Lasting Impressions

Lasting Impressions DESIGN PROJECT | LETTERPRESS PRINTING | FOUR WEEKS | MARCH-APRIL 2012 STUDENT Deeksha Kumar PGDPD Graphic Design’10 Semester 4 | S1001105 National Institute of Design GUIDE Tarun Deep Girdher

Me, checking prints for errors

TOOLS The Machine- FAG Typefaces Typecases Spacing Material Composing Stick Printing Inks Furniture Leads The Stone Linoleum Sheet Linoleum Tools-6 Wooden Mount Variety of Paper Metal Rack

The letterpress machine I worked on- FAG Control 405

I

was introduced to letterpress printing in a course at NID on Print Production, where it caught my curiousity and subsequently I ended up choosing it for the four weeks long Design Project.

It all began by reading about letterpress, how it was invented by Gutenberg and how it evolved over time to become one of the most exclusive forms of printing. It came to my knowledge that it was going through its revival during the 21st century and I took it upon me to explore further.

The thought then was to try and add to it something fresh, but by using basic hand driven techniques and tools and rejecting the digital media completely. I believed that this project would help me learn and understand

the basics of printing and provide aid in contribution towards it in the long run.

After an introduction to the machine and the various tools, Sirish bhai taught me the process of letterpress printing beginning with a few chosen lines of type. Thereafter, I chose to create artworks for cards and posters using type and illustration. I used linoleum sheets for creating different forms and illustrations, as linoleum served the main idea of the handmade.

Ultimately, I came up with six different artworks. A culmination of both– hand set type and hand cut linoleum, was the final artwork for this project, while going through mutiple experiments with the tools and facilities I had access to.

Lasting Impressions • Introduction

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H

aving listed down the basic tools, here is where I got down to carrying out the process practically.

The first task was to get used to setting/composing a line of type. This was done with the help of a composing stick and setting the width of the line of type using the adjustable knee.

Then a piece of leading was placed in the stick before composing to help with removal of the body of type later. I took out type from a wooden type case or drawer, which contained all the characters of a particular typeface and type size, bembo 36 pt in this case.

Every character, big and small, had its own set place in the drawer (and a map is often used to help find them, for smaller type sizes). So each character needed was taken out of the space in the

drawer and placed in the stick reading upside down, and left to right (so it is right reading when printed onto a page).

Every single word was set by hand: every letter of every word, and even the spaces in between. These spaces were lower than type height. When setting, it was important to make sure everything was square, level, tight and well adjusted so that all the lines were of the same length (inserting extra spacing as needed) to help later on. I also took care not to move the body of type once set, or let it fall out of the stick as I would have to start all over again!

This composition was further shifted on to the machine where it was set in the galley using metal furniture and locked in its place with very strong

magnets. I applied a layer of ink to the rollers which were then rolled over the machine, forward and back to ink the type (impression off) with a flat and even layer of ink. Then, depending on where the print was to be taken on the paper, the gauge pins were shifted.

The pressure of the rollers was decided in relation to the thickness of the paper.

Thicker the paper, lesser the pressure and vice versa.

The paper was then ready to be placed against the gripper and the gauge.

The machine was rolled over (impression on) and the ink on the type got pressed against the paper which I then carefully released from the gripper after rolling over the machine. The fresh prints were dried on a metal rack for almost 2 hours. The rollers were later cleaned

process Duration: 2 days Colour: Royal blue

Three lines of type composed to learn the process

Shirish bhai teching me how to arrange lines of type collectively

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Typecases or drawers of multiple typefaces stacked together

Deeksha Kumar • PGDPD Graphic Design 2010-13 • Design Project

using kerosene oil and the types was distributed back into their respective drawers.

I created six artworks for this project which begin from the following page.

Every part of the process requires to be carried out with a certain technique.

It is a mentally as well as physically challenging process and one must be ready for that.

The blocks of type need to be taken out carefully from the case with a pinch and also distributed back properly.

Composing the type well is the main task and takes up most of the time.

Check for any dust or particles on the type or rollers or in the ink.

one Duration: 3 days Colour: Magenta

‘Life isn’t worth waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain’ - Anonymous The final composition packed tightly into a square, in place using furniture, ready to be inked

Composing a line of type from Univers typecase

Prints bring out flaws like those of damaged blocks, wrong orientation/ placement of type and spacing, which might have gone unnoticed while composing.

Thicker the paper, lesser the pressure and vice versa.

