Process Book

Nuriman FarisDesign SpecificationsMatt White & John Kramer Spring 2013

Table of Contents

Letterpress

1During our first week, we were given the option to

list down the top five production groups were were

provided. My first choice was letterpress and I was

placed in the letterpress group. I was so excited

to get to experience the letterpress medium. I had

done printmaking before and could relate to letter-

press and its unique qualities, but little did I know

how much I still had to learn!

The assignment for the first week was to get to know our medium...

How does it work?

Letterpress printing is a tech-nique of relief printing using a printing press. A printer will use moveable type and lock it into place onto the bed of the press. He will then ink the plate and press paper against the ink, apply pressure, and transfer the ink from the type onto the paper.

What are its limitations?

the process is done by hand (time consuming, subject to human error, difficult to edit), small production use, intended for small amounts of copy, different size presses have limited document sizes, color and color details are difficult and time consuming (minimal color use if preferable)

What are the common uses

for letterpress?

Common uses for letterpress in the 20th century consist of invitations, stationary, business cards, enve-lopes, posters (for advertising and decorative purposes), announce-ments, packaging, embossing, etc.

What is the history of the letterpress?

Letterpress printing was the normal form of printing text from the mid-15th cen-tury until the 19th century. It was invent-ed by Johannes Gutenberg and was originally used to print the Holy Bible. It remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. Letterpress printing remained the primary way to print and distribute information until the twentieth centu-ry, when offset printing was developed, which largely supplanted its role in print-ing books and newspapers. More recently, letterpress printing has seen a revival in an artisanal form.

What are the attractive qualities about

letterpress?

letterpress is attractive for its hands on details, low number of editions (creates a value due to the uniqueness and rari-ty), process creates texture (raised ink, embossing, etc), forced minimalist style, vintage appeal, transparency, and color mixing qualities when you overlay inks.

2 ColorFor our second week of class, we focused on the

theme of color! How does letterpress affect color?

How can it be executed and to what extent? This

week was more about inspiration, gathering ideas,

and developing sketches for possible products we

could create with letterpress. w

Inspirational ideas for Color

These are some of the images I found on the

web of the use of letterpress and color. i really

liked all the different ways you could combine

colors with letterpress. Even the embossed

business card creates color with the use of tex-

ture and risen type.

My group and I also discussed the various

things we’d like to create using letterpress

with the theme of color. We came up with

books, pamphlets discussing spot color, post-

ers demonstrating color mixing, use of colored

stock paper, invitations for color based events,

and possibly a calendar using color to indicate

the various seasons.

As we continued gaining inspiration for a final

letterpress product, we got closer and closwer

to doing a calendar...

These are some of the images that inspired us!

SketchesThese are the concept

sketches I developed off

our idea to create a calen-

dar. I thought it would be

interesting to allow color

and imagery be the main

focus.

I also wanted to focuse some of my concepts and ideas on typography and how we might be able to incorporate some rich wood text from the letter-press to create a vintage piece!

At the time, we weren’t

sure where our group

was goin with the

idea, but we just kept

sketching until we

came up with some-

thing more concrete!

3ResearchDuring week three, we fleshed out our ideas even

further. During this time, I spent most of my time

finding examples of relief prints for imagery and

ideas. Eventually we would be carving a linoleum

block for the image on our final product. Although

I had some experience carving linoleum, most

of my group mates did not and I spent this time

demonstrating all the different things you could do

with relief printing.

1. cut away what is white

2. reverse your image/drawing when transferring it onto your plate (it will print in the reverse of what is on your plate)

3. cut away from yourself, never cut towards you

4. use relief to create texture

ps. check out this url http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com it shows a really cool flow chart for graphic designers and might be a good idea for our poster!

* http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com* https://www.facebook.com/InkMonkeys

How to Carve a Linoleum Block

At this point in our developement of ideas, we prgressed from trying to produce a calendar to cre-ating a poster. We spoke to the vendor at Union Press in Somerville, MA and due to time contraints we chose to proceed with the poster instead.

Linoleum Carving Demonstration

I think we all got to experience something different

this day! We were all able to witness the relief process

and the kind of style, texture, and unique qualities

of relief and letterpress! It was a lot of fun getting to

teach everyone else about something I knew. It was

also nice to get people so interested. Everyone gave

feedback, asked questions, and liked the interactive

qualities of letterpress. print! Hope you enjoyed it!

Our group will also be sketching out ideas for our

poster production and we’d like to get your feed-

back… we aren’t 100% sure what we’re limited to, but

we’ll get more specifics next class.

week4

Week four was spend in group discussion. We discussed the

possibilities for our final project, what needed to be done,

when things needed to be accomplished, and I taught some

of our group members how to carve a linoleum block. It was

a good learning experience.

5Poster IdeasFor awhile, our group wasn’t sure what the end

product of the semester would be. We weren’t sure

how we could apply letterpress to various design

aspects. We originally started by coming up with

ideas of where letterpress was most used, then we

thought about what products we might want to

use letterpress to create, we went from calendars,

to stationary, and then to posters.

Typographic Based PostersDuring this week, I looked into different ways typography

has been used by letterpress in a poster format. I searched

for ideas and concepts on the web. Letterpress, as a medi-

um, is largely based on typography so I thought maybe our

poster should be based more on the typographic aspects

of letterpress.

6Start of ProductionAfter finding out our group was doing a post-

er, we proceeded with conceptual ideas of our

final products. I drew a few sketches on paper

and began to digitally reder it. However, typo-

graphic poster layouts proved to be time con-

suming and tedious.

