Calligraphic Collaboration!

Angela Welch has been creating awesome calligraphy for people all over the world.  She is the closest thing to a "Zanerian" that I know, that is: she handles the pointed Spencerian pen with a competency that is outstanding.  Little wonder that she's created designs for Crane & Co., for international clientele, and has even found herself working at her Art in the presence of the Vatican Guard! (that's another story.)  When she asked me to print her Wedding Stationery designs for her client Mandy, I fairly jumped at the opportunity.

This order called for an A7 invitation with envelope liner, including a printed return address, and a 4-Bar sized RSVP with printed address on it's envelope.  Stock selected was #110 Ecru Lettra.  Four magnesium dies were involved, and about two solid weeks working with the copy.  

Angela sent scans of her work, which which were perfect.  The challenge, however, is to take that file and make an intelligible "black file" for plating.  This is where the raster file is converted to a vector file for sizing, and is the file the Plate & Die maker uses to create the letterpress die from.  

Being a calligrapher myself, I have a pretty good idea how the finished product is supposed to look like.  The   challenge is to preserve the look of a hand-executed piece.  This involves paying close attention to the thick and thin strokes.  A great looking 'thin' that will impress into open fiber stock and leave a great line may turn out to make the thicker strokes too heavy.  Backing off the thicker strokes may cause the thin lines in the flourishes to break up, or become too thin.  Sometimes I have to go into the original raster scan and physically edit the thin or thick so the vector 'engine' can plot a course that makes sense and leaves the line the way I want it.  And when the copy originates from a hand drawn line on proper paper that draws ink from the pen for a well executed piece, sometimes the macro-close up nature of a scan can make what appears to be a smooth line. . . pretty rough.  Enough to confuse the vector plotting.

Needless to say, it was a challenge, and the end product was worth the effort!  We held a very delicate thin line, and a healthy thick downstroke.  The most important thing was that the dies conveyed a great impression into open fiber stock that left a nice deboss, yet retained the hand-wrought calligraphic look.

The printing was accomplished on my 1936 New Series C&P, moderate hard packing, and I got to use my brand new Megill adjustable gauge pins!  Man, talk about easy set up.  The only thing that really took time were the 4-Bar envelopes.  I had to place a card-stock insert into each envelope to avoid the effects of the glued envelope seams on the back of the envelope.  These seams can interfere with the impression and create unwanted darks, lights, and complete misses because to a Platen Job Press, envelopes never lie flat.  There are variously thicker in some spots, thinner in others depending where the rear seams are placed.  Here is a shot of the mid-run.

Aren't those gauge pins pretty?  They screw down very tightly, thus eliminating the need to tape or drip wax or hot glue or any other added method of locking the gauge pins into place once set.

This shot was taken from the take-up pile. One thing about feeding envelopes: definitely a hand-fed job.  

Here's the finished grouping, with the RSVP envelopes on the left, Invites in three piles, and RSVPs in two and a quarter piles.

Here's the rear flap of the AS envelope.  The colour of the envelope is Ecru, but it was shot using a 6500k flourescent bulb, which tends to make Ecru look more like Pearl White!

This is the pre-addressed 4-Bar envelop for the return cards.

A bit of a close-up of the envelope.

The RSVP card.

A macro shot of the RSVP

I love the Flourishes on these cards.  Angela is great at determining when enough is . . . enough!

Here is the five by seven inch  invitation 

And here is the whole set, minus the 'inner' A7 envelope.

Well, that's what's new here at G. Johanson, Letterpress.  Stay tuned for more entries coming up.  

Good Providence in ALL your Letterpress projects.

-gary.

Philatelic Art: Enduring Design

Two hobbies of mine have shaped my life and course of future: Amateur Radio and Stamp Collecting.  It's hard to tell which had the greater affect, as far as avocations go.  As a Letterpress Printer and designer of my products, I draw heavily from the classic works of bygone styles.  Having collected postage stamps since I was six years old ( I'm 57 now ), I find that now, more than ever, I go to my philatelic books, the catalogues and the albums as a design resource for my work.  It seems that as graphic artists these days, particularly those that are fellow patrons of the Black Art, become more and more 'whimsical' in their designs - I guess that's the word for it - I find myself seeking refuge in the sharp clean lines, the inherent symmetry, the fineness of detail, the excellence of execution of postal ephemera of the mid to late nineteenth century.  These classical designs are not "all over the place" or sketchy.  They are solid.  Definite. They have presence, and communicate their importance.  They are works of art.

