visualchemist

I finally took some time out to print my first project. In searching for my letterpress, I knew I eventually wanted to give thanks to those who have helped me along the way, so this first card is dedicated to a certain handful of individuals. Though there are still a few supplies I would like to acquire, I committed myself to printing a thank you card using the moveable type I received from Tooknap Press and a little vintage army tank dingbat I scored on eBay.

Even though this was my first print job, and I had not yet attempted a 2-color piece, I was up for the challenge. I knew ahead of time that I wanted the colors on this card to consist of army green and olive drab. I started the process by mixing my inks following the Pantone formula breakdown. A little ink goes a long way with letterpress, so as a test, I kept my color portions small.

I had originally locked up my type, tank and stars together, before realizing the need to be adventurous and attempt a 2-color job. I knew registering the artwork without proper gauge pins was going to be a challenge, but I was up for it. I was forced to improvise. I disassembled the chase as you see it here, and broke it down into two separate passes. I printed the bold type first, then the army tank together with the stars.

Through trial and error, here is the final result. Some of the challenges I faced were figuring out how to properly pack my press, mixing and laying the proper amount of ink on the ink disc, and registering multi-colored elements. I also realized that I wasn’t thrilled with the quoins and key I currently have, and could use a second chase to have ready to go.

I’ve been pretty bad with sending out thank you cards in the past, and now, I have no excuse.

My search is finally over, he’s out of my car, and I just couldn’t wait to sift through all the extras that he came with. Here he is, Mr. Price, sitting stoutly in his temporary new home in our garage. I still need to

dust him off and gather an inventory of my newly acquired letterpress supplies. More importantly, I need to carve him out a new home up in our studio office, but even before doing that, I need to figure out what table we can use that is strong enough to carry the load of 200+ pounds.

I was given several large fonts and I could not wait to test one of them out. Through a series of specific visual questions on identifont.com, I was able to confirm that this font is Kabel by Rudolf Koch. Nice, clean, simple, modern, and also the favorite font of its previous owner at Tooknap Press.

At this point, I have all I need to start printing except for brand new sexy letterpress grade paper and some clean-up supplies. Here’s a shot of my first test, a blind pull on a piece of Fox River Starwhite paper.

Exciting times ahead.

This morning, I finally got to see the tasty photos of the wedding invitations I had designed for Danielle and Brian McAllister’s Cape May spring wedding. The wedding took place at Congress Hall in the little victorian town of Cape May, on the South Jersey Shore. The bride, who was also a good friend from back in the ROXY days, requested a “vintage classic design with a modern twist.” It was sort of a Great Gatsby affair. The hand picked wedding invitation colors were shades of bright yellow, tiffany blue, kelly green and bright red. The overall design complimented the Grand Ballroom’s 1920’s theme, black and white checkerboard floors and Tiffany blue walls. Every single detail was considered from the venue’s bright yellow exterior, to the black chandeliers hanging inside the Grand Ballroom. Even the subtle details from the tiny polka dots on the bride’s dress to the yellow and white stripes found outside on the beachfront cabanas found their way onto the invitation package. The bride is from the Jersey shore and the groom is from the California coast, so rather than using simple table numbers, it made sense to use the names of the beach towns from both coasts. With the venue on the opposite coast from where I live, it became a team effort to get these invitations just right. The bride made several trips to the venue and had taken photos for inspiration and detail. More invitation details can be found on my website. Photos: Tom Gooch.

Rather than continuing to spend money on workshops with very limited press time, I decided that I would put my hard earned money to good use by buying my own press. It took me a week of searching to realize that finding my perfect press (a Chandler & Price Pilot) was going to be a difficult task, as anyone that has one isn’t exactly willing to give it up, or anyone looking to get rid of theirs is looking to make a small fortune.

In my search, I found out how amazingly helpful and tight the letterpress community actually is. I’ve made contact with a lot of the Who’s Who’s in the business and they were all extremely helpful in turning me to someone they thought could better answer my questions. (Special thanks to Dave Churchman!)

I’m a believer in fate and destiny and I believed all along that the press that was meant for me would eventually find me… WE would eventually find each other, and I was willing to wait until that day came.

Two weeks passed and after countless emails, eBay/Craiglist searches, and antique store hopping, I decided to try my luck at the International Printing Museum to see if they had any presses they could part with. It turns out that they had several, although they each were in need of some sort of TLC/repair. I managed to have a press reserved for me, but after a month of patiently waiting, I decided to take a quick look to see what was up for grabs on Craigslist.

Suddenly, the sea parted and the stars aligned, angels sang and the sun peeked from the clouds. A local Pilot had been listed just the night before! I emailed the seller and sure enough, it was still available.

Woohoo!

We made arrangements to meet and four days later, I was finally the proud owner of a new (old) Chandler & Price Pilot Letterpress.

I brought my family along and made the quick drive up to Hollywood where we picked up all 200 lbs of solid cast iron, and a bunch of great letterpress extras. Inks, furniture, lead type, tympan paper, a Boxcar base — just to name a few. Christine of Tooknap Press was way more than generous in handing over the miscellaneous doo dads that would have taken me forever to acquire. I left feeling like I had won some geeky letterpress lottery or something. In a way, I think I did.

We finally took the press out of my car earlier tonight and I can’t wait to play with all my new toys! I’ll share photos once I can get into the boxes and sort through my new (old) treasure.