You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'wood type' category.
We were proud to participate in a print exchange to honor the first 100 years of Vandercook printing presses. Organized by Paul Moxon of the ever-so-helpful Vanderblog, 100 printers pledged to each design and produce an 8.5×11″ broadside celebrating the Vandercook Centenary (1909-2009).
The deadline was August 16th, which happens to be R.O. Vandercook’s birthday — and funnily enough — our own Vandercook’s birthday! According to the records, Ephemera’s Vandercook SP-15 test press was originally shipped on 8/16/1966 to the National Printing Company in Buffalo, NY.
A drawing of what our press looks like. Ok… this one is a lot shinier.
Above is our submission to the print exchange. Get it?! No??!! Then you must never have had the pleasure of printing on a Vandercook. When printing, you continually switch between its “trip” and “print” settings. I know, I know. It’s a real knee slapper. We used a combination of wood type and photopolymer plates, and printed it in 4 runs on lovely gray Magnani Pescia paper with a deckled bottom edge. I absolutely love deckled edges.
The best part about having participated in the exchange is that sometime soon, I’m going to get a set of all 100 prints in the mail. Paul has been updating the gallery on his web site as the submissions roll in. Here are some of my favorites:
From top, left, submissions from: Uno in Los Angeles, CA ; Pellinore Press in Baltimore, MD; Studio 204 in Dallas, TX; and Parallel Press in Fairfax, CA.
You can view all the submissions here. I am so excited to see them all in person, and have tons of new artwork for framing.
Yay, Vandercook!
Tara
Every day I walked into my little office this month, I’ve been greeted by these cheerful cherries on my wall calendar. And wow has this July been all about the cherry! We’ve had a record crop here in Washington, and I have definitely been taking advantage. Cherries are my absolute favorite fruit. The little open air produce stand near my house has had amazing sweet red cherries and Rainiers for a steal. I’ve bought between 2 and 4 pounds a week for the last month! And Dave does not eat cherries (what is that about?). It’s all got me very full and feeling inspired to make some cherry-themed stationery in time for next cherry season.
The calendar is one of my favorite things in our house. I picked it up at a book arts festival several years ago. It’s a gorgeous collaboration of several designers and artists from the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. It’s actually a perpetual calendar, so it’s great for keeping track of dates that never change — birthdays, anniversaries, etc. — and you can leave it up forever. It’s page after page of complex, hand-cut linoleum block prints. Every month is interpreted beautifully. I have never actually been able to bring myself to write in it, of course!
July by Tracy Guza; Cover by Jenny Wilkson; June by Kerrie Satava
Happy summer!
Tara
Awhile back I finally got ahold of a font of wood type — it was in great condition and a serious steal. They are pretty large — about 3 inches high — so they work well for monogram cards or invitations with a bold look.
It was fun playing around with the type and remembering how to lock everything up so that it prints just where I want it to. There is definitely more planning required and more limitations imposed than printing with photopolymer plates, and I definitely felt a little out of practice.
But I just love the worn out left edge of that capital “A” and the funky texture of the type — especially the overprinted areas. If you love it as well, let us know — we can certainly design a project for you that uses our antique wood type. I’m always looking for more to add to the collection…
Goodbye!
Tara
