design project 2 Designing to Help Others Speak
For this project, you will develop a design construct for an existing non-profit organization of your choosing. As with Design Project 1, your final presentation should reflect a substantial design output. In the case of this project, however, the medium, the tenor, and the specific subject matter should serve to benefit the organization for which you are designing.
Design Brief introduction research methodology target audience geographic scope (regional, national, etc) a description of the strategy objectives that defined your design decisions. Although word count is not an accurate factor in determining your brief’s degree of thoroughness, 1,000 words is a reasonable estimate.
Research Component
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You should begin this part of the project as soon as possible. The non-profit organization you choose to produce work for should be notified in the first few weeks of the course, and by Unit 5 all but the most specific design issues should be determined. The objective is to create design work that the organization could actually use. A first meeting/conversation should take place within the first three weeks of class, and correspondence should continue as often as necessary. Investigating production, paper choice and printing costs should also be addressed. Please keep minutes of each meeting, and keep these minutes in your project binder for reference. It is extremely important to keep notes of each meeting. If you would like to record your meetings, get advanced approval from your contact.
As with Design Project 1, your topic must be thoroughly researched before you begin any serious design work. Subject matter that focuses on divisive issues must include research on the opposing viewpoint as well as the viewpoint to which you adhere. You must fully understand the scope of the issue before you can hope to address it in an informed fashion. Research should also include examples (in visual and written form) of past design work done for the same cause. Download visuals as you run across them, and save URLs in a file for future reference. This research should be compiled neatly in a project binder for your own reference. Other areas of process include written brainstorming, thumbnail sketches, and computer developed roughs. Word association brainstorming with a pen and paper is an excellent way to discover unique solutions. Once you have completed your research, write down any key words from your research, and begin writing other words that are in any way associated. Such an exercise may help facilitate your creative explorations. Thumbnails should show evidence of extensive exploration.
Design Component
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Your final solutions can be in any format, provided the format is appropriate to the subject matter. If print work is a component of the project, the work should be comped in a professional manner. There will most likely be budget restrictions in this project since many nonprofits have very low operating budgets. You must take this into account, but you must also prove that your adherence to these possible restrictions does not curb your creative output. You do not need a big budget to be creative! The objective is to communicate the desired message to the desired target audience in as effective a fashion as possible.
Discussion/Critique Component
You are required to post a proposal for your initial research for class discussion by Unit 4. The proposal should include: introduction, research methodology, a description of the strategy, target audience, geographic scope (regional, national, international), and objectives that defined your design decisions. You should also present examples of work that the non-profit organization has done in the past. Roughs for Design Project 2 will be posted for discussion in Unit 7. On this date you must submit explorations with numerous typographic, compositional and color variations.
project 2 - shop local “Fighting for your business,” this is the slogan used by Chamber of Commerce organizations throughout the U.S. It basically means, they are here to do everything they can to help promote the local businesses that preside in a community. Most people do not realize the commitment it takes for an upstart or small business to succeed. And not many realize why it’s so important to support the local businesses in their community. We have been conditioned to shop as cheap as we can; we take our business to box stores and think, hey what a bargain. Does anyone care about integrity or the fact that many of these stores import their stock from Asia or sweat shops in India? Amazon.com has offered an app to price compare so that they can outbid any competitor. This is where our consumer dollars are going. But what about the local small shops that offer regional items or produce? What about the artisans that offer unique products that can’t be found on Amazon.com? What about customer satisfaction and commitment and one on one service. This is the difference between box and small local business- Quality.
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This is the challenge faced everyday by small businesses. How to compete with mass marketing and companies with millions to spend on advertising and marketing campaigns. This is the dilemma that small business faces every day. So how can we change the American way of spending? How do we get the message out to the consumer that local shopping can offer them so much more than generic? This is the campaign that the Mystic Chamber of Commerce- along with many many other Chambers are attempting to tackle.
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shop local mystic chamber of commerce Step 1
In the past I have had dealings with the staff at Mystic Chamber of Commerce. They were fantastic to work with and were deeply committed to helping and promoting the local businesses. I am also a small business owner and understand how important the local community is to building that business. So it didn’t take much for me to decide that this is where I would like to offer my services. I contacted Tricia Cunningham, the President of the Mystic Chamber, briefly told her about our class project and set up a meeting to brainstorm some ideas how I could help out. I met with her Thursday, January 18th at her office in a train depot in Mystic, Connecticut.
