I had the Marketing Department of Marsolais Press & Lettercarving whip up these slick bookmarks to help spread the word about my fledgling operation. Because I will truly be on my own in a few months I used typefaces only in my possession, in fact ones I would not otherwise pair together but am very glad to have (Berthold Wolpe's Albertus Titling and Gunter Lange's Solemnis). Mixing display types is always a tricky business. Normally it says to the consumer "Buy my product so I can afford to buy a clue!" But in this instance I decided to find charming the idiosyncratic combination of a stylish modern uncial with a rough-hewn face of inscriptional origin. The stroke weights and skeletals bear a passing resemblance, and both evoke the work of tools in human hands. Both historically are the natural output of a broad edge, whether pen or chisel. Fittingly the bookmark is resting against a bookend in progress, Ex Libris, drawn letters carved into a triangular offcut of Buckingham slate from the slag pile at the John Stevens Shop. I'm intending to include the bookmarks in with a promotional brochure to go out in the coming weeks, although a few have already found their way into the hands, and presumably books, of friends around Boston. Interested in receiving a brochure? Hey, try out my new business email. Emails are free. So is the brochure.
