As a graphic designer and avid printer I was excited to bring those two worlds together through letterpress.
In the beginning, it was a slight disappointment. For me, printing is about freedom, getting messy, and making beautiful work in an unorthodox manner. As I discovered, letterpress can have a lot of rules: furniture, ‘type high,’ ‘make-ready,’ lead type, etc.
I soon started hand-carving relief blocks and adding them to my typographic lockups. Integrating these carved blocks of linoleum with wood type and polymer helped me create work I am truly proud of.
A few short exercises in pattern and lettering. I like to do some quick pieces like this to get the juices flowing before embarking on larger projects.
If you had to make a stationery set for any movie character, who would it be, and what would be in it? I chose to create a system of correspondence for Bill the Butcher, Daniel Day Lewis’ character from the movie Gangs of New York.
Bill is incredibly charismatic, terrifying and unpredictable, yet somehow likeable. I wanted to create something masculine that captured Bill’s persona. I'd never really done any “manly” design, so the challenge was exciting! Character attribute grids, mood boards, unusual materials and antiques helped his correspondence kit to embody the highest of the lowbrow.
Includes an engraved pocket knife, pieces of wax-lined butcher paper for stationery and envelopes, perfectly cut strings of twine for packaging, one custom designed distressed rubber stamp with personal crest, and one antique ink tin filled with butchered red ink pads.
One of the most meditative methods of creating I've ever experienced is printmaking.
While completing my Graphic Design degree at MICA, I was a Print and Book Arts concentrator. I love being in the studio, mixing inks, burning screens, and engraving into copper. Printmaking offers an opportunity to become more tactile and emotive as a means of creation.
Also, it's really nice just to completely forget about the computer sometimes. This is a small selection of printed pieces.