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Tricia is familiar with my letterpress business and so I offered these services as well to her along with my graphic design services. She talked to me about Mystic Stroll which is an event that takes place the Friday after Black Friday to promote local holiday shopping. She said this has been a successful event but that it was only once a year and her idea was to start a campaign to promote local shopping throughout the entire year. I thought this was a great idea, and she showed me some ideas she had for it with a few sketches for a logo. Her idea was to create a pledge card for patrons to pledge a certain amount of spending back into the community. I wasn’t exactly clear how this was going to work or what would be the initiative for people to do this. I feel that in order to kick off a campaign there needs to be a draw and a pledge card just seemed like it
shop local mystic chamber of commerce needed more incentive for people to bite. I told her I would go home and think about everything she wanted to do. And I would begin by researching every shop local campaign that I could find to see how other communities had done it and whether they were successful.
STRATEGY
I started by combing the web for shop local. I came up with a lot of communities that were involved in this. I started reading about how they did this and whether the campaign was successful. What caught my eye was a few communities that had actually created a currency system for local businesses that was backed by the local banks. A person could purchase the $20.00 share and spend it at participating businesses and the bank would redeem the share to the business when they deposited the money. This is also was a way to see how much spending went back into the community. This is a very interesting approach I will tell Tricia about, but am not certain it is something they will be interested in.
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Next I found a lot of sites that did the usual, make posters and bumper stickers. All of which are nice but don’t really do a whole lot. What this campaign needs is something special, something that will make the local customers shop local. The nice part about the Chamber is that they have 700 business members that they do weekly email blasts to, along with monthly meetings and after hour social get togethers which are great fun. They also a have a website and facebook and twitter site which are updated all the time. They also have a great report with several local newspapers and patch a web only news site for the region. So a campaign for local shopping would get a lot of advertising and air time between all of these functions.
shop local mystic chamber of commerce The problem is what would be the best course of action. I came across a fantastic campaign that involved web, app and printed cards. I thought what a good idea to tie all of the businesses together on one site that offered a map to each along with links to their sites and possibly a coupon that could be redeemed. The problem with all of that is that I am not a registered designer for apps. This is not something I can do, and a website would be enormous with 700 businesses and links and maps. It would be like a thousand pages. So how can I scale back this idea and somehow make it as effective? This is the problem that I must solve. I will continue to research ideas and then I will meet with Tricia again and we can brainstorm a bit more and see if we can come up with something that will really be successful within our boundaries and monetary resources. Tricia had wanted to see a card of some sorts. I could definitely design a card and print it on my letterpress. I will present her with all of the options and see how she would like to proceed.
TARGET AUDIENCE
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The targeted audience for a shop local campaign is those people with some extra spending money and that appreciates some of the finer shops which are pricier than box stores. So more than likely that person will be over 30-55, employed and have more discerning taste. The majority of shoppers tend to be women, but Mystic is a very touristy town with a lot of families. Mystic is a quaint town that offers an Aquarium, authentic and working Seaport theme park, a village of rustic shops and downtown lined with independent stores and Inns. There is a great deal of wealth in this town and many yachts are moored along the scenic Mystic River. In the summer, it is overrun with tourists.
shop local mystic chamber of commerce GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
Shop local is only supported in the greater Mystic area.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of this project is to help out the local businesses with a campaign that promotes local shopping. Hopefully, it will open people’s eyes as to the benefits of keeping money in the local community and give shop owners a chance to sell more unique and personal items that are not available at the box stores.
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shop local mystic chamber of commerce research
I began combing the internet looking for shopping local campaigns. There were many many of them. This is not a unique concept, it is a campaign that has been launched by chamber of commerce organizations all around the U.S. I began looking for ways in which these campaigns had separated themselves from other campaigns, and which ones seemed to be the most successful. First off what I found was why to shop local. How does it help the local community and the local shopper.
Top Ten reasons to Think Local Buy Local Be Local
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1. Buy Local — Support yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms — continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community. 2. Support community groups: Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses. 3. Keep our community unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun — all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit.