What amazes me is that amidst the detailing and microscopic fineness (for the most part) lay a vast reservoir of techniques that can speak to us in this "New Millenia" we've entered. Balance, Beauty, Utility, all combine in these micro-miniature posters which were printed around the globe, describing their countries of issue.  Maps, Rulers, Coats of Arms, History, Literature, Cartography, Economics, each stamp teaching those that cared to look a little of their country of origin.

One such design that I have of late worked with in my studio is the 1849 "Ceres" stamp of France.  This was the very first postage stamp ever printed by France, only nine years after Great Britain issued the world's first adhesive postage stamp (the Penny Black and Two Penny Blue, 1840) and a scant two years after the United States issued it's first adhesive postage stamps in 1847.  The designs of Britain and the United States were absolutely gorgeous, and being line engraved, both were intensely detailed.

Not so the French fledgling offering.  It was surface printed (Letterpress, the old catalogs call them as being "typographed").  It was much, much simpler.  It featured no ruler's portrait, no hyper intense turning.  It featured simply a Grecian side border design and an ancient profile of Ceres inset into a simple disc resembling some ancient coin.  And yet in all it's simplicity, the design elements, merely a collection of lines and dots, play together in an amazing unity, presenting a very attractive piece of art.  In fact, so simple was it that I endeavored to reproduce it's elements for my own shop.  To make it very obvious it is not a forgery, I altered the legend (France never issued a Universal Postal Card in this design), the line shading behind the disc, and added my own initials "INV GGJ" at the bottom.  This 'borrowed' design will grace some stationery I hope to offer, based on classical nineteenth century postal ephemera.

Above is the actual stamp.  Very clear, a clean impression, a gorgeous classic.  Simplicity in a nutshell.  As I began to research the design, discovering the elements it contains, I was struck that apparently, several countries felt the same way I did!  It was amazing how this design was repeated over again in different countries spanning almost two decades after it's initial 1849 French release, to whit:

Greece . . . . 

Spain . . . . 

Finally, Ecuador.  

This was just from briefly cruising around the Internet, cherry picking images.  There are probably many more.  The use of this design seems to span from 1849, up to 1865.  Sixteen years, possibly more.  That's what I call an enduring design, considering these were the earliest of issues from these countries.  No doubt that officials from these countries admired the stamps they were receiving from their correspondence with the French Republic.

Well, it's not lost on me that as a design rooted in ancient Greece, Greece might be interested in using it.  Other Latin countries might share tastes similar to France, after all: Spain and France had been politically connected off and on for a good part of the 16th and 17th centuries.  What's there to be surprised about?  But cultural similarities or not (I wonder if Italy......) a good design is a good design, by any stripe!  A twenty year run stemming from a single design, not bad.  Not bad at all.

Long Live Philatelic Design!!

-gary.

New Megill Gauge Pins

I ordered some new gauge pins from American Printing Equipment & Supply Co., to supplement my waning supply.  Owing to a rare miscalculation on my part, I very nearly lost one of my favourite Megill Double Grip gauges.  The close call reminded me that I should get more - while they are still available.  So I did.  NA Graphics stopped carrying them, apparently, but I found them at the above mentioned location.  

Now, normally, these pins came in what I consider the normal dark carbide metal with brass tongue, screws and slide.  What I got totally surprised me.  The slide and body came.....chromed!  Chromium plated gauges.  Boy, talk about adding class to the ol' Shoppe!  

I thought that perhaps these may have been recycles chromed over to hide their years of use.  Close scrutiny reveals that if this is what they are, they were in awfully nice shape to begin with.  No, I think they are new.  Either way, they are nice.

