I've Got A Little Poster Here

February 24, 2015 Jennifer Farrell

Dann and I have been friends for... two decades? So long I can't fully recall how we met. What I do remember are all of the shows we've been to over the years, the scheming about building prints shops, bands, record labels, you name it. The hours at Dons in Rogers Park and Trevi in Lincoln Park. And the thread that's pulled us through all of these years is a simple one: Sweet. Pop. Music. So when Dann came to me in December with the direction to 'make some cool posters', I gave it a shot. Hosting a residency at the Hideout, a veritable Chicago institution, meant a whole lot of type to go with a whole lot of music. The Cooper Black was calling out for a little action, so I set the themes for each night to proof and play with digitally.

After scanning them into a 'fake out' file, I could then figure out how all of the rest of the type would fall into place for the design I had in mind. This is the computer print next to the first printed proof; I can line up both together to check for spacing and alignment.

I wanted to create the effect of an old 45 label with shapes reverberating out of the center. I drew what these would look like on a transparency then used it to confirm the text would fall within the proper areas.

I set all of the type at once to make sure the placement was correct and then labeled what blocks would be what color (green and blue).

A brass circle for the center, coupled with a wood circle ornament from Moore Wood Type.

This is the full form, inked for the proof. It's a sexy amount of type!

I cut linoleum for the shapes and printed them last given the highly transparent ink. It's a very subtle split fountain that is yellow in the center and orange on the outsides.

Registration was tight!

Here's the final poster. The shows were intimate, entertaining and stacked with some of the best talents in Chicago. No doubt you'll witness another collaboration before long. Check Dann out here, or scroll down here to listen to his interview on WBEZ. Or damnit, just go see him play... you won't be disappointed.

Typeforce Class of 2015

February 17, 2015 Jennifer Farrell

If you work in design and typography in Chicago then chances are you're already familiar with Typeforce, the annual celebration of typographic work hosted by Firebelly Design.

I pitched the idea of taking old prints and cutting them up in a way that they could be reconfigured to resemble large scale versions of the metal printers' ornaments that we work with in the studio on a daily basis. Then a new kind of cityscape could emerge on a vastly different platform.

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After finding out the project was accepted, I started to cut down prints to piece them together and see if patterns would emerge. Indeed they did! Then I knew I could focus each 'building' around a specific color theme and that prints could be organized accordingly.

Printer's Devil Jo was very helpful creating patterns with the 'ornaments' and double checking we had as many as we needed.

I couldn't resist taking the cut up and taped together pieces and putting them into a type case. Here's most of our city along with a handy little paper cutter and the rough 1" scale schematic I put together for reference.

Once the pieces were cut, taped and trimmed the buildings practically assembled themselves.

A few days prior to the install I pinned everything in the hallway to see if there would be any pitfalls. Apart from minimal tweaking it worked fine and I got a greater sense of how the colors would play together.

Here's a snippet of some of the interesting patterns that emerged once everything was assembled.

Something needed to fill up the sky a bit, so a typographic wind blew into the studio. Type prints were cut up in thin strips to differentiate from the square format of the building ornaments and were then glued to a backing sheet.

Last but not least, a few trees and CTA train, without which Chicago would be incomplete.

We mounted the trees onto wood and trimmed the edges in paint. These cuties were laid out and ready to be mounted on the wall during the install.

The train rested on a magic track covered in Virgin Wood Type calendar font from the handful of leftover 2014 calendar sets we had laying around.

Our wall appears to float above the floor, as you can see, but that didn't stop the trees from looking right at home.

This is about the best shot I could get during the install, and as it turns out the best of the weekend as it was too crowded at the opening to get a better one. Off to the side you can see the table we used for people to be able to create their own cityscapes from our leftover scraps.

My install partner, Matt and I went for falafel wraps when we finished. Major score!

Opening night always features a treat of 3D typography in the windows.

This is me!