4. Reduce environmental impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution. 5. Create more good jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents. 6. Get better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers. 7. Invest in community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future. 8. Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
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9. Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices. 10. Encourage local prosperity: A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character. http://sustainableconnections.org/thinklocal/why
shop local campaigns This was perhaps the most comprehensive shop local campaign I found. It consists of a website, app, logo, coupons, community card, maps and links to all of the local businesses in Orlando Florida. This site works well and the app is a breeze to navigate. I would love to do something like this, unfortuantely it is way too big of a project and I do not have the certification to do this. And if Mystic wanted to buy into this premade app and managed website it would be too costly.
shop local campaigns Stonington - Mystic Patch is a local newsletter featuring local businesses. It is not affiliated with the Mystic Chamber of Commerce but has a campaign of its own going that covers all of the things I wanted to do with the web. So there is no point to duplicate services. I will rethink Tricias idea about a pledge card. I will see what other places have attempted the pledge card to see how successful it was.
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shop local campaigns Pledge Cards When Tricia at Mystic Chamber, had originally suggested a pledge card, I wasn’t sure what would draw shoppers to become involved with this campaign. Generally, there needs to be something, coupons or a drawing that makes shoppers want to particiapate in a pledge campaign. Most were just lame and seemed pointless. I found this site that was a bit more enticing. http://www.independentwestand. org/take-a-stand/join-the-movement/
shop local campaigns Pledge Cards Another pledge to shop local campaign. http://officialblog.yelp.com/2011/11/yelp-is-challenging-you-to-shoplocal.html Metroland February 12, 2009 These Dollars Stayed Home Winners announced in Buy Local Holiday Pledge campaign Metroland is pleased to announce the prize-winners from the Buy Local Holiday Pledge campaign that the newspaper launched, in conjunction with Capital District Local First, during the recent holiday shopping season. The campaign encouraged Metroland readers, as well as shoppers who saw the Buy Local Pledge cards in area stores, to spend at least $100 of their holiday budgets on local, independent businesses. Those who filled out pledge cards detailing their purchases became eligible for a drawing for gift certificates provided by a number of local businesses. We are pleased to report that the response overall was very enthusiastic, and that we received many dozens of pledge cards in our office. http://www.capitaldistrictlocalfirst.org/in_the_press.htm
shop local campaign Logos
LOGO SKETCHES The first thing I need to develop for this campaign is a logo. So I started sketching every idea I could come up with to show Tricia. She had mentioned the community circle, so I started with that but thought it was too much especially if made really small for cards. Then I thought abut shopping bags- but that limits shopping to stores not services as well. Then I thought about brick and mortar like the buildings.
Sketches I sketched a number of street scenes, but decided they were too complex for a logo. The street sign has more potential, its just that I have seen this used a number of times and would loke my logo to be more unique.
meeting with tricia mystic chamber of commerce brainstorming and narrowing the focus
I met with Tricia on Thursday at the Mystic Chamber. It was a very productive meeting. She had just come from an executive board meeting and had told the members about this project and asked for any ideas. So when I met with her the ideas started to take form. We talked about what the goals of the project were. Who would be the target, and how she did not want the businesses to have to put out money or be expected to do more than they already have to do. She wanted this project to benefit the businesses and offer them a service where it would be profitable for them.
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What we decided upon was that the website would give the businesses an opportunity to announce upcoming events or discounts. It would be another way to advertise only all in one spot- similar to what www.livingsocial. com does. Except that it goes a step further in that if offers links to each business along with a map to their location. We had to check with a local online paper The Patch to see if they offered this because we did not want to duplicate services. It turned they did not, so we decided this was a good direction to take. We then discussed the logistics of either creating a new website and facebook page or incorporating it into the existing Mystic Chambers site. We quickly realized that the chambers site already had a data base set up with all of the businesses so it would be crazy to start that process over. The one draw back would be that the shop local campaign would now be a tab on the main menu and that the program she was using was very limiting as far as visuals. It is a template and I do not have access to it so what I develop in the way of sketches she must be able to program in. Unfortunately she does not have a background in web so it would need to be pretty basic.
meeting with tricia developing the logo and pledge card
Once we decided on a direction about what we wanted the campaign to accomplish and the website issues, we got down to the logo. and pledge card. First off we had to decide what was the card going to accomplish if we had a website. Why would anyone want the card if it wasn’t going to do something for them other than a pledge. Tricia thought it would be a great way to promote the website if the QR code was printed on it so that a person with a smart phone could scan the card check out the deals of the month . It would also be a way to kick off the campaign, which would be at a after hours meeting with some newspaper coverage. The logo I would develop would be on the cards as well as the website and possibly posters. We decided I would print at least 1000 cards on my press to start with. She would help pay for materials and even volunteered her time to help me.
