Duckpin Press

2012 Calendars

2011-12-27T21:18:00.000-05:00

What better way to start the year than with a fresh letterpress calendar?

Pictured above is Studio on Fire's 2012 desktop calendar. The theme of the set, "positive apocalypse", is appropriate for both the mom and the emo kid in your life. And how about calendars for those others in your life?: the bicyclist, the Chiroptera enthusiast, the naturalist, and that preachy designer-type.

Enjoy, and a happy, inky new year!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-27T11:34:00.005-05:00

A few photos from a Duckpin Thanksgiving spent out in Shenandoah National Park: a log, a sign, a cola dispenser, and Neoproterozoic columnar basalt jointing.

Click photos for wicked big versions.

Thank you card

2011-11-13T23:38:00.006-05:00

For the Amalgamated Printer's Association's monthly bundle, we created this piece using just wood type. We received a couple inquiries on how we did it. Here's the scoop:

First we printed the backsides of wood type to create a field of brown. We added strip material between the blocks so one could see each individual one, rather than a monolithic rectangle. We selected the pieces to include a wide variety of wood grain patterns.

Next we mixed up 3 batches of ink side-by-side: blue, white, blue. Then we took a wide brayer and commingled them so the color on the brayer transitioned from blue on one edge to white in the middle to blue on the other edge. They're mixed well so the gradient is smooth all the way across.

We locked up the rightside-up type in the proof press and hand inked it with the brayer from corner to corner. This created the blueish hues near the "T" and exclamation point . Next came the paper and a pull of the press. Presto, a thank you card!

Each of the 155 copies had to be individually hand inked to get the gradient effect. We don't have fancy equipment like a cylinder press with a split fountain, so it's all manual, all the time. The side benefit is now our biceps are jacked. Printing is the new steroids.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Pantone

2011-10-19T10:35:00.003-04:00

Now that Columbus Day has passed, it's time to decorate for Christmas!
Get a colorful jump with these Pantone-licensed "Xmas Balls" from Seletti.

(Hat tip to Santa James)

Yer Old

2011-10-05T00:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Most-Common-U.S.-Birthday Day!
According to all the smart people on the Internet, today is the most popular birth date in the United States. Fittingly, Duckpin Press' own mom -- always part of the popular cowd -- is celebrating her birthday today. That gives us an excuse to show off the above piece we made earlier in the summer on the Pilot press. Enjoy. And happy birthday, Jackie!

Paper is Crane Lettra; Gray text is 24pt Ombree; orange text is unnamed wood typeface (well, unnamed to me, anyway -- suggestions, anyone?); 4.25" x 5.5"

Magazine covers

2011-08-25T19:18:00.004-04:00

We usually feature sites that are heavy on inspiration for type or poster design. In this post, we feature a selection of magazine covers taken from nascapas. The Brazilian site captures the best magazine covers from around the world, posting up to a dozen different issues a day. Covers often include captivating photos, lively type treatments, and intelligent conceptual illustration. (Plus some funny-looking words from countries that don't talk American.)

Click on covers for a larger view.

Duckpin Goes Duckpinning

2011-08-16T23:03:00.000-04:00

The Duckpin Press staff of two has just wrapped up our summer duckpin bowling league. In honor of the workhorse typeface, our team name was the Zapf Dingbats. We certainly lived up to the second part of that moniker. A total of 18 teams took to the lanes, and we finished.... uh, let's just say we didn't finish in the top 17. But when you're out on the town throwin' ducks with the love of your life, who cares what your record is?

There's always next year...

Sophia Stationery

2011-07-31T07:00:00.003-04:00

My how they grow up fast. Seems like just yesterday we were making a 5th birthday card for Duckpin's youngest printer. Fast-forward a year and and half and she's now a full-fledged intern. To congratulate our newest assistant, we made her her very own stationery. She did us the favor of adorning it with a self portrait. Thank you, Sophia, for spicing up our refrigerator door art collection.

Click on photos for wicked big versions.

Siding Signage

2011-07-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

While traveling through the small town of Aquasco, Maryland, this summer, we spied this old building embalmed in it's own kudzu. Fittingly, it advertises various undertaker services -- including embalming.

Also fitting is that this phenomenon of faded advertisements is referred to as ghost signage. There are several collections of images out, and we sometimes visit them for typographic inspiration. Perhaps the most apropos one we've stumbled across is a ghost sign advertising Casper Beer. Boo!

Ink-scented Wretches

2011-06-29T03:38:00.004-04:00

Sniff your screen.
That's right, sniff up here close and tell me what you smell. What? Nothing?

That's right. As much as this blog might stink, it doesn't stink. Absent in electronic communique is the familiar scent of ink on paper, a nasal elixir for us printers. For those missing the olfactory experience of reading, enter The Times of New York candle. Combining “hints of guaiacwood, cedar, musk, spice, with a powdery note and velvet nuance," this candle will emit everything you love about your morning paper–except the ink.

What'll it cost you to capture that ol' smell? Just $65. (Or you can subscribe to the real thing for $7.40 a week.)

Look: A Book on Curling. Oh, Wait...

2011-06-23T02:36:00.005-04:00

New to the annals of "don't judge a book by its cover" comes this gem. Available from Amazon, the book purports to teach you all you need to know about bowling. So what kind of expert is teaching us about bowling? Well, according to the book's description, "this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing..." So it's basically the internet borrowed and reprinted on paper.

You'd think that the "author" of the book would be able to borrow a better image for a book on bowling. You know, one that actually pictures bowling.

Cashspiel Smackdown

2011-06-06T12:26:00.002-04:00

Since you did such a great job last time, we're again turning to you readers for some design feedback.

Above are two possible designs for a poster. The task is to create an announcement for the National Capital Cashspiel at the Potomac Curling Club. Basically it's a tournament for seasoned curlers to compete and maybe make a few bucks. The design brief that the poster should be "very DC".

I decided to take two design paths. To the left, the political convention design, celebrating 19th century broadsides that advertised political party gatherings. On the right is the monument design, with a nod to the federal architecture of DC.

Since we can only use one, do you have a preference—convention or monument?

Click on image for larger view.

Yeah, When Monkeys Fly Out of My Butt

2011-05-26T21:25:00.004-04:00

We love a great combo of letterpress and die-cutting, so we had to highlight this promo piece for A Hundred Flying Monkeys, an outfit based in California. Funky illustration, beautiful printing, AND it'll put your eye out.

Slots Are Our Friends

2011-05-20T03:59:00.005-04:00

Is anything sacred with slot machines?!?!

While traipsing around Las Vegas, we stumbled upon the slot machine above. Now, we've seen some oddly-themed slots before, but this one caught our eye. (And not just because the whole premise of this machine is built around one really bad pun.) Pictured above the "Easel Money" marquee are a series of fictional painters, including the requisite dude with beret. But are those characters really fictional? Seems one of them is heavily inspired by our favorite painter ever, Bob Ross.

And that's no happy accident.

Patriot Paint

2011-05-16T03:36:00.002-04:00

Ever wonder what it would look like if Uncle Sam threw up on your car?

