Stephanie Carpenter at the Press (Stephanie Carpenter/David Carpenter)
Sun, Nov. 8 | Stephanie Carpenter, the Program Officer at the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, and one of the hosts of the Awayzgoose presented a variety of techniques for printing during a 45-minute demonstration. Stephanie began her demo by sharing her process for working with wood type by creating a poster with the museum’s slogan of “Visit, Learn, Print, Repeat.” [Read more]
Modus System, character proof (Cooper + Hutchinson)
Thurs. Oct. 29 | Alexander Cooper and Tim Hutchinson introduced participants to Understanding Molecular Typography, a textbook that explores the atomic composition of letterforms. The book is a prank, an “elaborate work of non-narrative fiction” by the book artist Woody Leslie, but the conceit, letters as organic molecules, is worth some thought, and it inspired Alex and Tim to create the MODUS Type System. [Read more]
Sun, Nov. 8 | Bruce Licher is a deservedly-revered and influential printer/designer/artist/musician whose book, Savage Impressions: An Aesthetic Expedition Through the Archives of Independent Projects Records & Press, was released earlier this year by P22 Type Foundry. [Read more]
RIT Cary Graphic Arts Hebrew Wood Type Collection. (Amelia Hugill-Fontanel)
Sat., Nov. 7 | Shani Avni’s talk on Hebrew wood type was filled with so much interesting information that I realized while going through my many pages of notes that there is no way to recap everything. Avni is currently undertaking the cataloging of around 40 fonts of Hebrew wood type in the Cary Graphic Arts Collection at R.I.T. These fonts were acquired in 2014 from the artist Richard Rockford. [Read more]
Where Today Meets Tomorrow: Eero Saarinen and the General Motors Technical Center by Susan Skarsgard. Princeton Architectural Press, 2019 (James Haefner)
Fri., Nov. 6. | Susan Skarsgard surprised me with her story about designing nameplates and emblems for a big car company—how could working for General Motors be interesting? Her unlikely and mundane beginnings as a hospital ward clerk led her to study calligraphy with Friedrich Neugebauer, who showed her how an artist lived and whose “mystic art of written forms” inspired and changed her. [Read more]
A section of the former Hamilton factory featuring the Hamilton logo mark on which the Hamilton Script font is based. (Ann Sandler/Font Diner)
Sun, Nov. 8 | On a hot day in August 2011—under the slim shadow of a Sundae sign in Two Rivers, Wisconsin—typeface designer Stuart Sandler had a vision that altered the course of his family vacation. Nine years later, his dream of turning Hamilton Wood Type’s famous blue sign into a functional script typeface was finally realized. [Read more]
Check out our AWAYzgoose Auction! Books, prints, and typographic goodies are for sale to benefit the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum and APHA’s BIPOC initiatives. Start your holiday shopping here. Closes November 8th at 7 pm EST.
Left: Arthur W. Rushmore posting his hand-painted sign, May 30, 1941. Right: the sign as it looks today, 20 × 15″. (Courtesy of Edna Macphail)
Recently, Mrs. Edna Macphail asked for recommendations for donating materials in her possession associated with, or printed by, her grandfather Arthur W. Rushmore (1883–1955). Rushmore, a book designer, and head of manufacturing for Harper & Brothers Publishers is known today for his private Golden Hind Press, established with his wife Edna Keeler Rushmore, in 1927. [Read more]
Beth Schuchter wrote to share some ephemera printed by Andersen-Lamb, the notable Brooklyn, New York photogravure company. She also has shared some nice photographs featuring the pressroom with etching presses. Andersen-Lamb was mentioned in a 2014 post, on this website, inquiring about the W.T. Littig Printing Co. [Read more]