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I had sketched some ideas for a logo that I posted on pages 65-66 and I showed them to her. I explained that I wasn’t happy with any of them and we should talk about ideas that would lead to a great visual. Of all the sketches she liked the idea of the circle with the neighborhood of shops. But agreed that it was too busy. What she liked about the shops was that it was brick and mortar and that the whole point of the campaign was to get people to visit the local business in their shops and businesses. Then we talked about street signs and how the Chambers logo was incorporated into the local street signs and that might be a possibility for a logo.
meeting with tricia summing up the meeting
Once I had a good idea about the direction she wanted to take with the logo development I asked her about the slogan accompanying the logo. I asked her if she wanted it to say “I pledge to shop local,� which I thought was not very original. She started brainstorming some slogans and came up with the word proud and both of us quickly decided that was a really good word. I asked if her wanted it to be just shop local and suggested shop, eat, live local. She really liked it so we finalized the slogan as Proud to Shop ,Eat, Live Local. I think its a winning slogan. We ended our meeting with the me going back to the design table and resketching some ideas now that I have a better understanding of the direction, target and goals of the campaign. What was great about this meeting is that I walked away with a real sense of direction. We both came to the meeting with a lot of experience in how to organize and move a meeting along, so together we accomplished a lot of our goals. We began with the big picture and the goals of the campaign, decided upon a direction with the website, logo and slogan. That is a lot to accomplish in an hour.
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In the end, research is great and gives you ideas, but the best way to tackle a problem is to sit down face to face and brainstorm and hash it out. Trying to accomplish everything remote ends up with gaps and miscommunications. Needless to say I was very happy with the end result of our meeting, now I will get busy with developing a great logo.
new sketches
I decided to work with the two ideas Tricia liked best, the circle with the shops and the street signs. I will develop both fully and let her decide which on she likes best. What I did to make the circle logo less busy so that it can be reduced to business card size was to make it only half and I think this is a good direction. I like the loose playful style of the buildings and the sense of community. Once I get some color into it I think it will be really fun. The street sign I think is less effective but I will develop it in illustrator and give her this option as well.
logo options STONINGTON
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Proud to Shop, Eat, Buy Local initiative connects consumers with our local businesses to promote a thriving economy. By taking the pledge you have personally joined efforts with the greater Mystic businesses, community groups and citizens working together to shape a stronger local economy.
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Sign up and recieve alerts and geolocations of over 600 participating local businesses and take advantage of special offers and discounts.
www.mysticchamberofcommerce.org
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This is the front and back of the Shop Local pledge card. I will be the size of a business card so that it can be carried around. I have several font options on these 2 color options. MYSTIC
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logo options MYSTIC MYSTIC
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Sign up and recieve alerts and geolocations of over 600 participating local businesses and take advantage of special offers and discounts.
www.mysticchamberofcommerce.org
MYSTIC STONINGTON GROTON MYSTIC STONINGTON GROTON
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These logo options are for color choices. I would prefer to do only a two color because of the letterpress, that is one less run and set up as well as the expense of one less plate.
feedback from tricia I sent Tricia the logo options. This is the email conversation and her reaction to the logos and suggestions. From: dyan@kismetletterpress.com [mailto:dyan@kismetletterpress. com] Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 12:15 PM To: Tricia Cunningham Subject: logo options Hi Tricia, I have some logo options for you with a number of color choices. I am attaching my process book from school so keep scrolling through till you get to the end for the options. I took the circle idea and cut in half. I think it is fun. I am having some trouble figuring out where to place the Mystic Chamber logo. The back of the card is also included and I threw in some placement only text. Please rewrite it to what you would like to see there. Let me know what you think so I can start the platemaking process. Thanks Dyan Dyan Gulovsen Owner / Graphic Designer Kismet Letterpress
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feedback from tricia Subject: RE: logo options From: “Tricia Cunningham” <tricia@mysticchamber.org> Date:Thu, Feb 16, 2012 3:18 pm To:<dyan@kismetletterpress.com> Love this concept!!! I have some thoughts, perhaps if we can’t work in the compass; maybe just along the very bottom the words Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce could be included. I will read through your report in the next couple days. But quick thoughts are I like the shop . eat . live On the back of the card I like the first part of the text. The last two lines I think we should leave off for now. And our website is www.mysticchamber.org Once close to final, can you send over just the image? I would like to send to my executive board for review?
