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Type and Music Mix for a Good Cause

Monotype and Secret 7” have joined forces to present a series of striking, limited-edition typographic prints that will be sold for charity.

Each year, Secret 7" pick seven tracks from seven top musicians and press each recording 100 times to 7" vinyl. They invite designers and artists from all over the world to design their own record sleeves. 700 designs are selected for exhibition and are then sold for £50 a piece. The secret part? You won’t know who created the sleeve, or which song it’s for, before you buy.

Based on this year’s tracks, seven of the world’s top designers and typographers have produced 100 hand-numbered A2 prints per track. Each features a typeface available from Monotype’s extensive collection. They will be available to buy from the Secret 7" exhibition at Somerset House in London from Friday, April 10. Each print costs £50, with all money raised from the sale donated to this year’s chosen charity, Nordoff Robbins.

From top to bottom:

SLEDGEHAMMER - PETER GABRIEL

Bread Collective

Technique: Photograph

Type: Glaser Stencil™, Linotype; ITC New Baskerville®, ITC

If you’re given an iconic track like Sledgehammer as inspiration, you’re probably going to take the opportunity to smash things. That’s exactly what Bread Collective did, with cracking results. Wooden reliefs were made from the Glaser Stencil™ typeface, mounted on a board and cast in jesmonite, then smashed with a sledgehammer, before being reassembled and photographed

GO - THE MACCABEES

The Counter Press

Technique: Letterpress

Type: FF Super Grotesk®, FontFont; Monotype Caslon Series 128

Old and new techniques collide in The Counter Press’s interpretation of The Maccabees’ atmospheric track, resulting in a deceptively simple letterpress design with depth in the detail. Using the physical record to form the ‘O’ in the track name, they set about finding a complementary typeface for the ‘G’, settling on the geometric curves of FF Super Grotesk®, laser cut to match in size perfectly.

DEAD FLOWERS - THE ROLLING STONES

Erik Spiekermann

Technique: Letterpress

Type: Fanfare™, Louis Oppenheim

Using only prefabricated letters and printing by hand on one machine, Erik Spiekermann’s choice of the Fanfare™ typeface provides an ominous feel that reflects the theme of the Stones’ track, while the gold circle of dead petals holds hidden detail: the design was created by taking smaller versions of the same characters, turning the blocks around and printing with the backs.

LET FOREVER BE - THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS Peter Bankov: Type: Gill Sans®, Monotype

BORN SLIPPY (NUXX) - UNDERWORLD Felix Pfäffli: Type: Regatta Condensed™, ITC

DIGITAL WITNESS - ST. VINCENT Spin: Type: British Inserat MN, Mecanorma Collection

REFLECTIONS - DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES Craig Ward: Type: Futura®, Linotype

See the full descriptions here.

The famous Caslon typeface has been copied and adapted many times over the centuries, this specimen shows the quirks and curiosities of just some of the founts that bear this famous name. Hand typeset in a range of Monotype Caslon Series 128 and Stephenson Blake Caslon Old Face from 12pt to 30pt, with notes set in 8pt Monotype Grotesque 216. Beautifully printed in two colours; black and fluro orange, with an additional Warm Grey footnote, on archival 225gsm Zerkall mould-made paper, in a very limited edition of just 20 Each print has been individually numbered by hand and features two deckled and two torn edges. Available at www.thecounterpress.co.uk #letterpress #typography #poster #caslon #design

New prints. We’re not usually ones for a statement poster, but this particular Saul Bass quote from the cover of Extra Condensed No.1 really struck a chord with us. So we've redesigned and reprinted it as an A3 print. If anyone cares. Hand typeset in a 10-line condensed grotesque wood letter, 12pt Stephenson Blake Grot No.9 and Stephenson Blake Condensed Sans Serif No.7. Printed black and orange on Fedrigoni Materica Gesso, and black and silver on Fedrigoni Materica Terra Rossa (both a nod to one of the great man), in a strictly limited edition of 30 of each colour. Individually numbered by hand. Sold unframed. A3 (297 x 420mm) Available at www.thecounterpress.co.uk

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Type & Lettering Advent Calendar

Final Round-up

Each day, between the 1st and 25th of December, we revealed a beautiful, custom designed number and artist, as shown above.