Fans can now choose from three potential paint schemes for Kevin Harvick's Budweiser Chevrolet, two of which are pictured above. The winning design will run at Daytona over the July 4th holiday weekend. While the summer Daytona race has always had a dose of Independence Day fever -- from the '60s through the end of the '80s it was known as the Firecracker 400 -- has there ever been a paint scheme that has been so yea-rah-rah America?

Perhaps not. But don't let that stop you from trying to top it. Now's your chance to create one even more Americantastic! The Toyota Sponsafier is back, allowing you to design your own paint scheme from scratch! And what can be more American than slapping your red-white-and-blue on the side of a Japanese car?

Plumbing the Depths of Typography

2011-05-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

How easy is it to get information these days? As easy as turning on the tap, according to Richard J. Evans. To illustrate that, he completed the installation informationleak_part two (pictured above) as part of his studies in Birmingham, England. For those letterpress purists out there, don't fret: no vintage type was hurt in the making of this art. The wood type used was cut specifically for this.

And if you're wondering, yes, there's an informationleak_part one.

City Maps in Lettering

2011-05-05T18:22:00.000-04:00

If I ever get lost in a city, I want it to be this one. No, not Washington, per se, but a city that's built entirely from type. Axis Maps has created a series of five city maps that weave together nothing but letters to shape the city form. From waterways to the street grid, the posters aren't only accurate, they're distractingly compelling. So much so that your mind might actually get lost just looking at them. Finally, a map that you get more lost the more you look at it.

Pictured above is DC. You can also find Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City on their site.

Modernist Poster Sale

2011-05-03T07:46:00.004-04:00

It's time again to salivate over Swann Galleries' annual Modernist poster auction. As always, it's packed with treasures from the heyday of avant garde graphic design. Though the catalog is wide-ranging — from wartime PSAs to sporting events to film debuts — pictured above is sampling of travel-related posters we culled from the 200+ posters being offered. You have until 1:30pm to wipe that drool and start your bidding.

Click on the images for a jumbo view. Bib not included.

May Flowers

2011-05-01T19:30:00.002-04:00

From Luis Vega and Alberto Cerriteño, here's a beautiful letterpress reminder of springtime's bounty. They've created a 200-edition print of an umbrella-toting elephant. (Betcha didn't know elephants used umbrellas, huh? Well, umbrellas sure use elephants!)

The print is available at their Grinket site.

Rest Stop Frames

2011-04-19T21:26:00.004-04:00

The ol' dogwood tree in front of Duckpin Press HQ is blooming and that means summer is just around the corner. And summertime means road trip time.

Do you have any road trip plans? Lizzy Oppenheimer sure does. She plans on photographing what many folks overlook. Namely, overlooks. (And picnic areas, rest stops, and roadside shelters.) She's been at it since 2009, but has a long way to go. You see, she plans on photographing every rest stop in America. That's going to be one long trip.

Her photos so far have a great open-road feeling to them (three appear above). If they're any indication of what's to come, this is going to be one terrific journey.

Happy travels wherever you may be headed this summer. And while you're on the road, why not check out a rest stop or two?

The Bullring

2011-03-18T20:25:00.000-04:00

NASCAR rolls into Bristol this week, in what is one of the most entertaining tracks on the circuit. The high-banked, 1/2 mile oval always makes for tight racing and hot tempers.

This week Denny Hamlin will be running his FedEx Express paint scheme, one of four schemes he normally runs for FedEx. Given my penchant for orange, I'd say it's the baddest ass one of them all. Since Denny joined Gibbs racing, the one constant has been FedEx on his hood. But the paint schemes have changed throughout the years. Here's a run down of the "Express" schemes:

2011:

2010:
2008:

Have a favorite one? Put it in the comments below.

And now, for bonus paint scheme coverage from 2006:

This last one has got to be one of the most original paint schemes of the modern era. It ran at Atlanta to promote FedEx's sponsorship of the PGA Tour Fed-Ex Cup. Though it looks like they took a mallet to body work to give it its dimpled look, it's all an illusion done with paint and vinyl. NASCAR, meet trompe l'oeil. (I'm pretty sure this is the first time those two words have appeared in the same sentence.) Just imagine what they could do if a breast implant doctor ever sponsored a car...

Enjoy the race!

Rock Star

2011-01-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

We revived an old linoleum block we cut last year for a new curling poster this year. Combined with (mostly) 16-line Clarendon wood type and lead stars, this 6-color concoction was printed in an edition of about eight. Maybe ten.

ED. NOTE: The type in upper right -- a nickname for curling -- was originally going to read "hurry hard", but I didn't have enough Rs in the proper size. I figured this out only after cutting the lino for the blue splat which the type sits on. While "hurry hard" fits neatly inside the splat, "the roaring game" is a bit snug for my tastes.

Various color papers are from the French Paper Company; assorted wood type; handcut lino blocks; lead ornaments; hand inked in 5 passes on the cylinder press. 12.5" x 19".

Type Nerd App

2011-01-03T13:50:00.000-05:00

Unless you're obsessed with type—or like to chide those who are—stop reading now.

Now you can think about type 24-7 via the iPhone app "KERN". The idea is to score points by inserting missing letters into design-related words while maintaining optimal letterspacing and avoiding unnecessary ligatures. (If you have no idea wtf this means, remember, you were warned.)

Since I haven't actually downloaded the app, below is a mix of user reviews and my own snarky commentary. Guess which is which:

A. "This app should come with its own black mock turtleneck!"

B. "What may be the first and only video game in history with the potential to get typographers all hot and bothered.”

C. "The iPhone's first design-nerd game."

D. "Better than a girlfriend."

Lego My Letterpress!

2010-12-31T11:01:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you eagerly peeked in your stocking this year hoping for a brand new toy or two. Nothing beats the excitement of unwrapping a package and finding in it a toy that you know you'll want to play with forever and ever. In reality, "forever" lasts a few months, and by next year you're eagerly peeking in your stocking once again.

Via the wonderful NPR Picture Show blog comes a well-timed story about what to do with some of those abandoned toys. The Legos that have been gathering dust in your closet for years? Perfect for letterpress artists Sam Cox and Justin LaRosa. They've been using Legos to make some wonderful pieces, including The Fox (pictured above). Check out much more of their pixely work at Physical Fiction.

Art Nouveau Posters

2010-12-10T03:32:00.003-05:00

Just in time for stocking-stuffer season comes Swann Galleries' latest poster auction: Rare & Important Art Nouveau Posters. The auction includes nearly 200 items from such noted artists as Alphonse Mucha and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. But don't feel like you need to buy us a poster from one of those elite poster icons — we're not too picky.

Mobile Printing

2010-11-30T05:44:00.004-05:00

In the depths of steamy DC summers, Duckpin's basement print shop is a cool respite from the spiking heat outdoors. Its cave-like qualities (cool, dank, musty, full of bat guano) aren't ideal, but they do provide some comfort, and I relish the opportunity to hide out down there.

But what if you could avoid the summer heat -- and humid basements -- all together by taking a print shop on the road? Well, Kyle Durrie from Power and Light Press would like to find out. She's planning a cross-country tour in a tricked-out bread van outfitted with a complete print shop. With a modest donation you can follow her adventures by collecting her letterpressed postcards dispatched along the journey. Even better, for a little more, you can get her to stop the van at your house for a personal letterpress demo! (Guano not included.)

