The design process started on the computer, but the goal from the start was to create something really special, where the computer would only play one part of the tune. For the invitation itself, we decided to create a 5″ × 7″ card with a three color design (3/0), using two plates of computer-generated photopolymer, and one “plate” of actual, historic wood type.

When typesetting the invitation, we were careful to use a 72-point condensed gothic for the “JASMINE” and “YALE” type, with the hope that we would find something similar in wood or metal at the International Printing Museum. It’s easy to scale type on the computer to odd sizes, but there would be no chance of finding a historic typeface in, say, 83.7125 points. With that constraint in mind, we created the sketch of the digital design, and then brought
the black and white laser proof to the Museum to see what we could find. In what I can only describe as a mini-miracle, I found a 72-point condensed gothic wood type in a drawer that matched the dimensions exactly. Using the digital design as a spacing guide, I was able to lock up the type precisely, and after proofing, I cut out the type to do a paste-up overlay. The precise fit is absurd; there was no need to tweak the design in Illustrator at all.

With the type set, and the design ready for output, I sent off the design to have the photopolymer plates made.

In the meantime, we talked paper. We ended up making economical use of paper by using some stock that was left over from previous jobs, including one of my favorites, an 80# cover cut of Neenah’s Environment in Birch (which adds a perfect natural speckle to the already-woodsy design), paired improbably with French Paper’s Glo-Tone in Yellow Light, 65# cover. To add color to the unprinted back while simultaneously allowing for deeper letterpress impression, the papers were duplexed together for extra thickness, leaving us with the rough equivalent of a 145# cover.

To add to the incredibly bright and happy color scheme, Jasmine & Yale chose French Paper’s Glo-Tone Blue Light A-7 envelopes. We set the type for the envelopes in hot metal using the Ludlow Typograph (in Hauser Script and Karnak), and Alyssa and Jasmine printed the run of envelopes on the treadle-operated 10 × 15 Chandler & Price in the Museum’s ’40s shop.

With the plates made and the type locked up, we set out to print the invitation card on the Heidelberg Windmill. Alyssa, always a huge fan of the split fountain, came up with the idea of running both polymer plates using split fountain gradients, to give the effect of a five-color job with only three passes.

The tree was inked in yellow to green, which ended up creating a rather Hipstamatic lens flare effect on the tree, almost as if the sun were passing through the topmost tree branches.

Encouraged by this, we then ran the second plate in the series with the same yellow blending to a dark red-orange in the opposite direction. Lastly, we ran the wood type in a custom-mixed blue.

As the ink blends on the press throughout the run, colors shift, making every invitation somewhat unique.

We realized after the fact that we had not included an “RSVP by” date on the invitation, and using some of the leftover French paper, we typeset the “PLEASE RSVP” card entirely in hand-set metal foundry type (Rustic, Hellenic Wide, Microgramma) and rule. I needed to use tweezers to properly letterspace the tiny type of the URL with thin coppers and brasses. Using an efficient work-and-turn process on the Windmill, we were able to get 6 out of an 8.5″ × 11″ sheet with very little paper waste involved.

I’d be proud of the design alone, but following this job from conception to delivery and continuing to hone my skills as a period typesetter and Heidelberg pressman (thanks, Mike) has been such a joy.

Jasmine and Yale posted about the process on their site, too. We’re really looking forward to the wedding!

Pilot & Captain Miami poster, using Bauer House

While browsing today’s Fab.com offerings, I came across this “Miami Travel Print” by Pilot & Captain (a.k.a. The Heads of State), which just so happens to make use of my sole commercial typeface, Bauer House. You can purchase the print through Fab.com (once you sign up for an account), and the font, Bauer House, through MyFonts or T-26 if you’re looking for a quirky-yet-historically-inspired display typeface for your next project.

In appreciation for Stéphane’s support of the Museum’s Ludlow Project, I cast for him the Ludlow slug shown above. This early 1960s reintrepretation of his Dezzig logo was set using 48pt Tempo Bold Extended, one of the more contemporary looking typefaces available to us in Ludlow. I really dig the “G.”

Speaking of France and letterpress printing (worst segway ever?), I came across this article on French Wikipedia, which confirms that the term “cliché” is still used in French to refer to what we in English call a “plate” or a “cut.” The original French word apparently derives from onomatopoeia (though there is some controversy). I still think it’s fascinating that two printing terms, “stereotype” and “cliché,” have found their way into common English usage for completely non-printing-related reasons.

Merci beaucoup, Stéphane!

The Printing Industries Association of Southern California (PIASC) is the parent organization that sponsors much of the International Printing Museum‘s activities. Each year, PIASC hosts Graphics Night, a gala event at which Southern California printers congregate and schmooze, among other more important things. Graphics Night also features an awards ceremony, where best-of-industry printing and print design is recognized.

For this year’s Graphics Night event, PIASC asked the Museum and Three Steps Ahead to print and design (respectively) the invitation and surrounding identity pieces, themed around the concept of “The Power of Print in the Golden Age of Film.”¹

The design of the invitations was intended to evoke the classiness of letterpress invitation and menu design from the early half of the 20th century, perhaps centered around the late 1930s through 1940s. The type is a combination of Mark Simonson’s Art Deco classic Mostra Nuova, Hoefler & Frere-Jones’ Verlag, and lookalikes for Ludlow’s thick-and-thin sans-serif typeface, Radiant: ShinnType’s Eunoia and Lanston Type Company’s Obelysk Grotesk.

