Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Bookmark


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.



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Welcome


A new chapter, a new blog, same old alphabet. I'm back in Boston and seem to have taken Newport's rain with me. Now that I've finished the stone I'm confronted with the nice problem of figuring out what to do with it. For now it will lean against the wall in my apartment, at least until I can find the time to install a hanger in the back. Some closeups.