Shedding Light on Letterpress vs. Letterless

I'm not really trying to start anything, but the light here in Vermont this afternoon is indescribable. I happened to come across a greeting card letterpressed on Crane's Lettra paper lying in that light and rushed to grab the camera. I also happened to come across some marketing copy from an e-card company, saying something to the effect that their product is as tasteful as its "almost obsolete" paper counterpart, with the beauty of traditional paper.

Really?

Letterpress Illuminated by Vermont Lettra Light

It's beyond beautiful in Vermont today. We got a couple of inches of powder overnight, and the sun's out to create shadows on stark white.

To me, these are Lettra Light days; when the natural world can be replicated with letterpress impressions on a pillowy white paper. These are also days to have some fun with the camera as Lettra Light enhances the influence of press on paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making Money in Maine - Currency Hot Off the Press

I recently had the great pleasure of attending the 2009 Northeast Kingdom Typography Congress held in Portland, Maine, at Wolfe Editions and at Ascensius Press in South Freeport.

The main theme of the congress was printing money - no not counterfeit money - but artistic impressions in the spirit of money.

Using the extensive collection of presses, type, ornaments, ink and paper at David Wolfe's Pleasant Street studio, here are the results:


















These note are obviously not real. But the one that follows is all-too-real. This $100 Trillion note from Zimbabwe was brought to the Congress by banknote expert Mark Tomasko from his extensive collection. Back in April, you could buy some eggs for breakfast with this.

Studio on Fire is Hot, Hot, Hot!

It's no secret that I love letterpress. There are so many wonderful pieces being created by incredibly talented people. And from what I gather, the art and process has been elevated by the introduction of Crane's Lettra papers.

Being a paper geek, the first time I got hold of a piece of Lettra, I knew this stuff was special. Beautifully textured and a "pillowy" structure that just plain invites the press to do its thing.

Back to the art and artisans. I ran across Studio on Fire recently, and this was my first exposure to their work.



They designed and letterpress printed this poster for the Sweet Hair poster show featuring 37 Minneapolis artists. All prints were hair-inspired, handmade and created just for this show. A portion of proceeds benefited Locks of Love.



The 18 x 26 poster is a single color printed on 220lb Crane Lettra Pearl White. The type intertwines with a .30 point stroke that flows throughout the poster, making a nice deep impression on the cotton stock. The quote is a Chinese proverb that reads “You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent their making a nest in your hair.”

I now make regular pilgrimages to Studio on Fire and their blog Beast Pieces to get my fix of eye candy.

Here's another favorite:



You owe it to yourself to spend a little time with these folks.

Light, Camera, Design, Paper, Letterpress Convergence

Today was just one of those days. Nothing going wrong, just working away at the normal stuff, sort of feeling sorry for myself because I had to be indoors on an outdoors kind of day here in Vermont.

As I walked past my photo "studio," that sunshine that I was bemoaning was reflecting just so off a piece of letterpressed paper. I tore open a box of samples from the field that I had been putting off for a few days, in hopes that there might be some beautifully-designed and beautifully printed letterpress work while the light was still good. What were the chances? As it turned out...pretty good.

So a day that was dragging along all of a sudden flew by as those five elements converged: Light, Camera, Design, Paper and Letterpress. Some day I hope to add a sixth element - talent - but that will have to wait.

Have a look.

Above are elements of a wedding invitation designed by Elizabeth Peters of Arzberger Buening Stationers in Charlotte, N.C. Arzberger also provided the letterpress printing on 179# Crane's Lettra Pearl White paper.

Elements of a wedding invitation designed by Natalie Eason Wommack of Sicily Eason Design in Houston. The same firm provided the letterpress printing on 110# Crane's Lettra Fluorescent White paper.

And finally, Michael Osborne and One Heart Press in San Francisco.

Igor Kopelnitsky: From Press Room to Letterpress

I received an e-mail recently from Geoffry Gertz at Sparked.biz in Brooklyn, passing along a letterpress card project with artwork by Igor Kopelnitsky. Gorgeous stuff at first glance, with depth of meaning that brings your eye and mind back to the images seeking greater understanding.