See her pitch and read more about her adventure here.

Above: Kyle in action

Letterpressed Folk

2010-11-15T04:58:00.004-05:00

Designer and illustrator Scotty Reifsnyder is offering a beautiful collection of letterpressed cards. His "Heroes of Folk" series features six different American icons including Annie Oakley, Johnny Appleseed, and Paul Bunyan (pictured). The 2-sided, 3-color, 6"x8" cards are $30 each; the set of six fetches $150.

Kayser Smackdown

2010-10-15T14:29:00.001-04:00

Attention both readers!

I've been tasked with creating an announcement for the 2011 Kayser bonspiel for new curlers. In honor of the host club's 50th anniversary, the Potomac Curling Club is invoking the theme "back to the '60s". The design brief clarifies this as "not the hippy '60s, more like Camelot or Mad Men." Pretty clear, right?

I decided to take two design paths. On the left, the martini design, toasting the Rat Pack spirit of the '60s. On the right, the Mod design, inspired by the movie and music advertising of the era.

Since we can only use one, do you have a preference—martini or mod?

Click on image for larger view.

Beans are Bullets

2010-10-06T19:09:00.003-04:00

Starting today, the USDA headquarters in DC will be displaying an impressive exhibit of War-Era food posters from the collection of the National Agricultural Library. The exhibit spans the World Wars and touches on the emotional, practical, and patriotic sensibilities of consumers and producers.

A lushly illustrated electronic version of the exhibit can be found here. The physical show ends November 10.

Printer's Devil

2010-10-03T12:47:00.001-04:00

How did Shorpy get this image of Duckpin Press' first apprentice? Well, they didn't. It's a 1917 photo of Riverside Press in New York City. But you can understand how we confused the two, as we still try to dress as nattily as these chaps.

Click on image for wicked big view.

Alphabet Soup: Ten Qs

2010-09-28T19:00:00.000-04:00

Sixteen-line wood type and transparent ink

Anatomy of a Letterpress Project

2010-09-21T19:58:00.003-04:00

Lame-o us.

Our very first print from our press reads "No. 1 / Duckpin's first impression" and the date. If we had any sense of humor, we'd have done something like this.

Now that's a first impression.

Poop Rainbows, Part Five

2010-08-31T18:11:00.000-04:00

Our latest jaunt to the thrift store tapped that fertile color vein we call the Poop Rainbow™. On the left, Marco displays a dinner plate, while our own print devil models an afghan blanket on the right. Who needs Barker's Beauties when we have these two?

The Origin of the Poop Rainbow

2010-08-19T13:46:00.003-04:00

While the phenomenon of the poop rainbow™ occupies waaaaay too much of our time, we never really paused to consider its origins. That is, until we saw this obituary in yesterday's Washington Post.

Fans of DC's Metro subway system owe a debt of gratitude to the recently deceased Cleatus Barnett. According to the obit, he was a staunch advocate for Metro's unique aesthetic, as embodied by its original design. Let's hear it from the Post:

Mr. Barnett was a staunch defender of Metro's original orange, gold and brown interior hues. He had helped choose the color-combination and resisted efforts to change it, even when popular opinion deemed it an ugly throwback to bygone times.

Eventually, train chairs were upholstered in burgundy and blue. But in deference to Mr. Barnett, seats at the front and back of each car retained the old palette. The chairs are known as "Cleatuses."

Some think that finding the origin of a rainbow leads to a pot of gold. In this case, it leads to the late Mr. Barnett. Thank you, sir, for introducing the poop rainbow™ to the Nation's Capital. You can rest easy knowing that others appreciate your legacy. And, thanks to you, we can rest easy in one of Metro's "Cleatuses."

The First Blog?

2010-08-16T13:29:00.001-04:00

Duckpin Press' west coast correspondent brought to our attention a terrific collection of early 20th century photography. What's so special about it? It includes some of the only color photos of small-town, Depression-era America, courtesy of the Library of Congress' collection.

The photo above is from the collection. It features a commercial print shop housed above the offices of the town's newspaper, the Brockton (Mass.) Enterprise. Pasted in the windows are handwritten bills which tell the news of the day, including one with the headline, "Billy Hill is Dead, Aged 41." These posters are updated as news comes in, keeping the locals apprised of current events. Some 70 years later, the Enterprise is still doing exactly the same thing.

And wouldn't you know it, that print shop is still around, too.

Click on photo for larger view.

Headlines posted in street-corner window of newspaper office (Brockton Enterprise). Brockton, Massachusetts, December 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Summer Vacation

2010-08-04T18:38:00.000-04:00

It's summer -- time to get yourself a tankful of gas and a cooler full of sandwiches and hit the road. If you're not the chain hotel type, you might enjoy Motel Americana. You'll find a great trove of vintage postcards, including those above (click for larger view). Neon enthusiasts will love the dozens and dozens of motel sign photos as well. For those who can't resist the lure of the road, this should be your first rest stop.

Hang Tags

2010-07-16T23:58:00.002-04:00

Recently we did a fun little project for Ilana Kohn, illustrator and clothing designer extraordinaire. The tag measures 1" x 2.5" (we weren't kidding when we said "little") and is blind embossed. We used Airport typeface set in 36pt lead on pearl white Lettra paper. Want your very own tag? You'll just have to buy a dress!

Digital Wood Type Catalog

2010-07-12T07:24:00.001-04:00

The city of Austin has always been good to letterpress, and this holds true even in the digital age. The University of Texas at Austin has digitized its Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection. Besides images of the specimens, the site includes a great history of American type, profiles of different font families, and plenty of resources for further study. This is a true gem of an introduction to wood type.

Samples above are from the collection

Worst Paint Scheme Ever?

2010-07-08T18:16:00.004-04:00

When Tony Stewart's crew pulls into Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, they'll be rolling off what has to be the ugliest car so far this year. Office Depot's "back to school" paint scheme looks like a kid who slipped on the way to school and accidentally emptied her backpack's contents all over the sidewalk. This technicolor hodge-podge of shapes and logos has no rhyme or reason, and will look even more ugly at 180 mph than it does standing still. I'd put it up against any of these other ugly schemes any day.

Is this the kind of design we want to be teaching our kids? Yeesh.

Dingbats and Diners

2010-06-28T17:17:00.004-04:00

Two years ago, Duckpin spent the Fourth of July hopping around Southeast Arizona. One of the highlights of our stay at the Shady Dell RV park in Bisbee was our morning breakfast at Dot's Diner, the tiny greasy spoon pictured above.

Few things are more joyful than finding the perfect diner when you're on a road trip. But what if you didn't have to hit the road, and instead just leave the front door of your workplace? Well, that's how the first diner was born. In 1872, a small wagon packed with food pulled up in front of the offices of the Providence Journal, ready to feed the newspapermen who, by the time they finished their shifts, found the doors of the town's restaurants locked for the night. According to an article in Mental_Floss magazine, a nickel could buy you a ham sandwich or half a cranberry pie. The wagon proved so popular that imitators soon followed, and eventually the typology of the modern diner was born: round stools fronting a running counter. Just like Dot's.

So who was the wagon owner who first fed the ink-stained wretches at the Journal? It was Walter Scott, an enterprising printing pressman. Seems it took one to know one.