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Thanks so much, this is truly exciting! -Tricia
logo revisions I chose the blue and brown option after the class gave their opinion. I put the town names on the bottom which opened the top up.
PRPRO O
The Mystic Chamber logo is cut off- but this is because I am waiting for a vector image to be sent to me. I am planning to send this final option to Tricia this week. Then I can begin the process of breaking down the logo into color separations for the platemaking.
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On the back I removed the two lines Tricia asked and place the Mystic Logo on the bottom along with my companies name and contribution.
GREATER MYSTIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MYSTIC STONINGTON GROTON
Proud to Shop, Eat, Buy Local connects consumers with our local businesses. By taking the pledge you have personally joined efforts with the greater Mystic community working together to to build a thriving local economy. Take the pledge today at
www. mysticchamber.org
printing donated by Kismet Letterpress
project 2 STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY I had not planned on taking on any more volunteer work other than the Mystic Chamber of Commerce, but due to circumstances I found myself raising my hand and volunteering my letterpress services to this great group of artists. I happened to go to a meeting at the Velvet Mill in Stonington Borough which was being held in the studio of Annie Wildey on Wednesday, February 15th. Much of the reason I went was to check out the Velvet Mills, which is an artists colony of art studios and gallery space, and also Annie was going to be doing a printmakin demonstration after the meeting. All I can say is I am so happy I decided to venture out that night - what a discovery, making new friends and just becoming part of this group of artists was worth it.
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The meeting was being held to go over the details of the upcoming SPS show at the Cate Charles Gallery in Stonington Borough. There would be 28 artists showing and all of the details from who was bring what to the opening reception to who would hang the pieces was discussed. Finally, near the end of the meeting the exhibition cards were discussed. The suggestion was to just do an e-card since the fees for participating in the show were so high. But the consensus was that you have to have mailers and cards to put in many of the local shops and as invitations. They said it would cost 100.00 for printing to be done and that would come to too much extra for each person. So after a while I said, I could probably throw in on my press for about half that price, but with the understanding that letterpress does not print screens of photographs only line art. They were thrilled and took my up on my offer. Basically, all I was asking for was materials costs. Which I hope 50.00 will cover, but if not I will pitch in the rest - besides its great advertising for my letterpress business.
project 2 STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY So within a quick five minutes discussion I quickly gathered all of the information I needed, from size of the postcard to the names of the artists showing, the dates, the location and SPS logo and deadline date. Then I quickly asked what was the theme or name of the show. They hadn’t thought of this, and brainstormed ideas. One lady, Roz said how about “Printemp” which means springtime in french and is wonderful play on the English word print. That was quickly approved and basically I had all of my information to get started. And the best part is that they told me just come up with what ever you like - be free and we love your work so just go for it. What an opportunity to not have to work with tight boundaries and many times impossible ideas. So I decided I was going to have fun with this project and allow myself to create a work of art not just design. That alone was worth it. But I had to remember that the card had to be a reflection of the group and the upcoming show, not my own personal art. So in that respect it is very much graphic design.
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The meeting concluded with Annie’s unbelievable demonstration. I did not know this womans work until that night but it was quickly evident that she was the real deal. Her work is phenomenal, and is galleried all over the country. web.me.com/anniewildey/anniewildey/Home.html. Oh and the demo she gave was on her black and white urbanscapes that I thought were photographs but were actually prints mad by painting on plexy with a roller and brush.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY Developing the postcard
I have a very short time frame in which to complete this postcard due to the date of the show and I will need to get plates made, which always takes time. I really need to have this done by the 21st of February. So I will need very quick feedback. And as I said I just started designing off the top off my head. I went with the concept of what printmaking is, it is making prints from ink that is rolled over the etching, intaglio, woodcut, linocut of plate. So to keep it generic I designed around the idea of ink and springtime colors. What I am hoping to achieve is where the colors overlap it will create a green and purple. The fonts I used were very uneven and have a handcrafted feel. This example needs to be resized it is too long and narrow.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY Developing the postcard
In this version I have used the lines created when combing ink around a plate with a tool to create medusa like hair. I originally just was using the designs alone but thought it was cool when attached to a face and it became hair. The I used a combination of script and broken serif fonts along with bright greens and pinks for a fun look.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY Developing the postcard
I changed out the script font on this option. I am not sure which version I prefer.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY Option 1
In this version I have used the lines created when combing ink around a plate with a tool to create medusa like hair. I originally just was using the designs alone but thought it was cool when attached to a face and it became hair. The I used a combination of script and broken serif fonts along with bright greens and pinks for a fun look.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY Option 2
This a new concept with the mark of a brayer and the combing patterns underneath printed blind (no color).