Now, I have been told I’m not the brightest knife in the drawer, and this casual diagnosis of my intellectual prowess was once again proven correct as I pored over the images on the cards: I know this guy. I should know this guy. Who the heck is this guy?

Ding! Well, not actually Ding, but Google.

Igor Kopelnitsky is, of course, illustrator for the Op Ed Page of the New York Times. His whimsical style satirizes societal themes both political and global. In addition to the Times, his work has graced the pages of The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal, among others. Born in Kiev, he originally studied physics; but upon the publication of his first cartoon, Igor left the sciences for cartooning and illustration.

Geoffry said the art card series offers eight humorous original designs printed by Peter Fraderdeus of Exquisite Letterpress on Crane’s Lettra paper. “Each design is a unique and amusing commentary on issues ranging from energy independence to the evolution debate,” said Geoffry. Themes and titles include Play Date with the Devil, Bright Idea, Heavy Thoughts, Don’t be Shy, Balancing Act, Peace Out, Drill Baby Drill, and So Evolved.

Geoffry is the director of Sparked.biz, a new art and design collective, collaborating with artists and illustrators to infuse their unique concepts and visions into well-crafted art products. Geoffry’s work has spanned diverse design markets from international design such as Perry Ellis, Issey Miyake and JOOP!; to large-scale fast fashion for Limited Brands; and most recently, the celebrity influence as the Creative Director for Hillary Duff. His designs have been featured in numerous influential style magazines. He is also a design consultant in the fashion industry and an Adjunct Faculty member at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Make sure you visit Geoffry’s beautiful Sparked.biz website here.

You’ll be glad you read this far. Geoffry has offered to give away four sets of Igor’s art notes to readers of The Crane Insider. To enter for a random drawing, send an e-mail to Geoffry at contest[at]sparked.biz. We’ll let you know who the lucky winners are on April 13.

Good Luck!

Vintage Ephemera Designs from Austin Press

I was sent a package of samples from Austin Press in San Francisco the other day, and wanted to share with you the letterpress artistry of Kimberly Austin on Crane's Lettra paper.


Located in the historic San Francisco Shipyard, Kimberly creates beautifully crafted ephemera on her vintage presses. Inspired by a collection of rare books and alphabets, Austin Press offers a rich assortment of ready-to-write and custom tailored note cards.


Enjoy.

Stylish Motifs Grace Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of letterpress. I appreciate the subtle shadows created by type and designs in fine paper, and wish I could photograph them to better advantage.

For an upcoming magazine article, I was leafing through Crane's new Letterpress Weddings album and noticed several new designs that really flew off the page. It took me a moment to realize why - the letterpressed designs bled off the page. I thought I would share a few with you. I especially like the last.

Coasters from Crane's New Letterpress Weddings Album: A Transformational Design Challenge

I love letterpress. I love its three-dimensionality. I love the images sculpted in fluffy, bulky cotton paper.

Crane has just launched its new Letterpress Wedding Invitations album, which I will write more about shortly. It's beautiful stuff, and I hope all you nearlyweds out there will include this album in your deliberations.

When I received my samples from the album I noticed something new; items not found in other Crane wedding albums - coasters. Coasters personalized with letterpress. Here they are:

Now, I have been known to use a coaster on occasion for its intended purpose, but seeing these I began to wonder what else they might become. How else might they be used in a wedding celebration? How might they arise from beneath a wine glass?

All you Martha Stewart fans - and I count myself among them - have seen such transformations as she employs her creativity, imagination and vision. Now it's your turn.

Here's the challenge: Create something to personalize a wedding using these coasters as your starting point. I can't send you all actual coasters to work with, so here's a link to my Photobucket page where you will find images. In real life, they measure 4 inches across.

There are two ways to send in your entries: via e-mail (jpegs or pdfs under 5 megs please) or if you prefer, you may mail your entry to me at:

Peter Hopkins

Crane Museum of Papermaking

Crane & Co., Inc.

30 South St.

Dalton, MA 01226

Entries will be accepted until midnight on December 8. That gives you a month to play around. The winner will be announced just before Christmas, and the present will be 50 engraved social cards as well as the fame that accompanies the announcement of your victory here at The Crane Insider, of course.

