Metal Typography in Context

I recently acquired a copy of the new textbook, Graphic Design in Context: Typography, as a photo of one of our type forms appears in the book.

This was a piece I put together 2 years ago to showcase many of the victorian typefaces in the studio for the purpose of photographing them. Forms are so lovely and architectural, and we've endeavored to include process shots on our site, the flickr letterpress forme group as well as this blog to share. Here's the full photo:

And after taking the care to build this, I decided to print a number of copies of it so the actual type could be seen as it was originally intended. It's available on our etsy site.

Just this week I assembled a similarly complex form with more of our 19th century type for a birthday card, which you can see here. The best bit is the little pin set in the corner that requires careful setting in order to line it up correctly.

There'll be more on this card coming soon... In the meantime, if you have any interest in the study of type, check out Typography. It's thoughtfully laid out, very concise and offers a unique perspective on how type functions in the real world. I can't put it down.

CPG is A-OK

About four years ago, our fellow printmaking friend, Nadine (now of Sonnenzimmer fame) suggested that Chicago area printmakers pull together and create an organization that would help to define, promote, support and educate the printmaking community of the city we all call home. This turned into the Chicago Printers Guild and has been gaining momentum ever since, through monthly meetings, field trips, outreach and print shows. Each month a different studio in the city hosts a meeting, where as many printers as possible gather together to discuss issues that surround the field and then enjoy a demo from the hosting studio. Beer and cookies abound. In February, Starshaped was up! Because the group is largely made up of screenprinters creating large works of art, I decided to set up our tiniest Press Bike press with the tiniest type in the studio, which happens to be 4-point type on a 6-point body. Here's the little Sigwalt in action. And yes, that had been a plate of peanut butter cookies.

This is Rebecca from Rar Rar Press, one of the few studios (alongside us, of course), that prints entirely with antique type. So this is a lady who knows what's she's doing here.

The little Sigwalt isn't the finest press we've got, so there's something left to be desired in the print quality. But you get the point.

Here's the form for the tiny print alongside a pica ruler. This is approximately 1.5" in length.

And here are a few of the stars of the printmaking galaxy, including the 'dorky hat club' members Andy Schwegler from Letterform, Dan Grzeca from Ground Up, and Nick Butcher from Sonnenzimmer.

More fabulousness in the form of Megan Sterling, a former Starshaped alum, alongside Julie Morelli of Letterform and Nourishing Notes (seriously multitasking lady). Following is ass-kickin' Sonnenzimmer Nadine Nakanishi.

Here's our own lovely Janice!

Tiny future printmaker and CPG member. Already churning out some great ideas.

And here's me and Julie again! A while back we were thrilled to have Julie print with us at Starshaped, until she acquired her own press.

If you're curious about printmaking in Chicago, please check out the CPG! New members are always welcome and we've got some great projects up all of our inky sleeves...

Dennis and Marie at home

Back in November of 2012, I had the pleasure of meeting Dennis Gilliam at the Hamilton Wood Type Wayzgoose. As someone with a past in typographic arts, we had a lot in common when it came to our passion for antique type and typesetting. Apparently, I 'won him over' with Starshaped's commitment to only producing work with metal and wood type, and after traveling home to Portland after the 'Goose, he contacted me about creating calling cards for both himself and his wife. For his own card, he pulled heavily from the silent film/ragtime-inspired print in our self promotional packet and pieced together what he thought would look great on the card. Here's a shot of the form. It has a combination of mortised multi-line rules around the name, and a tricky set of rules to create a box around the main text.

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And here's the final card:

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And since we were already working on one card, Dennis also ordered cards for his wife, an avid bonsai tree admirer. They provided this image, which I cleaned up to make into a magnesium plate and then combined with type. These are printed on 100% recycled stock.

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One of great perks of collaborating with Dennis? He's currently working with the fabulous Bob's Red Mill and sent coupons for their fabulous products! Granola? Flour for cookies or cakes? Any which way, the studio will be stacked with delicious treats.

The Hamilton Wayzgoose 2012

This weekend we attended the annual Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum's Wayzgoose, or printers gathering. It was an unbelievable experience chock full of some of the greatest printers, designers, bookbinders and enthusiasts from around the world. While Chicago has always had a supportive printmaking community, much of it revolves around screenprinting, which leaves us letterpress folks a bit off to the side. The wayzgoose presented the opportunity to be completely in our element, talking about the intricacies of metal and wood type as opposed to screens and rubylith!

Many of our old friends were in attendance, including these two: Celene, recently transplanted from Chicago to Nashville to work at Hatch Show Print (many alumni of Hatch were in attendance), and Rich of P22/WNYBAC fame.

Rebecca from Rar Rar Press right here in Chicago (showing her killer new pennants):

And Erin of Inky Winke alongside Dave Peat, a man with one of the most incredible collections of type I've ever seen in print:

Sunday morning we had the privilege to hear about the Globe Collection that Hamilton now houses. This was a job shop located in Chicago (with sister shops in Baltimore and St. Louis), that created some of the hardest working posters in show business. The last was a real treat to see, as it was printed for a carnival 5 minutes away from where I grew up.

Here's Erin demonstrating what happens when your husband is out of the country... you cozy up to a vintage halftone image of Marvin Gaye!

The event also featured a print swap which was a fantastic way to see what everyone's been up to this year. We took our new self promotional packs and open house posters (more on those later this week...), and Printers Devil Jo took our collaborative Family Canning posters. The man with the camera is none other than Scott from Moore Wood Type, one of the few folks in the country creating new wood type.

Amos Kennedy Jr. was there to get folks on press, and lots of esoteric prints were floating around everywhere...

As the youngest participant, Jo met a lot of new friends, including Bill Moran, the Artistic Director at Hamilton. Here they are discussing the Press Bike and how they could create a stationary bike that prints stationery at the museum. She also autographed prints during the swap and got a picture with Brad Vetter, her new favorite printer.

What a whirlwind of a weekend, and an honor to be involved with so much talent and creativity in one room. Hoping that inspiration translates into some new awesomeness in the Starshaped studio. And on a slightly downer note, Hamilton's future isn't clear; the building in which the museum is housed is now empty and for sale, and they will most likely need to move in the Spring. Please help them out... spread the word, donate time or money, do what you can. This is an American treasure that needs to survive.

And in conclusion, would any trip to Wisconsin be complete without this?

Thanks to all the entertaining Packers fans in our hotel!

Printing at WNYBAC

Visiting New York State is not only a great chance to relax with family, but a good time to catch up on printing for the Renegade Craft Fair, thanks to the lovely Western New York Book Arts Center. I packed up the formes for our popular 'Happy Pigs are Tastier' print (as well as a few new versions...), along with some ink and paper, and headed to downtown Buffalo for an afternoon of printing.

The Center has really turned into a fantastic work space, as well as gallery and shop, and offers many opportunities to get your hands dirty with letterpress, screenprinting and bookbinding. There's also a retail space to pick up prints, cards, books and supplies. I spent a little time with Mandy the Mangler:

Happy Cows and Happy Hens will be added to the Happy Pigs series of prints, and it was fun to see our type (and linoleum cuts) on a different press:

And here's a sneak peak of the almost-finished Happy Cows print. We'll be finishing them up next week to have ready at Renegade. Thanks to the entire staff of WNYBAC for so graciously allowing me use of the press and space! It's always an inspiring learning experience to print in other shops, especially ones as well organized as this!