Timewarp Design

2010-06-22T12:26:00.005-04:00

In an earlier post, we showcased a book that extols modern design created with age-old technology. Now, from our West Coast correspondent, James, comes word of the Alt1977 project. Alex Varanese has done the opposite: he celebrates today's technology through the lens of yesterday's design. His ads, two of which appear above, tout the power of recent technology to the technophiles of the late 1970s. More spectacular images here.

Click on images to biggify

West Baden Springs

2010-06-16T19:01:00.000-04:00

We couldn't help but squeeze in some Indiana sightseeing on the way back from Dave Churchman's. Above are photos from the West Baden Springs Hotel just outside of French Lick. The gorgeous dome was the largest in the world at the time it was built. And for awhile there in the '80s and '90s, it looked like it was going to be unbuilt. After a long period of neglect, the hotel was saved from demolition and recently restored to it's former glory. Well worth the 300-mile detour.

The Duckpin Dueler

2010-06-12T10:17:00.000-04:00

Our impending trip to Las Vegas always brings up the inevitable question: what would you do if you won a million dollars?

My answer is above.

Toyota's put together a great site where you can design your own racecar for the price of providing them a fake e-mail address. After you pimp it out, you can take it for a 3-D simulated test-drive, complete with burnouts. It's a wonderful way to spend an hour or twelve. Kinda like dreaming about what you'd do if you won a million dollars.

Wood Type Haul

2010-06-10T08:35:00.004-04:00

After returning from a very fruitful trip to Dave Churchman's letterpress warehouse in Indianapolis, we're looking forward to putting our latest finds to work. We bought 6 or 7 fonts of wood type to fill out some missing areas of our collection, plus various lead slugs, rules, borders, etc. that would be too expensive to ship by mail. Kind as always, Dave threw in some extras to make the 1000-mile roundtrip journey well worth our while. But honestly, just seeing all the presses and parts in person is worth it; it's an education you won't find elsewhere.

Pictured are some new acquisitions: an advertising cut and 25-line Playbill wood type

Impressive

2010-06-04T23:03:00.003-04:00

The new book Impressive explores the confluence of modern design and age-old production techniques (letterpress, hand-binding, block engraving, etc.). The desire for a handcrafted feel is the common thread among these projects. Though the techniques are traditional, the results are not. Impressive indeed.

Government Printing Office, Part 2

2010-05-27T06:31:00.006-04:00

So whatever became of all those forms we saw in the previous post? After their printing they were likely sent to this room -- the bindery -- to be stitched and trimmed into a finished product.

The above bindery photo also comes courtesy of Shorpy's Harris+Ewing Collection. Though at the time this photo was taken (c. 1910) DC's neighborhoods were mostly segregated, the workplace needn't be. The GPO served as a growth environment for many African-American printers, including several who lived in our house. Could this have been Duckpin Press' forebear?...

enlarged from top image

Government Printing Office, Part 1

2010-05-24T12:59:00.002-04:00

We're fortunate to live so close to what was once the world's largest printing plant, the Government Printing Office. Being only a mile away from the facility, it would be an easy commute if, instead of being occasional practitioners, we toiled full-time in the Black Art. Perhaps it was this easy commute that appealed to previous occupants of our house. Several GPO printers have called our house home, starting just after the turn of the 20th century.

Shorpy's Harris+Ewing collection has some great glass-plate negatives from the GPO's heyday. We favor this particular shot from the composition room. Note the endless pile of forms sitting in galley trays down the center of the photo. That right there is more type than we'll likely set in our entire life. We kinda get the feeling that the previous occupants of our house are looking down and smirking at our humble basement operation.

enlarged from top image

Take My Ink — Please!

2010-05-03T07:03:00.001-04:00

When reading up on one of my favorite comedians, I came across this little nugget on Henny Youngman via Wikipedia:

He grew up in New York City, and his career as a comedian began after he had worked for a number of years at a print shop, where he penned and published a large number of “comedy cards”—cards containing one-line gags that were sold at the shop. The comedy cards were discovered by up-and-coming professional comedian Milton Berle, who encouraged Youngman and formed a close working friendship with him.

Makes perfect sense that the "King of One-Liners" would have started his career this way. It ended some 60 years later, fueled by his violin and jokes that make your dad laugh and your kids groan:

• I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back.

• My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.

• My wife dresses to kill. She cooks the same way.

• There was a girl knocking on my hotel room door all night! Finally, I let her out.

• When God sneezed, I didn't know what to say.

• While playing golf today I hit two good balls. I stepped on a rake.

Modernist Poster Sale

2010-04-27T12:52:00.000-04:00

Mark your calendars for another inspiring auction of modernist posters. On May 3rd, Swann Galleries will be selling 177 lots of posters dating from the 1890s through the 2000s. Pictured is a collection of our favorites, including a clever and whimsical ad for yo-yos by Raymond Gig. We happen to think it would look fetching in the basement of Duckpin HQ. Hint, hint...

Click on image for larger size.

Dega, Baby!

2010-04-23T17:15:00.002-04:00

When the thunder rolls onto NASCAR's longest track this weekend, David Reutimann will be sporting a different, uh, sport on his hood. The Alabama college football champions will be featured on the double zero. Given Dega's history of spectacular crashes -- just ask Carl Edwards about his wild ride last year -- here's hoping the only Crimson Tide we see is Reutimann's paint scheme.

Happy Birthday Brasilia

2010-04-21T13:20:00.004-04:00

The capital of Brazil, which has given us a slew of architectural gems by Oscar Niemeyer, turns 50 today. A model of urban planning, Basilia was a playground for designers exploring the modernist aesthetic. Though often derided for it's monotonous monumentality, UNESCO designated Brasilia as a World Heritage Site in recognition of it's vision. Futurists, urban planners, and lepidopterists rejoice!

Images from Wikimedia Commons

Philagrafika 2010

2010-04-07T18:18:00.001-04:00

Works from 300 artist comprise Philagrafika, a celebration of contemporary printmaking now making its impression on Philadelphia. But don't go there expecting to see your run-of-the-mill letterpress creations. The festival (which ends April 11) explores and embraces the edges of printmaking, from full-room installations to the smallest woodcuts. So what do you do if you don't have any paper to print on? Behold Print Back, Eric Avery's sandblasted toilet seat, a Philagrafika phavorite.

You Down with OED? Yeah You Know Me

2010-03-27T23:47:00.000-04:00

Quick multiple choice trivia question for those who love arcane facts... or for those hardcore palaeotypographists out there:

According to a 1688 quotation in the Oxford English Dictionary, what is the typography-related definition of bake?

A. “When Letters stick together in distributing… This is called the Letter is Baked.”
B. “Moulten lead overpours the cast... It is said the Letter is Baked.”
C. “A blank left in printing through the accidental covering of a portion of the ‘forme’ by the frisket. … This is called the Forme is Baked.”
D. “Melting of damaged or discarded sorts… This is to bake the Hellbox.”

Nick Martens explores this and other fun, archaic printing terms found in the OED over at the Bygone Bureau. Oh, and you can find the answer there, too.