Everybody has their flavours in life, Letterpress printing is no exception.  I use Kort Quad guides down at Mama's Sauce when I do work for them down in Orlando (I'm one of their Klugemen) - I have to say, these Double Grip gauges have been singularly the best, probably the most enduring and easiest gauges I have ever used for long haul work.  With the old stand-by Flex-pins, you have to make two penetrations in the tympan and slide the center pins through.  With the Quad Guides, you have to make two relatively long slices for the fore-and-aft blade grips which requires a considerable amount of pressure to open the "jaw".  I've ripped my share of tympan.  The Megill Double Grip gauges require only one single inch-long slice perpendicular to the feed line, and that's it.  You can set the holding pressure lightly, to set the pins, then tighten with the nut tightening tool that comes with the set (see top photo).  They adjust very easy, they lock like a vise grip, and if you take care of them, they last for ever.

And, in a pinch, they can make a dandy tie pin!!  I'll wear one to the next wayz-goose.

-gary

Update From the Studio/ Shop.

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So, what have I been up to in the past few weeks?  Well . . . 

Firstly, my Golding Pearl O.S. Model 3 has a new owner, and now resides in the beautiful Commonwealth of Virginia.  The new owner is Emily.

I've also been doing some stand-in bindery work at Mama's Sauce, holding the fort while a couple of the guys go off, get married and go on their respective honeymoons.  Gives me a chance to get up front and personal with their 12 x 18 Kluge.  It's been a lot of fun working with Joey, Hogan and the Brookster.  

Keep an eye out for a new friend and former student of mine (work-shop student, that is!) Isabel, with 9th Letter Press,  of Winter Park.  Isabel has a lot of talent, and it will be great to see her work go 'main stream', especially in the Winter Park Rolling College / Park Avenue area.  I will be posting a link to her site soon. 

I've also been working on my new web site.  I have added some flash pages, which are serving as portfolio viewers. The nice thing about these flash sub-programs is that a picture is worth a thousand words.  So, what does that make ten pictures?  So far, I have my main portfolio page done, with an active link to my business card portfolio page.  Soon to be active will be a Wedding Stationery page, a Coaster page, and a general Ephemera page.  Check them out, tell me what you think!

Also, what do you think of my sorta-kinda Logo?  It reminds me a bit of some of the wood cut stylings of 16th Century Bayern (Bavaria, where I lived as a pre-teen) - so I took the liberty of using a German Blackletter font, and inscribing "Kunsthandwerk", which means Cultural or Artistic or Artisan Hand Work, and "Feindruckerei", or Fine Press / Printing.  It's a tip of the hat to my own German heritage.  And, after all, it were the Germans who gave the Western World Letterpress.  Direct from the Electorate of Mainz, by way of Strasbourg.  In a short time, Nuremberg became the Printing Capitol of the Western World.

Besides, I love Blackletter "Textur" and "Fraktur".  Reminds me of another place I lived: Valley Forge, not far from the Schwenkfelder and Amish communities.

One last thing: my Dell D620 lost image on it's screen.  I think I have it traced to the LCD inverter.  Ordered a new one, hopefully that will get me up and going.  While I do have a Mac desk-top for CS4, I do a huge bulk of my designing with good ol' FreeHand MX, on a PC.  So, since my Lap Top is my PC, it's pretty important that I get it going again.  Fortunately, the video card is good, and I can run an external monitor so I can see what I am typing right here and now.  But it's a pain being docked to a terminal.  

If the inverter does not work, then I'm replacing the LCD and cabling as well.  While it's costing me a bit to order new parts, it is still cheaper than having someone else do this - or purchasing a new Lap top!

I have a wedding order coming up soon, and I will post photos as I print it.

That's it for now.  

-gary.

Business Cards for PTF Photo, Tallahassee.

