'Don't Look at Me in That Tone of Voice'
Letterpress Greeting Card
Letterpress Greeting Card
Starting in fall of 2012 Madison (Area Technical) College had started offering Letterpress classes in our new print center. While I really wanted to be in the first class, I figured that trying to do the grueling Portfolio class with Letterpress was a bad idea. Therefore in spring 2013 I finally had the time to take Letterpress. The first assignment was to familiarize ourselves with what we had on hand. Because unless you are doing photo polymer, your designs are at the mercy of what wood and metal type you have and what cuts are laying around. 'Cuts' are like dingbats, little decorative elements.
The first assignment was to make whatever we wanted using metal type and at least one cut. Being a book dork of the first order, I wanted to make a greeting card that I could send as correspondence to my blog, and to be extra dorky, I wanted a quote. One of the fonts on hand was very deco in design, and I thought, you know, Dorothy Parker was of that time, she always had the best quotes, I will use one of hers. I had a sheaf of Dorothy Parker quotes and spent my time looking for a cut that would work with one of them. When I saw the stylized but slight admonishing pointed finger, I knew that was it and the quote used would be 'Don't look at me in that tone of voice.'
From there, using proofs of the cut pulled on our show card press and my computer, I did a rough layout. Once at school I pulled all the type and got it into the chase, from there I printed lots of greeting cards on our C & P Platen press. That press really gives you a workout on your left arm, I will tell you that!
The first assignment was to make whatever we wanted using metal type and at least one cut. Being a book dork of the first order, I wanted to make a greeting card that I could send as correspondence to my blog, and to be extra dorky, I wanted a quote. One of the fonts on hand was very deco in design, and I thought, you know, Dorothy Parker was of that time, she always had the best quotes, I will use one of hers. I had a sheaf of Dorothy Parker quotes and spent my time looking for a cut that would work with one of them. When I saw the stylized but slight admonishing pointed finger, I knew that was it and the quote used would be 'Don't look at me in that tone of voice.'
From there, using proofs of the cut pulled on our show card press and my computer, I did a rough layout. Once at school I pulled all the type and got it into the chase, from there I printed lots of greeting cards on our C & P Platen press. That press really gives you a workout on your left arm, I will tell you that!
The finished card, just silver on black, for the Deco feel.
Computer mock-up
Type locked in the chase.
The complete form laying in my drawer... it weighed a lot.
Stacks of cards, many of which have been used up already!