A very high pressure spoils the paper as well as the impression cylinder.

Inking the type once can give around 10 prints in one go.

Dip a cotton wad in the golden dust and tap it lightly on the fresh print for best results.

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Sparkling golden type on a folded sheet of paper

he first step here was to choose a particular typeface to compose it in. I was restricted to only four, that too in particular point sizes– Univers bold 12 pt, bembo 36 pt, plantin 60 pt and grotesque 90 pt.

Working with a single type with no variations in a single colour would give me lesser opportunity to experiment, so I chose to use all four typefaces collectively.

This would help me to create hierarchy as well as understand the properties of typefaces better. It required application to decide which typeface to use for which words and the judgment of spacing throughout the

Sheets put out to dry after printing

composition. Once these decisions were made, I tried various settings and justifications till I arrived at a suitable one. It ultimately ran into six lines of type with varying number of words and lengths.

I laid it out line by line on the composing stick, picking up type from different cases, simultaneously adjusting the spacing to achieve a centrally aligned composition.

Unlike the previous print, the spacing was quite complex here. But soon, the rollers were inked magenta and a test print was spun out.

It revealed flaws in spacing and in the damaged blocks of type. I fixed the flaws by

adjusting the leading and replacing the blocks. Some more test prints were then taken and examined for any other errors.

After the second round of mending imperfections and errors, final prints were squeezed out of the machine following exactly the same procedure as before. Prints were taken on sheets of diverse kinds, textures and colours placed in different orientations and folds.

Another experiment done here was the dusting of gold powder over some of these fresh prints. The powder fixed itself on the wet sticky areas changing it into sparkling golden type.

Lasting Impressions • Artwork One

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he new idea was to create patterns using type. I tried this out around the composition I had created earlier, also keeping the size in consideration. I chose bembo as the apt typeface mainly due to its point size (36) and set the length of the border at 6 inches, leaving enough space on all four sides, and transforming into a square format.

Based on the quote, dots seemed perfect to depict ‘rain’. I arranged full stops in 2 lines running parallel to each other, both in different orientations. Then, placed ‘V’s on both extremes to end the line and form corners later. The alignment of

double blocks of full stops against the single blocks of V took some effort but gradually fell into place.

This single line was arranged on the machine.

The idea was to rotate the paper four times, to print the same on all four sides, consequently forming a uniform overlapping border all around.

For this purpose, I had cut the prints with the quote into square pieces of an equal size. Since, all of them had been taken in varying orientations, most of them weren’t suitable in the size of the square required and the border could not be printed as the placement of type did

not match. This led me to the reaization that I should have planned the artwork much in advance, having kept the border in mind and taken the prints with just the type before accordingly.

This would have given me a larger number of prints and that too accurate ones. I was left with 7-8 final prints only due to lack of experience.

A bright orange ink, that would frame the magenta, was prepared by mixing light orange and deep red.

I also printed on blank sheets using turquoise ink, predicting use later on.

I dusted golden powder on one of the borders which stuck onto the wet ink.

The measurements have to be exact for the border on all sides to be precise.

The overlapping is a choice. The same border could have been printed further away.

The complete composition, type and border, should be planned in advance. Ideally, print the border first. The text can be placed accordingly once the prints are dry.

Always print extra and preferrably two of each kind to compare later.

Do not be restricted by colours of inks. Mix and match to achieve the desired colour.

two Duration: 1 day Colour: Deep orange, turquoise green

Making orange by mixing two inks

The full stops composed with V’s to form a line for the border

The tins of deep red and turquoise blue ink

The border printed in turquoise around the quote

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Deeksha Kumar • PGDPD Graphic Design 2010-13 • Design Project

Sheets put out to dry on the metal rack

three Duration: 2 days Colour: Cyan Typecases of Bembo and Univers bold laid out for creating the composition

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t was decided that I do one more border, this time a combination of two typefaces. I went in for bembo and universe bold.

It seemed like ages before I came up with this particular pattern as I had no theme in mind before execution.

It was ultimately a subtle corner with a mixture of letters and brackets. Since the design was pointing in two different directions, I had major issues in the decision of orientations of the letters. Consequently, I got rid of the cornermost type as it was a limitation and I had to abide by it.

The composition was later packed into a tight square by inserting spaces for the purpose of printing.

So far, this was the most challenging setting, as both the typefaces had diverse block sizes and required considerable time and effort to be packed into a perfectly aligned square.

