Early Bird

This week I've been working on something that I'll hopefully have done next week so that I can share with you. So, since it's been a while and I still haven't caught up on some other things I've done, I wanted to share this.

Back durring my letterpress class, we had an assignment where we had to pick a zinc cut image from the collection and create a project from that image. So, this is what I came up with. The early bird gets WHAT?! I used wood type in different fonts for the title, and then hand set my thoughts on the matter in wood type:

A worm? Who wants a worm? I certainly don't. Okay. I know the old saying tries
to motivate us all to get up early because the early bird gets the first pick of
food for the day. But my eggs and orange juice will still be in the fridge, no
matter when I wake up. I don't think I'll wake up early if it just means that I
get a worm. But thatnks for the advice.

And there you have it.

Letterpress Project 1

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am taking a letterpress class this semester. I love it. It's a lot of work, and very time consuming, but it's great none the less. So, today I want to share my first project. Being the first, there were quite a few guidelines/restrictions we had to follow. First, the paper size and type was determined for us. It was a very thin sheet, not leaving room for much impression, and the size had to be 4x5. We could only use black ink, and only text. The text had to be set by had and original. We were to choose an object that has some significance to us, and then write 50 words, describing it. See if you can figure out what my object was.

The text reads:

Six surfaces form the solid shape; faces the same size, 12 edges the same length. The colors call, asking to be grouped. I twist and I turn, hearing the familiar friction of plastic on plastic as each small square moves to become one with the other 8 of its color, creating solid faces. Once such a mystery, now so simple to solve.

Now, for those of you who don't know what it means to handset type, let me paint the picture. Each little letter is a piece of type. The type is stored in a case, which is basically a divided drawer.You guessed it. You have to line up the little pieces, add spacing between words, and leading between lines. Takes some time, but gives you some appreciation for what people used to do back in the day. When there's a letter that's worn down, you have to replace it. If you run out of e's, you have to run it on the press twice, once for the first half, and once for the second. The particular typeface I chose, Twentieth Century, has a lot of smashed type, so I spent a lot of time replacing the little letters with tweezers. And I mean little. The first part is 6 point, and the bottom two lines are 8 point. If you want to see how small that is, type something in 6 point, print it out, and imagine cutting out each individual letter and that letter sitting on a piece of lead that's .918" tall. Tiny.

ABC Poster 6

Today we have another letterpress poster found on Etsy. You can find it in the shop Handmade Impressions. I think the different sizes and typefaces work great together. Can i just say I LOVE wood type? So beautiful. I'm planning on using some in my next assignment for my letterpress class. I'll post it when it's done.

ABC Poster Number 2

I've come to love Etsy. For those of you who don't know what Etsy is, it's the online marketplace to buy and sell all things handmade. If you haven't yet, be sure to check it out and see what you can find. There's a little bit of everything and something for everyone!

This poster is letterpressed, which is another one of my recent obsessions. I love the added element of texture the letterpress adds. Sycamore Street Press offers this wonderfully simple poster in another color combination, but I'm partial to the orange. I love the simple yet playful rendering of the animals.