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY option 3
Printemp means springtime in french so I made some fun flowers that overlap to create secondary colors.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY Developing the postcard
I changed the flowers but now I think they are too representational and less about printmaking.
STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY option 4
This option is all hand drawn lettering with the exception of the artists names.
Carrie Beckwith Mara Beckwith Holly Beeckman Kyisha Bishop Bethany Bonner Mathew Cassar Rosamund Christison Denette Dasinger Rita Dawley Sadie DeVore Janice DiBattista Carol Dunn Alida Ferrari Laura Gaffke
Daniel Gillen Dyan Gulovsen Kelley Hickey Alison Ives Kathy Johnson Sarah Martin Joyita Neerkaje Kathleen Page Jean Ridall Diana Sartor Jon Smedley Eleanor Tamsky John Tedeschi Annie Wildey
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STONINGTON PRINTMAKERS SOCIETY option 5
This a my last option for the postcard. I added a spring like background that will be all embossed with all brown lettering.
stonington printmakers society postcard final This is the option that was chosen by the SPS members. I realize this is not the class favorite or even mine. But I included it in the options because I knew that it was the safest choice. It is about printmaking with the brayer mark and combing marks. I am concerned about printing text over a design. I am also disappointed that both places picked brown and blue. I feel like I am repeating myself even though the blues are different. Because there is a 50.00 budget on this card I had to remove the curved lines as they would have to be separate plates and too costly.
shop Local final
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GREATER MYSTIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MYSTIC STONINGTON GROTON
Overall I am happy with the outcome of the logo. I like the color choices and even though I realize its a complicated logo I like the feel. And it is exactly what Tricia had in mind and she is very happy with it and has told me so via phone conversations. I am planning to print the backside in brown as I have discovered that a dark color will capture the QR code. I was also able to put printed by Kismet letterpress on the back. Tricia was very supportive of this and said it shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say donated because it should reflect that I am open for business. The moment of truth will be when I finish printing the cards on my press. If I have designed it well it will print beautifully and the colors will make it pop.
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This is the final logo for the Mystic Chambers Shop Local Campaign. I have sent Tricia the final jpegs and she is going to be putting it on facebook, the Chambers web site and possibly on window clings. The campaign is just getting started and unfortunately it is the end of class so the class will not get to see the campaign kickoff or how it gets utilized on the web and print with the exception of my letterpress cards. But I plan to continue working with the Chamber on this project. Unfortunately, I did not have access to their web site so that part of the project was not fulfilled. Tricia is planning on doing that part.
Proud to Shop, Eat, Live Local connects consumers with our local businesses. By taking the pledge you have personally joined efforts with the greater Mystic community working together to to build a thriving local economy. GREATER
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
To connect with local businesses go to www.mysticchamber.org printing provided by Kismet Letterpress
PLATEMAKING PROCESS
Blue Separations
HOP . E AT . D U SHOP . EA TO T. D U GREATER MYSTIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
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All files need to be converted to 100% black and white. They must be vector files. The hardest part is color separations and trappings. It seems like an easy process until you find that certain images have to be duplicated on different colors and every place that a color touches another color it must overlap by .12px. I realized on the shop local logo that I had to change some colors in order for the overlapping to work. I had to make sure the dark brown overlapped the blue because blue will not cover brown. When I initially designed the logo I purposefully left white space around colors so that I did not have to create a hundred trapping areas. It also gives me a little wiggle room as it is nearly impossible to hand feed cards and have the registration be perfect every time. After that all text must be converted to outlines and then the .eps file and .pdf file are uploaded to Boxcar Press.
Brown Separations
PR
Both Mystic Chamber of Commerce and the Stonington Printmakers Society have made their final revisions and it is time to begin the process of platemaking. Platemaking can be very tricky and one missed step and the plate comes back and its not right and then it has to be sent back out. A mistake means a lot of down time and money wasted.
