Letterpress Daily

January 25, 2012
In custom letterpress, foundry type, Free Stuff, Giveaway, wood type
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Sweet Somethings + Giveaway

The first five people to like Smart & Wiley on Facebook will receive a hand written note on a one-of-a-kind makeready postcard from the press run. We’ll also throw in a bonus makeready card for the first five to make a purchase through our Felt & Wire shop.

Smart & Wiley’s latest offering is a set of four Valentine’s Day postcards, just right for the type/letterpress lover in your life. See more pictures on our website, check out our Facebook page, and pick up a set for you and your sweetie from our Felt & Wire shop before they’re gone!

Each greeting was lovingly set by hand in 12 point ATF News Gothic metal type.

A 10 line wood type heart was printed in four pastel, candy-heart colors with a vigorous kiss.

The one-color (passionate, Fireball Red) postcard backs were composed from foundry metal type and brass rule.

Eat your heart out Cupid. Nothing will besot your beloved quite like letterspaced Bodoni and Steelplate Gothic Shaded caps.

January 23, 2012
In custom letterpress, foundry type, letterpress, sketchbook, wood type
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New in the Store

Click the “Store” tab at the top of the page (or click here) to check out 4 new-to-the-store prints! Also, the limited stock of proof / makeready books made from the “Free Amos Kennedy” posters are on sale, grab ’em while you can.

January 22, 2012
In American Wood Type Mfg. Co., letterpress, Specimen Sunday, wood type
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Specimen Sunday Twofer

American Printing Equipment Complete 1966–1967 Type Catalog,
text page 5

American Printing Equipment Complete 1966–1967 Type Catalog,
text page 6

January 20, 2012
In capital E, end grain, letterpress, Mansard, Virgin Wood Type Mfg. Co., wood type
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Specimen Sunday

Page 6 from the American Wood Type Mfg. Co. Catalog No. 36. Free high res download.

January 9, 2012
In letterpress
One comment

Ink Dial Just Might Save the World

Terry Chouinard is one of the best printers I know. He’s also got a great idea for improving color matching in small, independent letterpress shops. I’ve backed the project, and I can pretty much guarantee if you pledge, and this project gets funded, you’ll be pleased as a pica pole with your reward.

January 3, 2012
In Index, letterpress, side grain, wood type
4 comments

10 line Index or Printer’s Fist

January 1, 2012
In Antique Extended, letterpress, numerals, wood type
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Happy New Year from Letterpress Daily

December 31, 2011
In Clarendon, end grain, letterpress, numerals, one, wood type
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12 line Clarendon Countdown to 2012, 1

December 30, 2011
In Clarendon, end grain, letterpress, numerals, two, wood type
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12 line Clarendon Countdown to 2012, 2

December 29, 2011
In Clarendon, end grain, letterpress, numerals, three, wood type
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12 line Clarendon Countdown to 2012, 3

December 28, 2011
In Clarendon, end grain, four, letterpress, numerals, wood type
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12 line Clarendon Countdown to 2012, 4

December 27, 2011
In Clarendon, end grain, five, letterpress, numerals, wood type
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12 line Clarendon

It’s a Clarendon countdown to 2012, beginning with this first-rate five.

December 25, 2011
In Free Stuff, Hamilton Manufacturing Company, letterpress, Specimen Sunday, Type Specimen, wood type
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Specimen Sunday

Woodtype: Selective Emphasis for Fine Typography by Hamilton, 1960, page 10. Download (right click on link) a high resolution image.

December 23, 2011
In custom letterpress, side grain, Vista Sans Wood Type Project, wood type
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Vista Sans Wood Type Project

Ashley John Pigford and Tricia Treacy invited me to participate in a “collaborative exploration of the interplay between venerable/archaic and experimental/modern technology in the effort to produce a hybrid form of typographic design where the production process is ingrained in the product.” Check out the Vista Sans Wood Type Project.

I received five individual letters, t, o, u, c, h. The blocks each measure 42p6. Extrapolating from the ascender heights of the t and h, I estimate the letters to be 8.5 inches, or 612 points.

The unvarnished, CNC cut letters all prominently (proudly?) reveal the grain of the wood.

December 21, 2011
In custom letterpress, foundry type, wood type
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Happy Holidays 2011

click image to enlarge

For the first holiday card I’ve done since 2006 (and the first for Smart & Wiley), I used a 10 line wood type pyramid, paired with 18 point ATF Garamond Italic. Rounded corners and a blind embossed kraft envelope give the card a finished, upscale look.

December 20, 2011
In custom letterpress, wood type
4 comments

Happy Holidays… 2006

Kitemath, a Chicago design firm, commissioned me to design and letterpress print a holiday card they would be proud to send their clients. The only parameter given: the design needed to incorporate a green ink custom mixed to match a box of overstock A7 envelopes.

The illustration was made using wood type circles for the ornaments, metal type periods for the strings, the ferrules are capital letter Us from Univers, and I set the text in 10pt. ATF Century Schoolbook.

December 19, 2011
In custom letterpress
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Happy Holidays…2005

In 2005, my studio was in the front room of a house I was renting in the suburbs of Indianapolis. Easily the shortest commute of my life. I realize now, looking back, how influential it was to my process to have immediate access to my studio. I felt less pressure to have a completed design or fully formed concept before starting to work. It felt more like play.

As was the case with many of my projects at the time, I had no clue what this card was going to look like. I entered the studio with a plan to print something for the holidays. While looking through a galley of metal ornaments that could easily pass for snowflakes I found the inspiration I needed, locked up a form on my Vandercook SP-15 and started printing.

Once the metallic silver and gold snowflakes were done, I selected 18pt. ATF Garamond Italic for the text, but I felt the falling flakes needed a little extra punch so I interspersed colons from the same font. The finished cards were nicely complemented by some surplus soft gray envelopes.