The evening started in a serene manner and the paper crafting definitely appealed to the younger set. As time wore on, the table became increasingly chaotic, with paper, glue and mixed drinks taking over as the adults rushed to get in on the action. Who knew little paper scraps could be so much fun?

Here are just a few of the projects that were left behind. Well done, type nerds!

Matt had to show everyone up with his minimalist approach.

So many talented faces in the crowd, including our own lady of Starshaped, Megan, alongside Matt. Also 'uncle' Brad Vetter and Adrienne Miller.

Three fine printmakers from NIU, including Danielle in the middle, former Starshaped lady and Typeforce artist.

Jeff took to the interactive wall, as did many.

My absolute favorite moment of the evening was watching Frances and Julie, two incredible type talents, lose their minds over An Alphabet of Sorts. So glad I had it on hand to show off to just the right people.

Did I mention it was crowded?

Poor Julie tried to take a nice picture and got the treatment from Adrienne.

There were many gems from the show and I attempted to get a few shots of them here. My sincere apologies for not having all of the images credited, but it was exceptionally difficult to read a lot of the labels and get decent pictures given the crowd and lighting. You can get a little more info at this site.

Danielle's work:

Yep. I've totally got this. If only I had gotten to eat one of these words before everyone else beat me to it.

You can get info about the closing reception on February 26th here. I hope you get a chance to check it out in person and to experience all of these clever explorations in typography.

An Alphabet in Print

February 3, 2015 Jennifer Farrell

If you've followed along with Starshaped's typographic adventures over the last six months, then you already know about An Alphabet of Sorts, my forthcoming book with Wells College Press. As of this weekend, the book is completely printed and is headed to Wells for binding! I thought I'd share some shots of the printing process and a sneak peek of both the cover and the interior pages. But first, a few images of some of the glorious type forms. The 'I' is one of my favorites as it includes some of the very first ornaments I acquired.

In this section of the 'N' you can see the beautiful, angled sorts, pieced together to create a diagonal shape. These were made in Chicago by Barnhart Bros. & Spindler.

I call this catchword the tattoo of the ampersand, as it sits right in the middle and is the only discernible word included in the alphabet.

This was the first galley of letters to go on press. The 'G' is locked and ready. I brushed many of them with a little oil and wiped them down well to remove old ink and any dirt that might affect the print quality.

The 'L' is the only themed letter in the set; it is entirely made up of ornaments from the Lanston Type Company.

First on deck were the end papers for the book. These reversed letters, along with patterned ornaments were printed with red ink on Red Tartan stock from Gruppo Cordenons.

I liked the idea of the mirrored type above, so it carries through to the covers as well. And it was fun to set 'SORTS' twice... right reading and wrong reading!

The covers are printed in red, gold and pewter. I couldn't be happier with how these turned out, even though it's tough to photograph this lovely red paper.

One of the treats in the book is the inclusion of two vellum pages with digitally printed images of the type forms. Here's a peek at the A that will sit right on top of the printed 'A' page.

My elaborate organizational system involved a piece of masking tape on the drying shelf. The book is made up of 4 signatures, each with 4 folded sheets. I labeled what was on each of the 4 and checked them when they were printed. I did not go in any order, but instead printed whatever letter was next to slide off the galleys.

Typesetting the intro note by Paul F. Gehl at The Newberry Library was a challenge; it's a lot of tiny 6 and 8 point type with 1 point of leading. Luckily, it printed well. It's an honor to have Paul as part of this project.

The last to print was the colophon, appropriately enough.

I assembled and trimmed one set of pages to confirm that all of the imposition was correct. Thankfully it was. 'F' starts the second signature.

I'm anxious to see all of the pieces come together in their final form. I'll be putting together another blog post about the binding when that starts, along with images of the completed book. The edition is already over half sold, so don't miss out!