I inserted the paper into the machine in various sizes and formats, sometimes even folded like a greeting card, each time rotating it four times. This generated a pretty border on all the edges of each sheet, this time not overlapping.

Small pieces of paper or thin pieces of lead are very necessary for spacing in such compositions. Loose type gives a blurred print.

Once the border is set, it can be printed on almost any size of paper by rotating it four times.

One has work within the limitations of the process of letterpress printing and accept them.

Type placed on the composing stick

It is okay to combine typefaces as long as they are distributed back properly into their cases.

Four impressions on a yellow sheet

four Duration: 2 days Colour: Light orange The sheet fixed in place, ready for print

No impression on the other side of the paper as the linoleum material is soft.

Inking is required before every print.

The drawn/carved out part is what gets omitted in the print.

The print is a mirror image of the artwork and thus, it should be drawn flipped originally.

The flipped print showing off texture of the linoleum

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sing linoleum sheets to print using the technique of letterpress was the following experiment.

The first thing was understanding the negative and positive space– the surface that would print and that which would get omitted.

The relief method being the basis of letterpress printing meant that the raised patterns of linoleum which were coated with ink got printed while the engraved

valleys between the patterns remained uninked. This was completely opposite to the concept of a pen and paper where the drawn part is actually the inked part.

I drew directly on the sheet itself and practiced engraving using the array of tools, which required a lot of patience and concentration.

A single slip of the tool could mean cutting through the lino accidentally and everything would have to

be reworked upon. Skill was most imperative.

A few prints of the first trial sheet on which I had carved out random things were spun to judge the spaces and cut further.

I learnt how to mount the linoleum sheet onto a wooden board, with a few layers of paper stuck with fevicol to match the type height. This was set on the machine using furniture, exactly like type.

Lasting Impressions • Artwork Three and Four

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five Duration: 4 days Colour: Magenta, Cyan

Linoleum sheet mounted and inked magenta, ready for first round of prints

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he artwork comprised of an owl sitting on a branch in the foreground, against the pretty night sky.

I planned it as a two colour print this time. This meant cutting through the linoleum sheet twice for the two colours separately. I planned the artwork based on the size of the linoleum sheet. The drawing was first sketched out roughly, then transferred on to tracing paper and finally the flip side was traced onto the linoleum (as the artwork got reversed while printing).

Consider paper size to go onto the machine in advance.

Once cut, a piece cannot be revived, thus, a two colour print should be planned till the last dot.

The cutting was quite detailed and minute and required precision. I created several textures using the linoleum tools. Experiments using board pins for small dots (owl’s head) and a pencil point for bigger ones (stars in the background) were also carried out.

The linoleum sheet was mounted in a similar fashion and set on the machine.

Through the help of gauge pins and measurements, the print was planned in the centre of an A3.

The first few prints brought out the undesired texture and flaws in the surface of the linoleum.

But I realised that after every squeeze the sheet got pressed down a little bit and after a few prints, the flaws

Sheet cut again and inked cyan

vanished. On the flip side, the engraved valleys also kept getting filled up, so did the textures. I had to keep recutting the sheet throughout the process of printing to keep the texture intact, that too very precisely to avoid showing of the overcutting.

It was even more difficult to cut an inked linoleum as the tool kept slipping over the fresh ink. I managed around 30 prints as the sheet kept deteriorating. I printed on paper of different colours to have variations after both inks were printed. I had failed to keep the paper size in mind, so I printed on A3 sheets followed by cropped prints on A4 sheets in both the orientations.

For the second round of printing, this time in cyan

coloured ink, I cut through the linoleum again, carefully taking out sections wanted to remain magenta.

With measurements and exactly the same placement on the machine, the prints were rolled out for a second time. Still, the registration wasn’t exact as the cutting and pressing of the linoleum sheet had displaced it in many places. I managed only a couple of exact prints by shifting the paper a few mm here and there.

The outcome turned out to be beautiful with the light bird against the dark background with varied intensities. Textures added richness and detail to the composition. The coloured paper made it look like a 3-colour print.

Overcutting has to be extremely neat and should not show.

Deeper and thicker cuts last longer.

Pressure must be apt, as more results in a squeezed lino sheet.

Close up of the two colour print showing the details

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Deeksha Kumar • PGDPD Graphic Design 2010-13 • Design Project

The linoleum sheet after second round of printing

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y final endeavour was a combination of illustration and type.

Since I was already working with quotes, I selected yet another one for this artwork: ‘In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on’.

