Feb 29, 2012

A special typography print


I think I've mentioned before that my father-in-law owns a printing business. He's also a big collector of antique and old printing equipment. I'm not gonna lie, having a family member in the printing business doesn't hurt. I mean, check out these gorgeous letterpress wedding invitations he made us.

I blurred out our names to protect against creepers...

For Christmas, he gave me this fabulous letterpress typography print he made using various type he has in his collection. I don't know how he knew I would totally love this, but he did.



He said he tried to use every letter of the alphabet. And he personalized it by adding in our initials...so sweet!


The number 64 is also important to us.



He was kind enough to let me peek into his operation so I could see how he made the print. He's got drawers and drawers full of type -- letters, images, borders, etc.



He laid all the wood type for the print out in this little press, called a proof press, and then used a roller, called a brayer, to apply the ink.


The paper goes on top (not pictured), and then this big roller thing goes over the top...



He did it a few times to try different papers and until the ink had the right look. These are the extras.


A couple more shots of his super-cool old printing equipment.



Thanks again to my father-in-law for the print and for letting me take pictures of his operation!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Awesome gift! We had him make copies of all the lighthouse pencil drawings Jay did for our wedding and they turned out really great - just like the originals. Jay said the place was just stacked with cool stuff, too. What a great resource for you guys! ~CMU