The design and printing process were tied very closely together for this project. The first piece we created was the Save-the-Date bookmark, which was mailed out as a reminder along with some other PIASC promotional material towards the end of 2011. Prior to designing the piece, we worked with Neenah Paper to secure a donation of their surprisingly-great-for-letterpress Classic Crest paper in the new Eggshell finish, in Solar White and Red Pepper colorways. We had the already thick paper custom triplexed (duplex + duplex), so that the red was sandwiched in between two white sheets. In addition to making the flagship pieces obnoxiously thick, it allowed us to create a thin red stripe down the edge of the cards, mirroring the thin red rules used throughout the designs.

While the Save-the-Date bookmark looks like a two-color over one color (2/1) piece, it took many more trips through the Heidelberg Windmill 10 × 15 platen press than one would expect. We broke down the design into several plates, so that the solids and the thinner elements were printed in separate passes. This allowed us to achieve proper solid coverage without blowing out the type. Solids were printed in multiple passes as well, so the bookmark, which was the simpler of the two pieces, ended up going through the press five times, before trim out.

The main piece, the invitation, was designed to be mailed out as a single 6″ × 9″ card, but the piece was die cut and perforated with a chevron shape where the almost 4″ × 6″ RSVP card detaches from the invitation. The reply card then fits into the enclosed reply envelope for return. This unique design allowed us to print both the invitation and the reply card as one piece, with all of the aesthetic elegance and functionality of having two separate pieces.

The invitation was printed with a similar process to the bookmark, where solids and thin bits were segregated on separate plates. But we also added a blind pass on the front, a clear foil pass on the back, and the “extra” step of die-cutting the whole piece (which incidentally saved a lot of time that would have been spent trimming out each edge on the paper cutter).

At Graphics Night last month, both the Museum² and Three Steps Ahead were recognized for the printing and design of the Graphics Night invitations. We were honored that Three Steps Ahead was given the Award of Excellence for design.

1. Mark Barbour, the curator of the International Printing Museum, has amassed a collection of instances of printing in the movies, and Graphics Night this year featured classic film clips where printing played a central role.
2. Special thanks to Mike Mische for the masterful presswork.

After the success of our previous infographic project, Scarborough Research asked us to create a new infographic to explain the data that they had gathered regarding “Generation Y” fans of Major League Baseball. The goal was to create a piece that felt “baseballish” and sporting without being overly cliché. I’m particularly proud of the angularly-accurate, 3D sliced baseball bat pie graph. Featured typeface families are Verlag from Hoefler & Frere-Jones, and Abril from TypeTogether.

Scarborough Research Baseball Infographic, earlier draft, without gratuitous filtering

Note: Much of the data and text shown here has been flubbed for the sake of layout and design; I like things to look just so. For the final infographic with more accurate statistics, see the PDF on Scarborough’s website.

Update: The Scarborough MLB infographic made an appearance at Times Square.

Alyssa just made a masterpiece of a t-shirt based on the cover of a 1951 book called The Linotype Handbook for Teletypesetter Operation. Just in time for the screening of Doug Wilson‘s Linotype: The Film this Saturday, March 17, at the International Printing Museum. The t-shirt was stenciled and then hand painted to bring out the shadow and punch detail on the lightning-bolt-like roll of tape extending from the back of the Linotype Comet, equipped with teletypesetter. As if the basic Linotype wasn’t complicated enough, it was also capable of automatically casting lines from strips of punched tape. These coded tape reels could be transmitted electronically to and from different points around the world, allowing the same newspaper articles to be printed in multiple locations around the world simultaneously. No need to ship type metal.

Three Steps Ahead in IdN Magazine v19n1, pages 20-21

We are honored to have been featured in Hong Kong based IdN Magazine‘s “RSVP” issue, devoted to creative invitation design around the world. The article’s focus is on our “Married at the Museum” wedding invitation design, and contains a bonus interview with yours truly.

Scarborough Research asked us to create a very comprehensive infographic for Super Tuesday to explain the data that they had gathered regarding the demographics and media preferences of Republican voters. We went with a simplified type and color palette that we hoped would make the data easy to digest, and wherever possible, we erred on the side of Edward Tufte-esque caution. Featured typeface family is Benton Sans from Font Bureau.

Note: Much of the data and text shown here has been flubbed for the sake of layout and design; I like things to look just so. For the more accurate statistics, visit Scarborough’s website.

Update: Just got word that the infographic was featured both in Times Square and in Las Vegas on PR Newswire displays. Nifty:

Upcoming all-metal Karnak type specimen giveaway for The Ludlow Project. Stay tuned…

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft—click thumbnail image to view full panorama

We were hired by SpaceX to document the interior of their now famous Dragon Spacecraft. Now that SpaceX has announced its plans to visit the International Space Station later this year, they have unveiled the PictureBubbles° panorama that we created.

Read more about it on the PictureBubbles° blog.