9/23

For this assignment I researched a local letterpress studio that stood out to me in Philadelphia. They are called Black Letter Heart Press. They have a 100 year old press that is called the "chandler and Price new series". They have gone commercial and are commonly printing postcards, coasters, invitations, and my personal favorite business cards. They used the scraps of chipboard and make a heavy impression in the paper to form a rugged, amazing business card. They had one on the website that stood out to me being one for a plumber, and it had a wrench, and was printed on this rugged looking paper. It was so unique and unlike anything that I had seen before. The press they use is also a wheel that continues to spin, which allows them to print mass quanities of images very quickly. They have a very unique look. It reminds me of something rugged, and authentic. They also have images of them doing immense detail with pressure prints, and it amazes me how they can so quickly change.

Homework 9/16

After looking online, I was very interested to see how these new presses were created and how they were able to be providing income for the study. After reading, and looking at images that companies are using the press for, it seems that the most common use is for cards, and invitations. They look very classy, and I never knew about this option. After seeing this, I would definitely be interested in using this style of cards for my wedding. I really like how it makes a deep impression in the paper. I was initially curious on how different companies made money off of this medium, but was pleasantly surprised to see the card industry, and also the shirt companies. It seems that the wedding cards would be the highest income for artists working in the printing industry. It would provide a steady income and busies for the artists, as people are always getting married and that will never stop. As people find out more about this, there is potential for the industry to grow, and it to take over regular print cards. I see this being a great industry to get into the christmas card industry. Every year people send pictures of the family in very nice cards (at least where i live) and with companies like shutter fly, they are become less genuine, and more factory made. This printing style could allow for a more genuine print and card.

Letterpress Artist

After looking through lots of pictures of lettpress, a artist by the name of Amos Kennedy came into my view. Upon looking, I could see that all of his pieces were statement pieces with large fonts to capture the eye from far away. He tends to focus on little words, and have a image of a animal etc. included in the work. My favorite one that he has made is the Pig out, die early print. I believe that he is trying to capture the idea that eating healthy and enjoying life will lead to early death. It was part of a series that was called "health advisories" He made the word DIE very large to attract the viewer, and placed it on a light colored background. I love that his work is very bold and attracts the viewer. He also focuses his work lots on the problem with racism and segregation in the United States, and highlights some of the problems that the country has with it. He is sarcastic but he gets the meaning across in a very strong tone. I think that after looking at his work,  have an appreciation for how hard, yet simple it is to present something very powerful in a few words to capture the meaning of his work.