Nature of type … continues

The 'Nature of type' research post earlier now continues on... I have been revisiting the C-word book started in 2010. This book was all about handmakingness, paste ups and avoiding computers. The work I have been making over the past few years has allowed me to really push myself to learn old traditional techniques of printmaking and typography design.

Using the wooden type was a great place to start as it is large and not so hard to read mirrored when constructing compostions in the form. (designers give form to content)

Also it was much easier to kern the spaces between the letters as necessary and to align the form to the grid or map on the bed of the press (this one is the Farley press).

Printing on both sides of the paper to form two spreads has been really challenging, just keeping it all clean and making sure the imposition is correct means constantly checking with my mock up or paste up of the book design. It is especially scary when printing on the back of a woodcut or an illustration that has been given to me by another artist as a centre spread —they had to choose a C word and make me 6 pages as a spread. Their artwork would inspire the design of that chapter.

I felt like it was time that I honoured these wonderful friends' and their work ... and got busy finishing the book. It seemed like a great opportunity to do this just in time to take it to the symposium on the Artist book in Dunedin coming up next week. A huge mission to try and do this in a short space of time, but I am doing my uttmost to finish it in time!

Here is some work in progress...