Obselete Professions

2010-03-10T17:47:00.001-05:00

Over at NPR, they have a great little featurette on obsolete professions. In words and photos, the former occupations they explore include river driver, copy boy, and lector. Not surprisingly, the bygone jobs that resonate with us most are those of typesetter and pinsetter. You can even hear pingirl Nancy Richmond recall her days at the bowling alley, clearing deadwood and uprighting the pins.

As a kid, Duckpin's Pete and his brother James would frequent the basement duckpin alley at the local YMCA, where the pinsetting was manual. We each took our turns in the pit dodging the flying pins. Even more dangerous than the flying pins were our own friends. They liked to play chicken with us, intentionally hurling balls at us as we were setting up the pins. Let's just say bowling balls and shins don't mix. Not all the marks at that alley were on the score sheet.

Cookiegraphy

2010-02-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

How appropriate are these? Helvetica cookie cutters.

Car Emblems

2010-02-21T19:12:00.001-05:00

For those looking for some retro type inspiration, here's a great collection of classic car emblems on Flickr. Bonus shots of racing car numerals and some commercial lettering, too.

Olympic Curling Fashion

2010-02-15T15:51:00.001-05:00

From Chip, Duckpin Press' East Coast correspondent, comes this news from Vancouver: Norway has shattered the barrier of good taste in their pursuit of curling fashion. Check out the magnificent pants they'll be pimping when men's curling gets under way later this week. Kinda puts to shame the curling sweaters we featured awhile back.

According to a Washington Post article, the flashy pants are an effort by the Norwegian team to raise the profile of curling in their home country. Their coach, however, seems unconvinced:

"Everybody thought black was a bit dull, so we tried for red. This was the closest we could get," [Coach Ole] Ingvaldsen said. "I don't like them. I hope my mother doesn't see them. She should rest in peace [one day] without having seen them. I will probably get used to it."

If it's any consolation, coach, we happen to love them.

DesignBot 3000

2010-02-04T19:32:00.004-05:00

Whenever a new version of InDesign or Photoshop is released, it's the first thing I look for: the as-of-yet-invented AutoDesign tool. Just imagine: with one touch, your entire project could be designed. Touch the button again and -- whamo! -- it redesigns your project. Hit it again and get a third iteration. This button would revolutionize the industry.

And it would put me out of work.

For that, I fear the AutoDesign tool. In a heartbeat, it can eliminate a wide swath of skilled artisans, much like the Linotype did to typesetters. I often joke about my job being replaced by DesignBot 3000 -- the cute, electronic, alogarithmic version of me. That joke could be becoming more of a reality now, with the release of the addLib iPhone app. It takes any photo stored on your phone and -- whamo! -- creates a graphic image based on "educated theories". The above images are examples of addLib's work, and frankly, it looks better than a lot of stuff I've designed. So is this just another app... or my future replacement?

Thanks to Chippy for the tip.

The Aughts in Review

2010-01-28T19:06:00.008-05:00

Atop the heap of retrospectives for the decade that just ended (or didn't) lies this gem from the Magazine Publishers Association and American Society of Magazine Editors. "Covering the Decade in Magazine Covers" is a 10-year recap spoken in through the language of newsstands.

Obvious in this romp is the reliance on celebrity-image-driven design over a thoughtful inspection of the more complex and thought-provoking issues we face. For instance, we happen to think this image does more to capture the entirety of the social climate of the 2000s than any image of, say, Ms. Hilton or Ms. Spears. Yet nothing like it is to be found in the video. Indeed, this retrospective reminds us that the cult of personality dominates over substance on today's newsstand. If magazines themselves are to live to see the end of this decade, perhaps it's time they themselves become a little more substantive.

Time to Refocus... and Eat Yer Bacon

2010-01-11T05:58:00.004-05:00

Ostensibly this blog is about letterpress and related design. We've spent a good share of time recently on the "related design" part, so let's get back to some good ol' ink on paper, shall we?

What better way to dig back in than taking a bite of some porky posters? San Francisco's 4505 Meats has 3 posters for sale, all celebrating that other white meat. They were produced at the venerable Hatch Show Print and available for sale here. At 26 bucks apiece, they're not cheap. But at least they won't clog your arteries!

National Design Museum

2010-01-08T21:05:00.004-05:00

Of all the Smithsonian museums, perhaps our favorite to visit is the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. Unfortunately, it's not many others' favorite. The design museum is just about the least visited of all the Smithsonians, placing 17th out of 19. In fact, of the 30 million visitors to the museums last year, only 1/2 of 1 percent visited the design museum.

In an attempt to boost the museum's profile, the Smithsonian has appointed Bill Moggridge to the director's post. Besides bringing a career full of industry and interactive design experience to table, he's also a committed pedagogue of design's impact on our everyday lives. Making design relevant to the average person is not the easiest task, despite the evidence lying plain sight. Moggridge has certainly made his own contributions to this everyday realm. In fact, he designed the first version of what I'm typing on right now: the laptop computer.

Above: The GRiD Compass laptop, circa 1982

A Movie Film

2010-01-05T19:09:00.001-05:00

We can't seem to kick this recent, um, kick we've been on. We've examined the typography of movie posters. We've explored the typography of movie titles. So now it's time to look at typography as movie. That's right, it's Typeface, the film.

The film centers on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum and the artisans who converge there for a celebration of the letterpress arts. Here's the trailer:

Font Songs

2010-01-02T19:32:00.006-05:00

Typographers by nature are nerds. So perhaps it's only fitting that one of today's best type foundries is also one of today's best nerds. Hoefler & Frere-Jones inspired quite a few tweeters to bust out song title puns using names of typefaces.

Below is a list of some of the best from this summer's #fontsongs Twitter tag. (We warned you of the nerdom.)

We will, we will Rockwell
Rock the Caslon
I Meta Girl
ITC Clearly Now
Tempted by the Frutiger ’nother
Rockwell Amadeus
Gill Sans in a Coma
Get Down Onyx
I Wanna Bold Your Sans
Janson Queen
Take a Janson Me
Hotel Caledonia
My Tahoma
I’m So X-Heighted

When we told Duckpin's own Mom M. about this post, she spouted off a few of her own:

Lucinda, You're Breaking My Heart
I Had the Times of My Life

Think you can you outdo her? That's what the comments section is for.

Poop Rainbows, part 4

2009-12-30T14:33:00.005-05:00

For our latest Poop Rainbow™ installment, we bring you the All-Vehicle Edition. Hat tip to our own printer's devil for the Buffalo bus [upper right], inspired by a recent trip there.

Click on image for larger view.

What the hell are we talking about?

The Printer's Song

2009-12-27T18:48:00.002-05:00

Over the years, printing has done wonders to build and support the music industry. And what have we gotten in return? Not so much. Until now. Tommie Rose, a musician and printer, offers us this song about the decline of the printing scene:

What do you think? Will the ink knife ever touch her fountain well again?

Holiday Bash

2009-12-24T19:43:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone's holidays are loud and monstrous.

Ewwwww

2009-12-22T07:18:00.004-05:00

Like a reverse Secret Santa, every office has their own Sandwich Grinch. You know, that employee who enjoys pilfering someone else's lunch. Want to avoid being the next target? Protect your grub with these anti-theft lunch baggies from Lost at E Minor. They're preprinted with moldy splotches, making your sandwich an instant turnoff. Viola, no more roast beast for the Grinch.

