Author: reflexadmin

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Working On APA Treasure Gems

One of the extra projects at the Amalgamated Printers Association is a yearly comb-bound book called “Treasure Gems”; it has its own organizer, specific design requirements and size. It counts toward your yearly quota, but that’s never been a problem with me LOL. I’ve been doing it because 1. it forces me to use small type 2. forces me to use text-weight paper and 3. forces me to use a light impression. All things good to practice, at least!
So my schtick to tackle Treasure Gems is poetry, specifically poetry that’s not the obvious choice. Example: one year I set a poem by William Carlos Williams that WASN’T “This Is Just To Say” or “The Red Wheelbarrow”. So this year is the year of Billy Collins, whom you’ve probably never heard of unless you’re a poetry aficionado. The one I chose is pretty funny, and I’m pretty happy with the results.
Teaser images for now, full image when the Treasure Gems collection is distributed.
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More Sorts and Blocks

Had fun with eBay recently, got some new blocks and cuts, and also stumbled upon a lead type fire sale. I don’t have pictures of the type yet, but I’ll post some when I do. Here are some of the cuts I got.

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Free Wood Type

All sorts of interesting things walk through the door at Reflex Letterpress. I was all set up to do a quick refresher session with a woman who had a little Kelsey tabletop press, and charge her for the time, when she mentioned she had some wood type she didn’t need and would gladly donate it. I told her that this was a perfect payment for the press assistance, and I was definitely right. It needs a little cleaning, but it looks like I might have three new complete alphabets ready for the wood type cabinet.

The little Kelsey

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Another Copper Etched Project

Another project I’m working on jointly between Reflex and my art alter-ego Mindhue Studio is a set of 72-pt International Phonetic Alphabet letters created in the Emigré typeface Mrs. Eaves. I still need to do some kerning — literally cutting the faces of the blocks closer to the letterforms — but they look pretty great as it is.

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PLEIADVM CONSTELLATIO from “Sidereus Nuncius” by Galileo Galilei

I’ve becomd strangely drawn to the crazy-ass lockups done by other letterpress printers using lead type, and I decided to do one myself. This is atypical for me, as I’m a digital guy from way back, and figured what I’d be doing at Reflex would be photopolymer production work. Well, there’s been some of that, but some of this, too.

Galileo printed an interpretation of his observation sketches of the open star cluster the Pleiades in his little pamphlet he titled Sidereus Nuncius, or “The Starry Message”. He published his drawings of what he could see through his new telescope: the mountains of the moon, of the moons of Jupiter, and the amazing number of stars visible that were hitherto invisible to the naked eye. I took that imprint of the Pleiades and turned it into a letterpress piece.

I’m pretty darn happy with it. There will be some tweaking and adjustments, and I have to see if I can get a larger version of Caslon for the header, but this is a good project. I’ll be editioning it in the next couple of weeks.

 

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New Type! Homespun 24pt

Got in a surprise new typeface over last weekend. It’s a face designed by an engineer in a pixelated form intended to mimic the designs of needlepoint sampler alphabets. As I’ve don some exploration of the intersection of digital and analog pixellation in my art practice, this was something I had to get. This was a limited casting done by Hill & Dale Private Press in West Virginia.

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A Visit From a Legend

Last weekend I had the good fortune to be able to book Dave Seat of Hot Metal Services to come out and check over my Vandercook N4. He installed a new clutch plate and gave pointers for preventative maintenance and some tweaks. As usual, a very good visit.

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New Cutter Finally Secured, Leveled and Aligned

Last weekend we manhandled a large piece of machinery into the Press, and this weekend I finally got the time to fix it up nice. I trued the backstop to the blade so it cuts nice and square, secured the pallet to itself and to the cutter, and installed the measuring tape so that you can easily determine how big your cut is. It’s a really lovely piece of equipment, and is big enough to trim down parent sheets from the mill. Pics below!