GREATER MYSTIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
PLATEMAKING PROCESS This the separations for the Stonington Printmakers Society. I had to remove the curved lines as they overlap the blue brayer mark and would require a separate plate and given that I only have a $50.00 budget I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford this extra plate. With this plate I have not placed the blue and brown on separate plates. The reason for this is the plates are made from polymer and can be cut. If the colors are not close to one another and can be cut it is better to make one plate. This also makes registering the second color a breeze. The second plate is like putting together a puzzle. When the time comes I will photograph this so that it makes more sense. The reason I have two plates, one is for the blue and brown the other for the blind impression. I have to admit I am a bit worried about printing words over a design. We shall see how it all works out on the press. There are a lot of unknowns.
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PLATEMAKING PROCESS This is what the photopolymer plates look like when they are made. They are all together on one sheet that you have to cut apart. There are no registration marks for 2 reasons. First they will print on the paper and that means the paper has to be oversized and trimmed after printing. A waste of money, time and paper. It is fairly easy to line up the plates- a few adjustments and they are ready to print. I will photograph the tricks or lining up the plates for registration as I begin to print.
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CALCULATING PAPER AMOUNTS At this point I have to calculate how much paper to buy. For this print job I will use parent sheets of Crane Lettra 110lb florescent white. The sheets are 20x26 so I must calculate the best way to cut the paper with the least amount of waste. Then I cut them on my paper cutter and hope every piece cuts square and exactly the same. It it very difficult to cut 100% cotton papers, the stack tends to slide an the second edge tends to rag. Cutting paper can take hours. I can get 70 2x3.5 cards on a sheet. But with the 8.5x5.5 cards I can only fit 9 with room for 12 2x3.5 cards. I need to print 295 postcards that would mean I would need 33 sheets and that would also give me 396 shop local cards. I need 1020 shop local cards minus the 396 and that comes to 9 sheets. 9 sheets plus 33 sheets comes to a total of 42 sheets. Finally, I must order all of the supplies and pick them up in Hartford, CT.
pantone colors - hand mixing inks These are the pantone colors for both cards. I must mix all of the colors by hand according to the spot pantone chart. It is not as accurate as a machine but the percentages help and it must be visually eyeballed. Brown is the most difficult of all colors to mix and match because it requires so many colors.
Shop Local Color Swatches
469 U Warm Red 30.0 Reflex Blue 5.0 Yellow 45.0 Black 20.0
285 U Pro Blue 3.1 Reflex Blue 37.5 White 50.0
SPS Color Swatches
469 U Warm Red 30.0 Reflex Blue 5.0 Yellow 45.0 Black 20.0
327 U Pro Blue Yellow
87.5 12.5
setting up the press
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I have a 1905 Chandler and Price letterpress. In order to have the registration of the colors line up the press has to be set up. This is a lengthy process and must be perfect. 1. Place Tympan paper (tough oil paper) on the platen 2. Place red press board under the tympan paper 3. Lock it in with the bales 4. Place chase with base in press 5. Transfer paper from base to tympan paper to register base edge 6. Glue guides .125 inches from the paper edge on the bottom and left side only 7. Place plate on bottom left corner of base 8. Snap rollers onto arms 9. Ink plate 10. Ink rollers 11. Place chase in press 12. place paper in guides 13. Engage press and print 14. Make a hundred adjustments to the packing, rails, roller height and position of plate. 15. Print cards IF ONLY IT WAS THIS EASY!
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the printing process
placing the plate on the base
placing the paper in the guides
the back
printing the blue plate for SPS card
registering blue and brown plate
remove blue plate- perfect registration
the brown plate printed
registering the blue plate on the brown
http://youtu.be/X4EgxspHJuU
letterpress shop local cards 1000 Shop Local Cards printed in two colors. I plan to round the corners when my blade comes in. But over all I am really happy with the way they printed. The colors are spot on ( the digital swatch is so much lighter than the pantone swatch) and everything registered perfectly. There is a ton of detail in this logo but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem at all too much, its an eye catching card. I printed the front with a deep impression called a bite. On the back I kiss printed so the image wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t appear on the front. Now I need to deliver them!
letterpress stonington printmakers society postcards
280 SPS postcards printed in two colors and a blind impression. I was initially worried that the blind impression would not print well over the letters. But I am so happy with how it looks! The colors pop on this card. I also plan to round the corners. I had so many problems with my press. One of my rollers cracked and wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t print well. I spent over 40 hours this weekend readjusting everything from leveling the platen to the roller height. I am so tired - time for a glass of wine!