A huge thank you to each of our twenty-five contributors, without whom the calendar could not have happened.

1: Andrei Robu, 2: Oli Frape, 3: Paul Thurlby, 4: Ryan Gillard, 5: James T. Edmondson, 6: Joseph Alessio, 7: Victoria Rushton, 9: Anthony Millard, 10: Simon Ålander, 11: Dave Foster, 12: Linzie Hunter, 13: Martina Flor, 14: The Counter Press, 15: Yulia Brodskaya, 16: Mary Kate McDevitt , 17: Sergey Shapiro, 18: Darren Booth, 19: Ged Palmer, 20: Neil Secretario, 21: MaricorMaricar, 22: Emma O’Brien, 23: Ken Barber, 24: Terrance Weinzierl and 25: Rob Clarke.

See them all on Type Worship.

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Type & Lettering Advent Calendar

Day 14: The Counter Press

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this inventive letterpress design by David Marshall and Elizabeth Ellis, the duo that make up the ‘analogue only’ letterpress studio, The Counter Press, in East London.

This design has been hand set in various wood type, 36pt Placard and 14pt Monotype Caslon then hand inked in gold and shades of green (I love the texture on the Christmas Tree).

Take a look at the Counter Press’s portfolio, produced exclusively using traditional hand set wood and metal type.

About the Advent Calendar. Each day between the 1st and 25th of December we’ll be revealing a beautiful, custom designed number and artist, here on Type Worship.

At long last – three years since we started the press – we've finally got round to designing and printing our own business cards. The simple front, hand typeset in 8pt Plantin, is accompanied by four different backs – a range of greetings in a variety of wood letter faces. Printed in black on 360gsm Fedrigoni Materica Clay and finished with fluro orange edge painting (which we won't be doing again any time soon!) And before you ask, no. Not unless you can wait three years for them!

Extra Condensed is a little letterpress newspaper, of sorts. The (very) occasional publication of work, musings and typographic meanderings from The Counter Press. It has been painstakingly designed, typeset & printed entirely by hand, using only moveable wood and metal type. The first issue is a compact 8 pages, printed in two colours (Black and Fluro Orange) in an edition of 150 copies; made from over 1200 individually hand-pulled impressions. Today's fine printing, tomorrow's chip paper.

New work: Idi...ums No.1 — the first in a series of small typographic broadsides, exploring some of the most commonly misunderstood, misinterpreted and misspelled idioms. First up, Toe the line. Often mistaken as ‘tow the line’, this little phrase has nothing to do with towing anything, instead it refers to actual toes on actual line: either runners at the start of a race or perhaps even 18th century navy seamen, stood to attention along the planks of the deck. Of course it now just simply means following conventions and doing what you're told. Printed in three colours, using hand set Monotype Grotesque 216 and 5-line wood type, in an edition of 110 for the Fine Book Press Association’s Parenthesis Journal Special Portfolio 2014. More on the website: http://thecounterpress.co.uk/portfolio/idi-ums-no-1/

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Press room

London College of Printing, Back Hill

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Monotype Caslon Swashes

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Gorgeous. I’m sure these have inspired thousands of flourishes.

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For the Love of Letterpress

The Counter Press describes itself as “a little letterpress studio producing small scale, limited edition typographic prints and printed matter.” Behind this modest description however, you’ll find an extremely passionate pair of designers who have built an impressive, analogue only, print studio with a growing portfolio of typographic work, in a little over two years—all in their spare time.

I visited the studio this weekend to meet with David Marshall and Elizabeth Ellis. The duo design and print around their busy freelance schedules working for prestigious branding agencies. Founded in 2011 to fulfil a creative yearning, David said that the Counter Press was “a hobby that got totally out of control”. “We started for the love of it. At first we were curious to see how others were doing it. The letterpress world is like a bubble—a real niche. Now we’re part of that world, and have become petty well known. It’s much harder to achieve this in other areas of design where the communities are much larger and fragmented”

Based in a bright former warehouse, run by Bow Arts Trust, the ground floor room is a perfect size to contain the impressive set-up. Plan chests and type drawers run along the walls, either side of a solid composing table with the presses at one end: A pair of tabletop Platens, an A3 size proofing press and a large Vandercook Cylinder press.