(While you're over at Lost at E Mionor, check out their Bob Ross coverage.)

Movie Titling

2009-12-19T12:22:00.002-05:00

On the heels of our movie poster post, it's only fitting that we highlight the other place where a film's graphic identity comes from: the titling. A great archive of title stills can be found at The Movie Still Collection, a compendium of hundreds of movie screen shots from 1920s-present.

Flipping through the site, one can tease out the many trends in film typography, from the classic (above) to the recent (below). Perhaps the most artful, typography-wise, belong to the Westerns genre. Oh, to have wood type cut in the form of some of those titles.

Also included on the site are the end titles for many of the films. Though largely absent from modern films, they provide a fitting (and typographically appropriate) conclusion not just to the films, but to this post.

Movie Poster Minimalism

2009-12-16T06:15:00.000-05:00

Like Garfield Minus Garfield, these stripped-down movie posters offer a fresh perspective on something we've all seen a hundred times. Once you peel back the typographic clutter, it's surprising just how identifiable films are by their graphic treatment.

Think you're good at recognizing the films that these posters promote? Test your knowledge with many more at Film the Blanks:

2009 Holiday Gift Spectacular

2009-12-14T15:20:00.001-05:00

In a pinch for some last-minute stocking stuffers? Let us help you outfit your designer buddy in time for eggnog drinking:

Gotta start with a t-shirt, right? Will it be Cooper Black or the Original Design Gangsta? Either will go nicely with a set of Pantone espresso mugs. Better include a nifty, typographic coaster so your designer friend doesn't scald the table. Why not slip in a fashionably nerdy, broken image necklace, then top it all off with an old skool, dot-matrix wallet?

Congratulations, you're now a new best friend.

Know When to Fold 'Em

2009-12-11T09:52:00.002-05:00

Attention paper fetishists.

C'mon. you know who you are. Your heart thumps and your palms get sweaty at the prospect of visiting Paper Source to caress their newest offerings. You can't walk past a piece of pulp without running it between your fingers. And you justify all your paper purchases by promising yourself that you'll be able to use it all for your very next project. Suuuuure you will.....

Between the Folds is a new documentary on the art of origami and fascinating people behind it. NPR has a nice piece on it. The trailer is below. Why not catch it on PBS or Netflix? Just promise yourself you'll be able to use it for your very next project.

Like Chess, but with Type

2009-12-08T18:51:00.000-05:00

On a visit to the homestead, my brother and I sat in the living room playing Wii curling for what seemed like hours. I mentioned to him that a big part of curling involved calling the right strategy. I gave him the old line that curling was "like chess, but on ice." Characteristically, he came back with a wise-ass comment:

Every sport tries to bill itself as being like chess. [Imitating a hayseed] "It's like chess, but with big tires and a mud bog!!!"

Okay, point taken, James. But what about letterpress?

And Now A Globe Poster Imposter

2009-12-05T11:02:00.003-05:00

That Globe poster post got us thinking.

Back in 2007, Washington City Paper ran a cover story on Elvis' one and only DC appearance. Pete, then the art director of the paper, channeled the old Globe poster aesthetic for the design of that week's cover. It was no match for a Globe original, but then again, you know what they say about imitation...

Click on image for a honkin'-huge view.

Globe Printing Company

2009-12-02T12:35:00.010-05:00

When most people think of a print shop being deeply intertwined with a local music scene, they think Hatch Show Print. For years the Nashville-based shop helped promote the Grand Ole Opry brand of country music.

A little closer to Duckpin's home, the Globe Printing Company has been a mainstay in the DC go-go scene for years. From early pioneers like Junk Yard Band and Experience Unlimited, Globe has been there to spread the word about DC's homegrown music. For much of the 80s and 90s, a trip along DC/Maryland commuter routes offered a cluttered, visual panopoly of Globe posters. Fluorescent-splashed signs tacked to traffic poles greeted you at every stoplight. How many times a week can Rare Essence possibly play? I remember often thinking.

Various "beautification" ordinances and a declining number of clubs have conspired to eliminate most of the signage. Globe has since diversified into more mundane "Houses from the mid-$400s"-type advertisements. These new signs (bland, plastic and text-only) are no match for the heyday signage of Globe.

Baltimore City Paper ran a great article on the long history of Globe, from it's start as a letterpress shop through the present day. The article is accompanied by beautiful -- and often haunting -- photography of the shop's composition equipment, type cabinets, and some now-quiet presses. To us, they look eager to be pressed back into service. Just as Hatch has experienced a revival, perhaps the time is ripe for Globe.

Shop photos by Frank Hamilton, Baltimore City Paper

Amtrak Posters

2009-11-30T16:18:00.001-05:00

Train advertising has always been predicated on selling an idea more than the service itself. Ride a train and see the world in style, they promise. Worry-free site-seeing is a noble pursuit, but the reality of train travel hasn't always squared with the sales pitch.

When looking for some letterpress inspiration, we ran across these excellent posters for National Train Day. The designs harken back to the heyday of train travel, perpetuating the romanticism of riding the rails. While Amtrak's brand identity has certainly outpaced its service in recent years, these posters still kinda make us wanna give those rails another chance...

50 Years of the Hockey Mask

2009-11-27T16:44:00.001-05:00

Fifty years ago this month, goaltender Jacques Plante took a stick to the face. It was pretty much just a day at the office for goaltenders of that era. But not for Jacques. The Montreal Canadiens' goaltender refused to skate again unless he was able to wear a mask. Since at the time there were no hockey mask designers, he came up with the structure himself (at left). Soon after, others followed.

Those early hockey masks look like crude cousins to today's über-polished, air-brushed designs, but along the way there have been some innovative designs and eye-catching paint schemes. Some of the more bad-ass masks incorporate the logomark of the teams, often in an intimidating manner:

Left: Philadelphia Flyers' Wayne Stephenson; right: Quebec Nordiques' Don McLeod

Team-for-team, our own Washington Capitals match up with anyone. Throughout the late '70s and early '80s, there was a unwavering patriotic bent to the Caps' masks, no doubt fueled by bicentennial fever. Old glory has never as good as when it was mantled across Bernie Wolf's cranium. And how about Wayne Stephenson's Peter Criss-esque design? (Could it have been inspired by KISS' 1979 visit to the Cap Centre?) For pure Americana-on-steroids, you can't beat the Caps' golden era:

Clockwise from top left: Wayne Stephenson ('80-'81); Gary Inness ('79-'81); Bernie Wolf ('78-'79); Gary Smith ('77-'78)

Hardy Har

2009-11-24T18:37:00.003-05:00

Bad joke to tell over turkey dinner:

Two fonts walk into a bar.
The bartender says, "I'm sorry. We don't serve your type."

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Gobble gobble!

Stock up for '10

2009-11-20T21:24:00.001-05:00

If you're thinking of stuffing a few stockings with printed goodies this holiday season, look no further than Yee Haw Industries' letterpressed calendars. There are a couple dozen crazy-awesome designs to chose from. And if you're looking to stuff our stocking with printed goodies this season, we like these ones. We're just sayin' is all.