So here is one of my poster concepts brought to life! I placed

photos of just about each step which included:

1. Tracing original sketch

2. Flipping tracing paper over (for reverse transfer)

3. Using Saral transfer paper on my plate, with the tracing paper

over it, and tracing the sketch in reverse with a pen to transfer it

onto the plate

4. Carving away the white (or whatever your paper color is)

5. Inking the plate

6. Printing!

I used three different types of paper. I used rice

paper, 100% cotton paper (printmaking paper),

and colored card stock. I noticed that with

the rice and cotton paper, the print was much

cleared. Part of that could also be that I used a

barren to print instead of a book press. I’m go-

ing to try it again on a book press and compare

the results. I’m thinking of adding another plate

with the logo SPEC on it in a different or/and

transparent color and laying it on top of this

print once it dries.

Union Press Trip

Final ConceptAfter our field trip to Union Press, we came up

with a different idea for our final concept. We

thought we would be creating a poster for our

class, but during the field trip, we saw how Eli

had used letterpress with a CD cover sleeve. So

we thought it might be nice by doing a col-

labrative project with some of the other groups.

So we decided that we would design a CD

sleeve, the silkscreen group could silkscreen la-

bels for the CDs that time base would burn the

movie onto, and the offset group would create

the booklet for the case. 7

Concept RealizationsThe previous week, our group did a skype chat to discuss

some of the ideas for the CD sleeve and divide the tasks

between the group members. We decided we could trans-

late the concept we had for the poster for the CD sleeve.

So we needed to conceptualize the class utensil lino plate

onto the CD Sleeve. I also spent some time looking on the

web for images of letterpress on chipboard CD sleeves. 9

Letterpress Schedule April 5th

Finalized concept

Group meeting/discussion

E-mail Eli with final concept & ask about linoleum

Make sure the design concept is in sync with style guidelines!

April 10th

Have the image cut and ready to print

April 11th

Send/Drop off cut image to Eli

10Specific DevelopmentsAfter our last class, discussing all the specifics of what our concept

needed, I worked on more decisive concept ideas. I didn’t have the

Gotham typeface so I used Cicle (which was generally close enough).

It will at least give the general idea of our concept and how we might

be able to play with it. Part of the concept was to add each class-

mate’s name on the back of the case. I needed to verify that I had

everyone’s name and that it was spelt correctly.

So Maria and I google chat together earlier this afternoon to discuss some of the more

developed concept ideas. These are the points we discussed:

1. we are pretty much set on the image, although we may want to change some of the

placement

2. we are going to play with the title and subtitle, its placement and spacing

3. we are replacing the alternate font with Gotham

4. we have to contact Eli about wether or not we should/could do a bleed with the

image

5. trying to invert color of text and image to vary our options

Our updated schedule is :

April 7th

1. upload new concept ideas by late afternoon

2. reconvene at night to discuss last changes

3. send Eli the finalized concept and questions

April 10th

1. review any proofing and complications that may arise

2. have the image cut and ready to print

April 11th

1. Send/Drop off cut image to Eli

11 RevisionsThis week, we made even more specific chang-

es to the design. I got the Gotham typeface

and was able to make the necessary changes to

the design. I also took the input our classmates

had and applied it to the design.

So here are some revisions to the concept of the CD sleeve

I did see some of the comments that were made on the

other posts and took heed! Here are some of the changes I

made:

1. I tried to account for the opacity that occurs with letter-

press and I think that’s why there was a funky blue color. I

changed it so the blue has no opacity.

2. I also tried to adjust the color of the chipboard to more

actual color, instead of the dark color that occurred when

we scanned it.

3. I also changed the alternative typeface with actual Go-

tham to keep it accurate.

4. I played with the placement of the title and subtitle.

5. We are keeping account for no bleed.

12 Pantone ColorSo our group ran into a few dilemmas in

regards to the colors we were using for

the CD sleeve. We checked the pantone

color swatches against the color of the

CD sleeve and most of the colors were

too close in value, except for the green.

First we tried the blue and the value was

too close to the CD sleeve.

John matched a lighter blue to the sleeve, but unfortunately it

was not a color in the Logo and we wanted to be as consistent as

we could in the colors we are using for brand identity. So then we

matched the other colors and the green was the one that looked

the best. John concurred with us and wants us to use the Green

Pantone color in the Logo design. He said it shouldn’t affect the

division of colors between the collaborating groups (Offset, Let-

terpress, and Silkscreen). John suggested that offset still use the

green and magenta, we use green and black, while silkscreen can

use the blue and/or orange.

13RevisionsAfter the last minute color change,

we revised our concept and design

layout with the new green pantone

color. We also looked into place-

ment of the text and which one

looked best.

We all drew up a few more sketches of possible

layouts and interchanged the colors that would be

printed. We tried demonstrating the black print-

ing over the green ink and vice versa. As a group,

we decided it would probably be smarter to print

the darker color over the lighter color, due to the

transparency of letterpress.

These were the two layouts that we had for the

back of the CD sleeve. We weren’t sure if we’d

be able to do either, depending on the avail-

ability of type that Eli had, but our goal was to

personalize the CD sleeve and put each class-

mate’s name on it.

14 ProcessDuring this time, I spend it working

on my process book and running

last minute errands with my group.

We made a print check at Union

Press and approved the CD sleeves.

SPEC EventThis was our last week of class!

We finally got to see the end result

of everyone’s hard work and how

it worked together as a cohesive

brand. It was so much fun to see

what everyone else had done and I

was so hapy to see all of the effort

we put into the class. 15

Process Book

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