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I had an opportunity to run some great business cards.  The client is PTF Photo, of Tallahassee, Florida.  The logo is a centralized blind deboss.  The paper is White Lettra.  This order was actually run on two presses: the 8x12 C&P was used for the blind deboss, and about half of the text run.  The other half was run by my Old Series Pearl Model 3, the last order to be run on her from my shop.  This is because the Pearl is now the property of Emma, of Central Virginia.  Yes.  Anna has a new home.  But as she left, she ran one last order for me, and it could not have been better.  Thanks, Anna.  You're a grand lady, and will do Emma very proudly.  It's been a pleasure to have shared shop space with you!

Below are some shots of PTF's new cards.  These were printed using traditional wood mounted metal dies, courtesy Owosso Graphics.  And once again, great results happened!

That's the latest from G. Johanson, Printer.  I might add that the Logo was not designed by me, but by the graphics designer for PTF, who also did a nice job!  Cudos to PTF Photo.  For more about PTF, click here.  For PTF's Facebook page, click here.

Good Providence in all your Letterpress Endeavors!

-gary.

On Photographing Letterpress Products.

One of the more difficult things to do regarding Lettepress is photographing what you print.  Paper is hard to properly photograph in such a way that captures the Letterpress dynamic. Light bounces everywhere. Shadow needs to be in the right place. How many times have you visited a Letterpress site or an Etsy shop or go to someone's Flicker page,  and look at the letterpress printed image and struggle to determine....is that a deboss? or is that image embossed ?  That, or having shot your own work and uploaded it, think to yourself

 ". . . funny . . . I thought my paper was white!"

Kim Austin of Austin Press was gracious enough to permit me to tag along my video camera during a recent visit to her studio/shop down in San Fransisco's "Dog Patch" area. I have to say, she took at least two hours out of a busy production day to treat two total strangers from Central Florida like family.  I have been following Austin Press in publications like Victoria and Country Living for several years, amazed at how this little gal does so much with two iron Letterpresses and a whole lotta creativity.  She does not have the snazzy Heidelberg Windmills, no auto-feed Kluges, no Vandercooks . . . just a lot of hand-fed hard work and a way of capturing the essence of Letterpress both on paper - and in photographs.  

Kim came to Letterpress from out of a professional photography background, and when she was kind enough to take us into her backroom area where her camera and photo-stage was set up, I thought I'd better have my little handi-cam ready.  Kim has been working out solutions to problems that commonly plague any of us who have tried to post our work on line to advertise or share what we do.  How do we capture the essence of what Letterpress is?

The following video is presented to you at the behest of Kim.  I see this sort of thing as sharing 'trade secrets'.  Kim is sharing publicly, right here, the results of a process she has been working on for two years to get 'just right'.  I really appreciate the rare priviledge to be recipient of Kim's experience and wisdom, as well as her wonderful hopitality.  

This particular video is the first of two that I made at Austin Press.  The other will follow presently.

A Study in Contrast

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During our last workshop, my student (Isabel, proprietor, 9th Letter Press) was printing the main design of a future "prop card", using Van Son rubber based grey No. 10.  We were using the usual Crane Lettra, #110 Pearl White.  At one point I had her slip in some hard surfaced card stock that we had used as barrier paper, which protects the stock during the cutting process.  This was approximately 100lb hard finished card stock, bright white.  I knew what was going to happen.  Isabel did not.  When the platen opened up, she nearly stopped the press.  The only word she could find was "wow".

Why "wow" ?

We were getting good results with the Lettra.  Nice impression, that tactile deboss that we've become accustomed to.  The reason why Letterpress, frankly, is on the map.  So we were happy.  But something we also became accustomed to was the general softness of the image.  Oh, we can have a 'hard' edge with Lettra, and we can have saturation to a very high degree.  But there is a look that we get used to.  

The open fiber nature of unsized paper tends to discuss the imprinted image to a slight degree.  A thin line can be reproduced well.... but a field of several hundred cross-hatch shading lines, or "tints" as they were once called - does not permit the softer papers to respond to the plate or die in the same way that harder stock will.

Harder stock takes a lighter "hit".  Some call it a 'kiss' impression, a term that I think is misleading.  A proper "kiss" from a Letterpress will knock your front teeth out.  There is pressure exerted.  There always WAS pressure.  It just did not penetrate to the rear surface of the paper receiving the image.  But oh, yes, there was definately an 'imprint'!  We looked for it in 1969 in trade school, we looked for it in 1973 on the pressroom floor, and some papers received quite a bit of "kiss".