Post Number 100

2009-11-18T17:50:00.006-05:00

We made it to the century mark! Boy, that's a lot of wasted time -- for both you and us. But we managed to learn a bunch, and hopefully you have, too. While we stuff our gourds with celebratory gluten-free cake, click on the links below to enjoy a recap of the highs and lows...

Who knew that poop rainbows were nature's way of saying, "blog about me!" We found a pot of gold at the end of that particular rainbow and determined once and for all the true master of the fanbrush. (One hint: it wasn't a man who looks like Kenny Rogers.) Speaking of man, human evolution provided a jumping off point for our look at patterns in modern poster design. But just so we didn't appear too erudite, there were plenty of visits with NASCAR paint schemes, including a post on the 200 mph history of Valvoline. In other sports news, we paid a visit to the curling sheet to see the latest in curling fashion. That may inspire a great gift idea for the little'un being feted in our favorite baby shower announcement. You can look here to see more announcements and other self-printed projects that we put on the blog over the past 100 posts. Enjoy!

Linotype Makes Me Happy

2009-11-15T09:03:00.003-05:00

Anytime I feel overwhelmed by the ceaseless march of technology at work, I take a stroll over to the headquarters of the Washington Post. See, outside their front doors, they have permanently moored a Linotype machine from their old composition room. You can see it huddled in the alcove above.

Envisioning this hulking piece of machinery chugging away in concert with its pipe-smoking operator (in my mind all newspapermen smoke pipes) is a great way to unravel my mind from present-tense worries. The mechanical action of the machine -- setting, casting, redistributing -- seems a distant memory from today's silent, glowing screens.

At work I relish the sparse opportunities to actually do something mechanical with my hands-- anything, really. (Unfortunately, this usually involves something mundane like trying to adjust my chair.) Oh, to actually have that physical connection with what we create. I wonder if I worked as a full-time Linotype operator, all I'd want to do is go home and stare at a glowing screen. Maybe someday I'll find out the answer. Until then, I'll keep making the pilgrimage over to the Post.

See a Linotype in action:

GOOD Magazine's Infographics

2009-11-12T17:23:00.002-05:00

I can't remember if it was Johannes Gutenberg or me who said, "There are few visual successes more elusive than a well-designed infographic." Hand anyone a couple paragraphs of copy and a folder of beautiful photography, and most likely they'll gin up a fairly good layout. Hand someone instructions like "display the likelihood of contracting H1N1 by age group for every county bordering the Great Lakes " and you're likely to see a trainwreck.

The folks at GOOD Magazine have a gift for conveying information in a surprisingly creative way. Witness the above graphic showing where the city of New York gets it's water. (It's part of a much larger infographic, complete with a key explaining why just one of them is wearing a pink sweatshirt.) The information could've been displayed in a number of ways, even as a simple table. But GOOD chose to convey not just the data, but also the spirit of the piece. The fact that GOOD regularly does this -- all the while making it appear effortless -- is downright enviable. Heck, even Gutenberg would be jealous.

Many more of GOOD's infographics can be found here.

Pinball Hall of Fame

2009-11-09T07:08:00.001-05:00

The cooler weather has us reminiscing about a jaunt we took to Las Vegas over the summer. With the city sizzling under the early afternoon sun, we ducked into a paradise of gaming: the Pinball Hall of Fame. Housed in a non-descript strip mall (is there any other kind in Vegas?) the Hall of Fame is essentially an arcade stocked with pinball machines from the '40s through the present. All are playable and most cost just a quarter. The machines have been restored and kept in tip-top shape by the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club.

The Hall of Fame is a playground for those who appreciate mid-century graphics. The playfields and backglasses are rife with colorful illustrations -- and a pretty comprehensive parade of hairstyles from the past 50 years. Unsurprisingly, our favorite was the Bowling Queen machine from 1964, shown below:

The Hall of Fame is certainly a labor of love and the beneficiaries are us folks who prefer to get our kicks from flippers over one-armed bandits. Heck, twenty dollars will last you a few hours here. How many other places in Vegas can boast that?

Die Cut Weiners

2009-11-06T12:07:00.000-05:00

Gather 'round the campfire and enjoy this stupendous direct mail piece by Swink. Although the design and color palette are both top notch, the real joy comes in the die cutting. The promo is designed to be deconstructed -- pop out the die cut pieces and construct your very own campsite. Then, share in the collective warmth and let the conversation flow. (I'm guessing that at $7 a pop to produce, Swink would prefer you talk about their mailer.) Cute as can be.

Many more pics via the link above.

100 to Go

2009-11-04T12:57:00.003-05:00

In just 100 days, the Winter Olympics will officially open. Just two days later, NASCAR kicks off its season with the Daytona 500. At the intersection of the two will be Kasey Kahne. His Dodge will be mantled by a Team USA paint scheme at both Daytona and the following week in Fontana.

Perhaps Dale Jr. could be sponsored by alpine skiing... 'cause his career is going downhill fast.

Quiz Time: Helvetica vs. Arial

2009-11-02T03:37:00.000-05:00

Helvetica and Arial are completely different typefaces, right? Well, you'd be surprised. Take this quiz that challenges you to recognize the difference by using common logos.

It's tougher than you think. We scored 17/20. Post your own score in the comments.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T07:57:00.003-04:00

What says "let's carve up some pumpkins" like a giant batch of free Halloween typefaces? Nothing.

Lego-Realistic Photos

2009-10-28T18:17:00.001-04:00

Charles C. Ebbit's light-hearted, if acrophobia-inducing, photo of the RCA building under construction has been the subject of umpteen parodies. The above recreation uses nothing but Legos and a keen sense of humor. You likey? Here's 10 more photos recreated with Legos .

Ampersands and Treble Clefs

2009-10-25T11:53:00.001-04:00

Awhile back we posted a piece on ampersands, linking to a wide-ranging history of the symbol. In the comments section, anonymous wrote, "Stretch your imaginative eye and you will see the treble clef in the ampersand." Though there's no historic link between the two, anonymous' comment stuck with me.

The comment was in the back of my head as I sat reading Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style. The book serves as part style guide, part encyclopedia, and part inspiration. There are history lessons -- Jonathan Hoefler cut the "fffl" ligature in his Requiem italic typeface for use in the only two words that contain "fffl" together. There are priggish admonishments -- "use titling figures with full caps, and text figures in all other instances." But mostly the book serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the finer points of typography.

So what does this exceedingly thorough and thoughtful book have to do with our rather unenlightened blog? In a passage about the ampersand, Bringhurst makes the following point...

Seems our anonymous commenter sensed that connection as well. (Though in typical form, Bringhurst was far more derisive in his description.) Good instinct there, anon.

Now, for 1000 bonus points, can you name either of those two words that contain the string fffl? (Hint: they're German-language words.)

I Swept With Your Wife: A How-To

2009-10-21T07:48:00.000-04:00

Over the summer we designed and printed the curling posters above. It was odd to think of curling when the mercury was pushing 90, but during the season there's not a lot of time to do projects like this.

The final product was made using a lino cut, wood type, and an array of inks, passed twice through the proof press. Here's how it went down...