I made several drawings to incorporate the quote in an appropriate manner. There were many considerations like paper size, type size and the linoleum sheet’s size that were to be made. After a lot of variations, I decided on the one which showed a moving car as a metaphor and the smoke behind in an abstract form with spirals. It was created in a manner so as to incorporate a chunk of text set at 36 pts in between the expanse of smoke.

It was drawn, traced, flipped, transferred to the linoleum and was ready to be cut. I spent a considerable amount of time engraving perfect spirals, big and small, and cutting away the huge empty space carefully bit by bit.

The sheet was mounted onto the machine, green ink applied onto the rollers, and a test print was rolled out.

It had more than required texture, which was fixed this time by putting patches of paper under the mount in sections which needed to be raised. I tried filling in the gaps in the linoleum with wax but it did not work out. After layering of these patches and a few test prints, the texture almost completely disappeared.

The spirals were very laborious to cut and re-cut but were totally worth the effort. The large empty space in between would pick up ink in small parts time and again and needed to be dug too.

Once the printing was done, I placed the metal type on one of the prints and set it there itself to get exact measurements and placement. I transferred this to the composing stick wordby-word and then finally everything together onto the machine. There, according to the measurements on paper, leading was added and furniture was placed. It took a lot of trial prints to get the setting right in the middle of the smoke and after a lot of additions and

subtractions of elements, it was made possible.

The black type was soon pressing against the sheets of paper on which the illustration had been printed earlier looking similar yet different on each.

Examine every print for the tiniest detail and recut the linoleum for the next print.

Both type and illustration have to be planned simultaneously.

Patience is extremely necessary to survive this lengthy process.

Choose an absolutely smooth sheet of linoleum as very little can be done to fix it later on.

six Duration: 3 days Colour: Green, black

Type placed on the print to take measurements

Checking for filled up valleys to recut

Linoleum engraved and mounted

Prints taken on multiple coloured sheets

Lasting Impressions • Artwork Six

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Some of the final prints displaying variety in colours, papers, sizes, folds and styles.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of the many people who have been enormously helpful in the duration of this project, I am especially thankful to my project guide–Tarun Deep Girdher and Shirish bhai from the Printing Labs at NID, for their help and support in guiding me through to its successful completion.

I would also like to express my gratitude towards my classmates, Akash Raj Halankar, Lalith Vara Prasad, Mrinalini Sardar, Poshika Singh, and Siddhartha Dasari for their time and valuable feedback whenever it was required.

A very special recognition needs to be given to Sachin bhai, Patel bhai, Sirish bhai, Bharat bhai and Hardik bhai, from Printing Labs for their extensive help and support and inputs throughout the project.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to National Institute of Design for the use of its resources, without which the project and the compilation of this document would have been extremely complicated.

In addition, a special thanks to my family and all my friends for their unconditional love and motivation in every way possible.

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REFLECTIONS It was an extremely interactive process which kept me involved at every step and demanded a lot of dedication. Although, there were times when I got stuck, and struggled to overcome them, I realised that working within limitations made the project all the more challenging.

The experiments with the linoleum sheet brought out the true quality of letterpress printing: originality and of handicraft.

Spending several hours in the printing lab, in the unrelenting summer heat, gave me a taste of ink, oil and sweat together. Setting and scraping everything by hand in this modern world of technology was an experience of a lifetime.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Jury, D. (2011) Letterpress: the allure of the handmade.

United Kingdom: Rotovision Briar Press. Retrieved January, 2012, from http:// www.briarpress.org/ Fast Co Design. Retrieved January, 2012, from http://www.fastcodesign.com/1668937/this-shortfilm-about-letterpress-will-make-you-yearn-for-anink-roller Rose, D. (October 2005). Introduction to Letterpress Printing. Retrieved February, 2012, from http:// www.fiveroses.org/intro.html Graphic Exchange. Retrieved March, 2012, from http://www.graphic-exchange.com/home.html

Deeksha Kumar • PGDPD Graphic Design 2010-13 • Design Project

Patience and concentration are extremely necessary to survive this lengthy process.

Every part of the process requires to be carried out with a certain technique.

Always print extra and preferrably two of each kind to compare later.

Consider paper size as the first thing while planning out printing.

The print is a mirror image of the artwork and thus, it should be drawn flipped originally.

Examine every print for the tiniest detail and recut the linoleum for the next print.

Once the linoleum is cut, no piece can be revived, thus, a two colour print should be planned till the last dot.