Hard stock, however, stays flat, the paper surface does not rise beyond the type or die face and onto the shoulder as the print surface makes contact with the paper and impresses. The face, or print surface, is conservatively inked. Once the impression is made, the ink tends to reside on the surface of the paper.  There is no discussion, or diffusion of the ink upon open fibers.

The result is a more saturated color, and a very fine articulation of fine-line detail.  Overall, higher contrast.  In the case with Isabel, the image literally 'popped'.  A very stark contrast is seen between the presentation of this same image, with the same ink and same pressure on Lettra.  Don't get me wrong, the image on Lettra was indeed nice.  And, in fairness, the harder stock added to the contrast effect by being a brighter white.  

So, I decided to do some comparison with both the Gray No. 10, and "Everyday Black", courtesy Dave's Ink In Tubes, my new go-to for ink.  The photographs that follow are the results.

These are images of an 1890 Old Series C&P, printed from an 11g. copper advertising cut of the era. The color is black.  The paper on the left is Lettra.  The paper on the right is a harder Canson cold press.  The Canson has two sides, one side holds an extruded finish, the other is smooth, and a bit harder.  I chose the harder side.

This is a close-up of the black on Lettra.  The image has a reasonable deboss such as is appropriate for this image.  The photo is a bit blurry, I did the marco shots without a tripod.  Sorry.  :)

This is the same image, same run, colour, pressure, on the canson.  While I mention pressure, I did try to see if increasing pressure would darken the image.  It did not, it only reduced the articulation.  Thus I was careful to keep the pressure of the 'strike' the same, as much as I could tell.

The above image was printed in No. 10 Grey.  Lettera is on the left,  the hard finished 90 or 100lb card stock is on the right.  The finish of the card stock is similar to that of a standard index card.

This is Grey No. 10, same pressure as the black Lettra version above.  It is predictably lighter, but a close view shows the individual cross hatch lines are distinct enough to provide a fair degree of articulation.  Really, not a bad impression at all.  And we purposely chose this colour because we want the text that will be added to dominate attention.  After we ran a number of these impressions, and I was sure the ink had leveled, I had Isabel slide in the harder card.

Can you see where Isabel's "wow" came from?  (hopefully, you are thinking "yes". Otherwise, boy, will I feel stupid.)  The gray is almost as dark as the black, largely owing to the paper's natural color, a bright white.  But what is amazing to me is the fine-ness of the tint lines, the shading lines, which are micro-thin.  The Lettra sample reproduced these lines well, but the hard stock permitted a contrast and a fine-ness that made the image fairly jump off the card.

This is where Letterpress comes into it's own.  You can get fine lines from offset lithography, sure, but you will never get this kind of contrast.  You don't get that 'pop'.  This effect can be taken to the next level by trying gloss card stock, like Krome-cote.  We used Krome Cote back in the early '70s for the business cards of the executives at Clarklift Central, Orlando FL.  We ran the olive green solid colour 'shells' on a 1250 Multilith and an 1850 Multilith.  But the text was printed by moi on our 12x18 New Series Chandler and Price, set by Linotype at the old Orlando Graphics on Sligh Avenue, Orlando . . . in a time long ago and far away . . . .  The executives agreed that the names, titles and text data on the card looked far better typset and run on our platen press than when run offset.  This was long before Martha Stewart, folks. Never let it be cried in your ear "golly, if we don't deboss....might as well do offset or digital!!  Who will know the difference?"  Baloney.  The difference will be evident, believe me.  Yes, even with a "kiss" impression.

I hope you enjoyed my little 'show and tell', and maybe helped to generate some ideas out there.  Letterpress is so much more than punching paper.  In fact, the prowess of the Letterpress can - in some ways - be wholly missed if we ignore the beautiful, awesome original and traditional uses thereof.

Good Providence in all your Letterpress endeavors!

-gary.