First we drew the curler on a piece of paper, backwards:

Then we took white Saral transfer paper and carefully traced the drawing so its outline transfered onto the lino block:

Next, we inflamed our carpal tunnel syndrome by cutting out the parts of the lino block that we did not want to print:

Then we locked the finished block in the press bed, inked it up with a brayer, and printed it on the poster:

After that initial pass, we laid up the wood type in the bed of the press. After inking the type, we laid the paper back down and made a second pass with the cylinder. The various color combinations were created by mixing and matching colors as we went along. All in all, we created 20 posters.

Paper is from the French Paper Company; assorted wood type; handcut lino block; hand inked in 2 passes on the cylinder press. 12.5" x 19".

A Night of House

2009-10-18T11:09:00.001-04:00

One of our favorite font houses is holding an exhibition at the Type Directors Club in New York City this Tuesday night. House Industries will be showcasing their work in an exhibit titled "Type as Object". Perhaps better still, they'll selling their distinctive type-related items (including the blocks shown above). Many more of their wares can be found here, including the best nativity set ever. And thanks to Mom and Dad M., you can see it up close and personal at Duckpin HQ.

Like Clockwork

2009-10-16T12:45:00.001-04:00

Just a little eye candy to close out the week. Nothing says, "No time for the old in-out, love, I've just come to read the meter" like Fabiano Hikaru's tribute to A Clockwork Orange.

Enjoy the weekend.

Steamroller!!!

2009-10-13T08:18:00.001-04:00

Here's a poster project from leftcoast members of AIGA, complete with video footage. They employed the steamroller method of printing a large linoleum cut. (Wonder if we can get one of those into the Duckipin basement?) The best part is how they added the color: by dripping paint from a nearby building. We're telling you, Mark, this is the solution to your woes!

News Dots

2009-10-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

Slate recently introduced a fun little infographic feature. The News Dots service aggregates news stories from the previous 3 days to create a multi-level visualization of current events. Here's how they put it:

Like Kevin Bacon's co-stars, topics in the news are all connected by degrees of separation. To examine how every story fits together, News Dots visualizes the most recent topics in the news as a giant social network. Subjects—represented by the circles—are connected to one another if they appear together in at least two stories, and the size of the dot is proportional to the total number of times the subject is mentioned.

What separates this visualization from other treemaps like Newsmap is that News Dots shows interconnectivity. The smaller series of images above show how the array changes from day-to-day. The only constant? Barack Obama remains the Big Dot on Campus nearly every day.

Below is a screen capture of what happens when you mouse over a dot. The connections are highlighted in red and are listed in a pop up box. Typographically the site could use a lot of work, but the idea behind it is solid.

Wedding Shower Card

2009-10-07T11:58:00.000-04:00

There's often lotsa super-sized stuff in weddings: the cake, the bouquet, the bride's ego. So why not a huge card to match?

We made this card (roughly 12"x14") for a recent wedding shower. The idea was that a whole office would sign the back, so it had to be large enough to accommodate everyone's well-wishes. Using a variety of wood type, it's a 2-color job sent through the proof press in a single pass. The fall colors match those the couple picked out for the wedding. Some lockup photos appear below.

Bon voyage, love birds!

(Don't fret, this bride's ego is in full check.)

Crafty Bastards

2009-10-05T07:54:00.004-04:00

We had a fun time at the Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair in DC this weekend. Beautiful weather brought out a slew of buyers looking for the latest in octopuses, Edgar Allen Poe, anatomically-correct hearts, and animals in formal wear. There was plenty of great printed work , too, including the above examples. At the top is work by illustrator Robert Ullman, with Rar Rar Press' letterpress postcards in the second photo.

One of the highlights of Crafty Bastards is the B-Boy Battle, which always attracts a big crowd. Seems everyone loves to see the kids spin -- even the free government money guy, Matthew Lesko:

Everyday Low Standards

2009-10-02T04:36:00.002-04:00

WalMart is legendary for keeping their expenses lean. Take their "greeters". Legend has it that Sam Walton was too cheap to pay for security guards at his stores, so he enlisted the help of retirees to work for peanuts as doormen. The wisdom was that shoppers are a lot less prone to shoplifting when they have to walk out past a smiling grandmother.

Unfortunately their parsimony seeps into every corner of their business, including their brand identity. The WalMart logo has undergone a few facelifts in its time, most recently in 2008 (top left). What was once a logo with some spirit and regional character (bottom left) has morphed into the lifeless, uninspired blahdom it is today. I understand not wanting to pay a lot for something, but how many design students would jump at the chance to submit designs for a WalMart logo? How about a design competition for WalMart employees to come up with something? Certainly some submission would be better than the dreck they ended up with.

The annals of logo design are filled with successful design work done on a shoestring. Nike's logo was done by a student for a paltry $35.00. Or one can dismiss altogether the idea of paying, as Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell did when he took a page from the Sam Walton handbook. Security guard and amateur artist Frederick Bouchat submitted his own design concept to the Ravens (right), only to be stiff-armed by Modell. From Wikipedia:

Bouchat had submitted his design to the Maryland Stadium Authority by fax after learning that Baltimore was to acquire an NFL team. He was not credited for the design when the logo was announced. Bouchat sued the team, claiming to be the designer of the emblem; representatives of the team asserted that the image had been designed independently. The court ruled in favor of Bouchat, noting that team owner Modell had access to Bouchat's work.

So c'mon Walmart, you can come up with something better. Heck, at the very least steal something better. It won't cost you anything. Or perhaps the readers of this blog have some ideas...

Pop a Small Cap in Your Ass

2009-09-29T02:46:00.001-04:00

A bit ago we talked about Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style. Like every other facet of typography, he offers an exhaustive treatise on the proper use of small caps. A breezier and generously illustrated explanation can be found on the i love typography (but apparently not capitalization) blog.

While it might seem a trifling matter, small caps with improper proportions are a huge eyesore. I've seen many documents that have a poorly metered word screaming out for undue attention. For something that's supposed to be diminutive, a bad small capped word can stick out more than its bolded cousin. Heck, you may as well use the fake highlighter and paint it yellow. Can't wait to read what Bringhurst has to say about that.

When Captchas Go Wrong

2009-09-26T23:03:00.002-04:00

Huh? Did a 3 year old make this? Does your keyboard have these letters?

The Shapeshifter

2009-09-24T05:48:00.000-04:00

It's nice to mess with your perspective once in a while.

While many artists prefer to chalk their 3-D trompe l'oeil works on city streets, Felice Varini takes his to buildings. From one vantage point his installations look like someone has taken a photo and overlaid a perfect geometric shape. But as one moves through the space, the object becomes distorted. What was once a perfect circle now is a twisted gaggle of arcs in varying thickness.

It's a disarming way to think of geometry like Felice does: each pure shape is really a jumbled mix of line, perspective, angle, and fragments. The sheer complexity of making something appear so simple is what's so enticing about his work. Kinda makes that geometry class we took in high school seem downright easy.

Picasso Lino Prints

2009-09-21T15:34:00.003-04:00

Swann Galleries' latest auction offers a tremendous selection of 19th and 20th century prints and drawings. These 3 pieces are among the nearly 700 lots to be offered this Thursday, and are superb examples of Picasso's skill with lino a block and a restrained palette. Since the auction estimate is steep -- upwards of $5,000 for each piece -- we've got a plan B for you: a signed copy of our Bob Ross prints for just half that price.