A Wild Rose

February 2, 2015 Jennifer Farrell

Every so often we get to pour a lot of effort into creating a single, special print, and it's usually commissioned as a gift from one spouse to another. In November I was approached for a project like this, using a poem that was read at the couple's wedding. The wife wanted something blocky, bold and straightforward with a little bit of ornamentation and ample white space. This is the result of the collaboration: Here's a close up of the 12x18" print, done in 3 colors on soft white cotton paper. It's a nice mix of both metal and wood type that, while slightly beaten up and rustic, mostly keeps to a straightforward sans serif diet.

The is the type in the final lock up. We usually set up the entire print if possible then pull a proof. If everything is spaced accordingly and looks well together, then we can go in and separate individual colors and print just one at a time.

Some of the wood type for this piece is pretty rough, as noted in the uneven and speckled forms. The catchword 'THE' is new, however, and is one of Moore Wood Type's laser cut pieces.

The print features two-color ornaments from the Keystone Type Foundry known as 'wild rose' ornaments. It's not every day that named ornaments tie in directly to the words being printing, but they sure did here. These are beautiful in their detail and include two different sized sorts, making it easier to fit them into any line length. I'm certain this charming print was a touching Christmas gift.

New Year, New Type

January 2, 2015 Jennifer Farrell

Starting a new year with a printed homage to great type is always a good idea. Starshaped scored a great deal of new metal and wood type this year and it's time it pulled some weight. So this year's New Year card features type from a few different metal type foundries alongside the snowflakes from our collaboration with Moore Wood Type. The idea was to take a standard rectangular form and make it appear as if the snowflakes were swooping in to break it apart. Below is a reversed image (so it's easy to read) of the main sections of the type form before separating them.

How about a typographic rundown? 'Wishing' is a new cast of Ray Shade by Hill & Dale Type Foundry in West Virginia. 'You A' and 'ew ear' are Latin Ornate and Tuscan Graille, both from Skyline Type Foundry. 'Starshaped Press Chicago' is 6pt Camelot and the N and Y initial caps have yet to be identified. 'Happy' is a mortised initial cap with Dakota. The three main borders are from Bixler Letterfoundry, courtesy of Punky Press, coupled with tiny bits and pieces from our collection.

After a quick carbon paper proof of the forms, I scanned them so that I could figure out the best angles and build the rest of the piece digitally. This is the cheat sheet printed out with the placement of the sections and snowflakes. It is marked up to determine the measurements of the angled furniture I needed to cut to square up the sections.

Here you can see the angled furniture that holds the sections in place and keeps them flush with the rest of the form.

I first pulled a few proofs on the actual paper with the entire form to set up placement and look for any wacky spacing issues. After that was established, I took out all of the second color, leaving just the sections to be printed in burgundy. I marked the spacing with a sharpie so I would remember what I added in place of the type that was there.

The burgundy read well on Wrought Iron, dark gray stock from Neenah's Environment line. It matched the Paver Red envelopes from French Paper. Printing dark inks on dark papers can always be a bit of a crap shoot but this worked well. Silver is a no-brainer. The registration is pretty tight, and given the angles in play here, that's impressive.

Next up were the snowflakes. I trimmed most of mine to be as close to the edge of the design as possible so that they could almost sit on top of each other.

Figuring out what ink they'd be printed in was more challenging. My first thought was opaque white so I could test how this would perform on the gray paper. But the white competed with the silver and the type receded, which was definitely not desirable. So I tried transparent white as well as variations on this with differing degrees of silver and black mixed in. The final was a combination of all of these.

While the snowflakes were set up on press, I used them to print the front of the envelopes as well, where they appear a little darker on burgundy stock. The silver on these is particularly striking. More great initial caps.

I was very pleased with how the cards turned out, as they hit all of my bases for typography as well as great paper and ink combinations. The challenges of setting this form were also very pleasing and it's great to see both old and new type functioning on a heightened level. One of the plans for the studio this year is to really highlight some of the gems of the Starshaped collection and use them in similar ways to how they would have been used 100 years ago, but with (hopefully) a modern breath of fresh air.