Fly in under the radar for a sneak peek at the latest goings-on here at Angel Bomb and inside my crowded cranium. You might find photos of a killer project about to hit the press, a rant about the state of design in the digital age, the inside scoop on an upcoming art opening, a recipe for succulent beef tenderloin in port-rosemary sauce, or something completely different.
The Blog is updated on a predictably unpredictable basis, so check back often to see what’s bubbling up to the surface.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Letterpress Visit
On the way to spend Thanksgiving in Indianapolis I made a little sidetrip down to Asheville, N.C. to visit the folks at Blue Barnhouse. I got to meet Brandon Mise, proprietor extraordinaire, and Emily Wismer who also goes by the name of Lady Pilot Letterpress. They were both very cool peeps, indeed. I think it’s great to connect with fellow letterpress printers to talk shop and swap stories and keep the letterpress community alive. Local printers seem to be fairly protective of their domain, which, to a degree I can understand, but since our respective shops aren’t even in the same time zone this wasn’t an issue. Hell, if you can’t drink beer with people of your own ilk, then what’s the point? Not only did we drink beer, but ate some killer ribs at 12 Bones. I hope someday to return the favor if they’re ever in Minneapolis. Check out their website, they’ve got some hilarious cards which are on sale for the holidays! Below is one of my favorites. And be sure to order your copy of Brandon’s new book, Adventures in Letterpress which features the work of yours truly.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thank you to Shinebox
There’s a relatively new design shop in town and they’re doing great work if these Thank You cards are any indication. Greg Meyers over at Shinebox created these cards for their clients and I just love the tagline, “Old-fashioned work ethic. New-fashioned work.” It makes even more sense since they printed their new-fashioned cards old-fashionedly on Angel Bomb’s windmill, Kaiser, which is almost as old as the hills. The cards have a great color palette and look great on Lettra 110# stock. Watch for more new-fashioned work from this great group of creatives.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Aye Carumba!
Art Attack has come and gone with hundreds of people stopping in to see the presses in action, take home a souvenir coaster and buy some art for the holidays. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a chance to post on this blog as Angel Bomb’s been inundated with work, first with preparation for Art Attack and then to keep up with client requests. I haven’t even been able to show you the latest acquisition: a pristine Vandercook #219 I traveled to Chicago to pick up. It’s a beauty and a beast weighing in at 2,400 lbs. It’s all ready to print some posters so stay tuned for some large format letterpress action in the coming months.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Franklins Row
There’s something quite satisfying about printing on different color stocks, especially very dark ones. With the right mix of ink, you can make very dramatic or subtle imagery, depending on what you’re looking for. Mesh from Franklins Row in D.C. contacted me for just such a print job. He wanted cards that were distinctive without being too expensive. These cards were printed on a nice heavy 140# French Paper in black. Rather than printing the black on a white stock and having a stark white back or edge to distract you, we printed white on black. Normally, you’d have to run it through the press twice to get good ink coverage but by mixing in silver with the white we increased the opacity of the ink to avoid a second run. Then by adding transparent white to that ink, we got a nice subtle color to use for the guitar pick logo. There’s a nice subtle sheen to the logo and a good deal of impression, so you really feel the love that went into making this card.
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Thursday, October 07, 2010
Red Dog Communications
Recently I was asked to print the new business cards for Red Dog Communications that Blue Over Blue designed. They wanted something beefy, and 220lb Crane Lettra is just right for that. Two sheets of 110# paper are duplexed together to give a sheet that’s sturdy enough for even the most demanding business card needs. This sheet allows for a deep impression on both sides of the card without worrying about bruising or show through on the opposite side. They were designed with a blind deboss for the footprints. A blind deboss is when you hit the page without ink, though most always I use some transparent white ink to improve the visibility of the impression. All told, a nice clean design that printed fabulously.
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Friday, September 17, 2010
4 Color Process - Letterpress Style
Art Attack is coming up fast. It’s the first weekend in November, dontcha know? So in my spare time I’ve been working on some new stuff to launch during the big event. This piece is something I’ve been wanting to play with for a while; printing four-color process on a letterpress. It works well as letterpress inks are transparent and the impression you get from each press pass only heightens the cool factor. It was fun to watch the image grow as the colors mixed and then with the final hit of black…voila!
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Thursday, September 09, 2010
W is for Wanker
These prints are a fond tribute to my year in London and are a series of typical Britishisms; things you hear on the street, names you’re called, words you pick up and start using because sounding like you’re from England, even if you’re faking it, is a real hoot! I call them my Adult Alphabet and they’re printed on the pages of a 150 year old dictionary that was in tough shape to begin with so I didn’t feel bad tearing it down and printing on the pages. Each letter is printed on the appropriate page too, they aren’t all willy nilly; A is for Arse is really on a page of A words. These babies were set using 72pt Franklin Gothic, the largest lead type here at Angel Bomb. Get ‘em while they’re hot.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Mind your own beeswax.
So here’s a project that was a blast to work on; start to finish. Often you get a project that has already been started and have to work with a bad name or bad design, and rarely do you get to build the whole kit and kaboodle, but not this time. Angel Bomb came up with the name of Worker B since these products are for us: the hard working peeps who work with our hands and occasionally need to give them a little relief. After the name was decided upon, next came the design and using an image of a bee was required by the client for obvious reasons. The design had to work across several different packages and we chose to use color to differentiate between the different products. The wanted the labels to emphasize the letterpress process they’d be printed with and so we used a honeycomb pattern that would give the products a nice tactile feel when you’re holding them. They also had to be not too girly, not too manly…just right. And I think we succeeded quite well, but check out the photos for yourself. They’re launching the products at the State Fair this year, so go hunt them down in the Agriculture/Horticulture Rotunda (section T 29 on the State Fair map) and treat your hands and body to something nice. The products are natural, local, and hand made. All in all, pretty damned sweet.