They are committed to practicing traditional methods, only printing with the wood and metal type they have acquired—no plates or computers. Despite this, the work they produce is very modern in both composition and content. With only evenings, weekends and the occasional holidays, they have to be certain that their time is focussed on the work that suits them. “It takes so long, the ideas we print need to be worth it, so a lot of thought goes into our prints. Letterpress is slow, complicated and often painful, but because this is spaced over weekends and evenings, the ideas are allowed to percolate and little details are added along the way.”

With this in mind, they’ve enjoyed developing processes to suit their way of working. To avoid opening cans of ink and the lengthy clean-up, early stages of their work are printed “dry”, using carbon paper to take an impression of small sections. In this way the larger design can be composed from these ‘printed’ slips in the way pre-computer layouts were made.

David and Elizabeth make it quite clear that they are not interested in making a living as commercial letterpress printers. “The whole point was to have the creative freedom to indulge ourselves and print what we liked. We’re interested in developing ways to keep doing what we’re doing while slowly expanding. As designers first and printers second, we get excited about problem solving and finding solutions using letterpress, so we would like to explore ways of collaborating with more designers on projects.”

So far they’ve made good traction selling their prints. It’s inspirational to see such creative energy, and investment put into self-fulfilling work. The Counter Press is a great example how much can be accomplished in your spare time and what passion can achieve.

DISPLAY TYPE One print, two ways: A type specimen poster and postcard set ‘Display type’ was born in the mid 1700s. A product of the industrial revolution, its development was driven by a need to shout louder in a world of booming trade and the brave new era of advertising. So, what better way to display our collection of original wooden display type than as a poster. Or perhaps as a set of postcards. Or both. This type specimen has been designed to work as both a single A2 print and to be cut down to create packs of individual A6 cards. An extra introduction card and wrap-around sleeve were designed to complete the packs. Printed in black on three colours of Arjowiggins Pop’Set and charcoal Fedrigoni Savile Row paper. In an edition of 30 postcard sets and 30 posters. Posters available on the website http://thecounterpress.co.uk/portfolio/display-type/

serialmachinist

STUKENBORG / letterpress

londonbookarts

New hand printed flyers for Bookbinding Workshops at the London Centre for Book Arts.

Start seeing these around town soon!

theeprintproject

I recently made this poster for Golden Cabinet’s Bird / Monster Killed By Laser / Petals gig on the 5th October 2013.

The abstract image was created from a bracket cut out of a piece of hardboard and mounted onto MDF. As there was only one bracket cut, it meant the poster had to go through the press 9 times. 4 for the fluoro orange, 4 for the blue and 1 for the black.

It also meant that after each run the bracket had to be peeled off the MDF and re-positioned for the next run. Not much fun when you use absolutely lethal double sided carpet tape.

The type was set in 48pt Plantin Bold Italic & 18pt Granby Regular.

I’ll be making posters for the remaining Golden Cabinet gigs, namely Drunk in Hell in November and Pye Corner Audio in December.

Golden Cabinet are a gig collective who are bringing regular musical experimentation to The Kirkgate Centre in Shipley, West Yorks.

Posters aren’t yet available to buy online but if anyone wants one they can either get them at the gigs or if you are super desperate to buy one and live miles away, email me.

Check out Golden Cabinet for more info.

She Bangs The Drums – our Beatbox & Sun submission. Hand set and printed letterpress, in two colours using 8pt Monotype Grotesque 216, 14 and 24pt Caslon, and various wood type.

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Jot or tittle, hand-typeset letterpress typographic broadside submitted and designed by The Counter Press (2013)

– Type Only Unit Editions

thecounterpress

Nice to get a little feature on TypeOnly.

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