letterpress

Showing 7 posts tagged letterpress

Pick Me Up 2016: Alan Kitching — A Life in Letterpress (pt2).  |  Londondesignz.com

Following on from my earlier post covering Alan’s work throughout the Nineties, this one samples some of his work from the turn of the Millennium. 

One of the great aspects of this exhibition is that it shines a light on the working process used in select pieces. This can be seen in the artwork of 2003′s history of the Royal Albert Hall where we get to view the final product in tandem with a rough production layout.

You can find out more about the exhibition and its companion book over at thetypographyworkshop.com.

Pick Me Up 2016: Alan Kitching — A Life in Letterpress (pt1).  |  Londondesignz.com

I recently dropped into this year’s Pick Me Up festival at Somerset House and made a point of spending some significant time looking through Alan Kitching’s ‘A life in Letterpress’ exhibition.

There was loads to look through and wittling the number of pieces down to a small set to be featured here posed a challenge. Even then, I’m having to spread my picks over several blog posts.

This one focuses on Kitching’s work throughout the Nineties which from my perspective, was the period I found myself most drawn to in the show. While this era includes 1992’s legendary ‘Broadside 5: Clerkenwell Typographic Map’, I’m find myself more drawn to some of the other work here, possibly because the Clerkenwell map has been very present throughout my design career (great though it is). One such piece is the poster advertising a Gert Dunbar lecture and its reference to Dunbar’s Dutch background — it has great punch.

Watch this space. More of my choice picks to come from this exhibition…

Valentines is SORT-ed

Faced with the usual rubbish choice of Valentines cards, this year I thought I’d try and find something a little more interesting and design focussed.

Who should come to my rescue but none other than the Society of Revisionist Typographers (previously featured on Londondesignz a few months ago). 

SORT had set up shop at Fortnum & Mason where they were selling a range of their own hand printed Valentine’s Cards. Anyone buying a card was invited to add the name of their loved one to the card via a good old fashioned hand powered Letterpress. I’m sure any recipient would be touched that their beau had put physical effort into their card.

I love the simplicity of the particular card I chose and that the two intertwined hearts are composed of lots of tiny letterpress ornaments working together as pixels to form the greater picture.

Elements of the past and the future. Combining well.

Find SORT online at sortdesign.com and on Facebook.

Exmouth Market by Type Worship.

You don’t get much more London than this. I have number 7 of 250 of this lovely print. The impression that the print makes on the paper has a truly sumptuous feel.

I suggest that you treat yourself to kick those new year blues - go and buy yourself a copy. It will look great on the wall of any dwelling - not just the studio of a designer with the Clerkenwell Disease!

typeworship:

Typographic Time Capsule: Exmouth Market Print

Here is the final letterpress version of my print, capturing the colourful history and present-day character of Exmouth Market. This vibrant little street is one of Central London’s hidden gems, packed with independent shops, restaurants, cafés and market stalls.

Researched over several months, this snapshot aims to preserve the street’s unique identity, recording each of the street’s current ‘establishments of note’ and regular market stalls. It also delves into its shady 400-year history, that includes blood sports, a disreputable Victorian tea garden and an atrocious graveyard now buried under the adjacent park.

The decorated initials, spelling ‘Exmouth’, have been inspired by the rich assortment of lettering found on the street or designed to represent its past. (you can read more about them here) The text is also full of little typographic details, such as historical and ornamental characters, which were great fun to add.

  • Letterpress in silver, turquoise and black
  • Individually signed, limited edition of 250
  • Printed on Crane’s Lettra 300gsm paper
  • Set in Minion Pro (Robert Slimbach, 1990) and printed by Hand & Eye letterpress, London

Establishments Noted:
North side: Caravan, Gulshan Tandoori, The Exmouth Arms, SpaceEC1, Brill, Farringdon Locksmith & Tool Shop, G N Furniture, Gail’s Bakery, EC One, Café Kick, Bagman and Robin, Family Tree, Potato Merchant & Santoré.
South side: Paesan, East Central Cycles, The Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer, Big Wheel Theatre Company, The Klinik, Clerkenwell Tales, Morito, Moro, Medcalf, Clark’s Pie & Mash, EXM Hair & Beauty, Pride of Siam, Nécco, McCaul Goldsmiths, Family Business, Hummus Bros, Sweet Boulangerie & Patisserie & Book Ends.

Buy one of these limited edition prints here:

(via typeworship)

hyrulians:

Letterpress quotations

This is nice! 

A 300 dpi PSD containing a variety of quotation mark styles that designers can use in their own work to add a little character and flare.

Take note that these are images and not font files. Each letter form or graphic element will need to be hand set and composed.

You can pick the file up for the princely sum of $49 from The Organic Type.

Further proof that traditional crafts and methods are in the ascendency again (not that proof’s needed given people’s general awareness!)

Thanks to hyrulians and Hannah Stewart for plonking this on my radar!

(via hannnahks)

The Society of Revisionist Typographers at Fortnum & Mason.

As part of the London Design Festival, The Society of Revisionist Typographers (known also as SORT Design) were running a Letterpress workshop at Fortnum & Mason in London’s Piccadilly. I popped in to see them and the lovely examples of their work being showcased. 

Driven by a passion for traditional printing skills, Thomas Boulton and Theo Wang founded SORT with the aim of bringing these skills back into active use through application and practice. While this philosophy underpins their work, they don’t let it limit their creativity. The examples above demonstrate a maturity, depth of knowledge and firm grounding in typographic practice.

For anyone visiting them at Fortum & Mason, SORT were giving out personalised note pads, the catch being that you had to print your own! Once they had composited and inserted the type, the lucky recipient had to operate the Letterpress - one swing of the lever and my notepad was ready. No prizes for guessing what I had printed, but I’ve included a couple of photos above if it wasn’t obvious!