If you have questions, and I'm sure you will, please leave a comment below and I will respond so that everyone will have the benefit of the answer.

Steam Roller as Letterpress on Crane Paper

In late September, Crane was the sponsor of an annual street event in San Francisco called Roadworks, put on by the San Francisco Center for the Book.

The Center "is a place where you can learn about the many arts and crafts of the book. Through workshops, exhibitions and public events, the SFCB promotes both knowledge of traditional book arts and exploration of experimental book forms."

The organization holds "hands-on" classes on letterpress printing and bookbinding throughout the year and also has exhibitions of various subjects relating to books, of course. The Center is well know among the graphic artists in the area.

Participants created letterpress linoleum prints and large posters by closing off the street by the facility and renting a steamroller. Several artists created linoleum cuts that were poster size that will be auctioned off at a fundraiser in October ( last year several posters went for over $1500). They also had clients of the Center make smaller prints of their own. Vendors included local artists selling items from tee shirts to letterpress prints and greeting cards. The day-long event was well attended by several hundred patrons of the arts, books, and letterpress printers.

I love San Francisco, and this is just another in a long list of reasons why I've got to find an excuse to get there. Thanks so much to Chuck Schmidt from Crane Business Papers for the photos and write-up. I think Chuck had fun.......

Friday Eye Candy

I love visiting my friend Dianne at Crane. There's always something interesting to chat about, and Dianne shares my enthusiasm for both history and design. Dianne works in Crane's Business Papers division, so she gets to see great stuff printed on Crane papers. And she is very kind to save things for me, especially since I've got this Friday Eye Candy thing to do every week.

Earlier this week, she showed me a really beautiful piece of letterpress printing by Foils & Dies/Vintage Pressworks in Denver, promoting the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) conference in 2007.

The design and its letterpress execution on Crane's Lettra are extraordinary, beginning at the bottom of the piece with flowers melding into the Denver skyline, then the imposing Rockies with massive snowflakes descending.

But as the eye ascends to the snowy peaks, their outline against the western sky is further defined by a pair of threads, perfectly stitched into the paper, adding a delightful texture both for the eye and the hand.

As I note in my blog profile: I make pulp, I make paper and I marvel at what the creative spirit can accomplish with such humble materials. This is a great example.

And by the way, the model I asked you all to identify in an earlier post? Martha Stewart! Thanks for all the guesses - both right and wrong - and I'll be drawing the names of our winners this weekend.

Friday Eye Candy

It’s pretty gray outside here in Vermont today, so it seems appropriate to kick off what I hope will be a weekly feature called Friday Eye Candy. It gives me an opportunity to go easy on the keyboard and let you feast on the more visually creative.

Today, I’m featuring three pieces from a promotional folder by Evolution Press in Seattle, all done on Crane paper. The descriptions that follow are taken from the production notes by Evolution Principal/Printer Scott Hill.

Birds in Motion Patterned Card
These smart birds make full use of paper color as part of the design, eliminating one pass through the press. Their first flight was a trip though our offset press, where we laid down the Black #7 background. Then over to our foil press, where their bodies were foiled black.

Finished Size: 4.5 by 5 inches
Paper: Crane’s Tangerine Kid Finish 134# Cover
Offset: Black #7
Foil: Matte Black #380

One-Color Notecard Set
The envelope’s printed image wraps from front to back, giving the effect of a 2-sided print. One plate, one pass, one fine idea!

Finished Size: 4.5 by 5 inches
Paper: Crane’s Lettra Pearl White 110# Cover
Envelope: Lettra Pearl White A7
Letterpress: PMS 187

Wayzgoose Event Postcard
Overprinting two colors can produce a unique visual effect, sometimes even a third color! This card has loads of ink coverage, an intricate border and a variety of overprinted shapes and textures which interplay with the paper color.

Finished Size: 5 by 7 inches
Paper: Crane’s Pearl White Kid Finish 179#
Letterpress: PMS 718 and PMS 622

To contact Evolution Press:

Scott Hill
Evolution Press, Inc.
1112 NW 50th St.
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 783-5522
scott@evolutionpress.net