered as fast as I could. When I arrived the auditorium was almost full, but I've managed to find a place just in front.
She shortly introduced herself, schools she went to and told the story of her decision to stay in UK. When she was about to return to Belgium it was James Goggin who was in search of somebody to work and share his studio with. So she accepted the job. After a period working in a studio she decided to go on her own and started up the "Sara De Bondt studio". Chris Svensson joined in 2008.
She shortly mentioned her work for Wiels (in cooperation with Jo De Baerdemaeker), her work as tutor at The Royal College of Art in London and spoke about 3 latest major projects: exhibition designs for Martian museum terrestrial art, Radical Nature and Nottingham Contemporary.

"Anthropologists from outer space set out on a mission to understand life on earth. Imagine that they begin their mission by examining the curious phenomenon that human beings call ‘contemporary art’. What does Art tell them about human life and culture?"
Martian museum terrestrial art is an exhibition orginized by Barbican Gallery (London) in 2008. The challenge of this project was to create communication between people and martians. Not an easiest task I must say. But the approach and the solution seemed very interesting to me. So how would the martians communicate with us, humans? Therefore she have created a geometrical typeface Futuro ET which would be looking good with the Futura bold italic used by the Barbican Gallery. Everything at this exhibition was in two typefaces/languages: signalisation, names of artists, their artworks and even the catalogue. It looked good and fitted the purpose.
She spoke about the importance of giving the client something more then just a finished product, as for instance logo or poster. It is important to give something that client can (re)use, as it was with Futuro ET typeface which has been given to the client and has been (re)used in newspapers ads and in the comming publication about exhibition.
The Futuro ET font can be downloaded for free as well.

"Radical Nature is the first exhibition to bring together key figures across different generations who have created utopian works and inspiring solutions for our ever-changing planet."
Radical Nature (Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009) is another exhibition at Barbican Gallery (London).
Talking about this project Sara De Bondt emphasized the conscience of us, graphic designers, the choices we make at work, the printing techniques we use and how harmfull are they for the environment. Everything she created for this exhibition was made with recycled materials and has been printed on RISO wich uses soja ink.
She compilled a Radical Nature Manifesto which can be downloaded for free.

Short break

2009-10-12T04:04:00.000-07:00

Hi,
It is been a while since my last post. Due to reconstruction of the printing departement at the MIAT museum, I will be able to (re)start printing from february-march 2010.
In meanwhile I got published (there are still some publications comming next year), I am busy thinking about new works and plan to start up my own studio (together with my husband). So there is a lot of stuff comming up :)

see you soon!

Pressing Letters

2009-08-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

Just found my work posted on Pressing Letters blog. I am happy to be part of this creative community with an amazing collection of inspirational letterpress works available online.

"Pressing Letters is an effort to catalog and promote creativity in our expanding letterpress community…The goal of this site is to collect and display references and progressive letterpress design as it is published or found."

Dont forget to check the resources page!

MIAT. Gentse Feesten 2009

2009-07-29T07:21:00.001-07:00

In the very end we cleaned up everything properly, drink the last one and recieved certificate printed with wood and movable type at the museum. It was great! See you next year!

MIAT. Gentse Feesten 2009

2009-07-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

Wood type prints I've made at the museum.

MIAT. Gentse Feesten 2009

2009-07-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

MIAT. Gentse Feesten 2009

2009-07-29T06:45:00.001-07:00

I got obsessed with birds :)

MIAT. Gentse Feesten 2009

2009-07-29T06:34:00.001-07:00

I found some old ('50s) engravings from Electrabel and used them in combination with letter "o".

MIAT. Gentse Feesten 2009

2009-07-29T06:21:00.001-07:00

little poem in west flemish written by one of participants

work of Jean Paul Monbaliu is also connected with language and dialiect. "Drink meer geuzen, eet meer tjeven" is apparently an old saying.