Letterpress Poetry Broadside by Lampyridae Press

March 01, 2011 // kristen // 0 replies

Anna Fewster of Lampyridae Press recently released the first in a series of letterpress poetry broadsides that she’ll be creating throughout the year, and I’m really digging the mix of contemporary poetry and modern, geometric form found in the first broadside in the series, “Everything is Glass” by Kurt Weisman. The poem is completely handset in metal type, and the decorative triangle pattern is printed in silver ink from a linoleum cut block and hand finished with watercolors.

Anna will be releasing a new poetry broadside by a different contemporary poet every two months this year, and each will be decorated by variations of geometric lino cut and watercolor shapes. Consistency in aesthetic and size throughout the series will be maintained, so each piece will compliment the others to form a lovely collection when the series is complete.

Other paper pretties in the Lampyridae Press shop include colorful letterpress bookplates, note cards, and stationery inspired by the Bloomsbury Group and letterpress gift tags printed using metal type.

images from Lampyridae Press

Typefaces of the World

February 28, 2011 // kristen // 0 replies

Have you ever wondered when and where all of the most widely used typefaces in the world were created? Well, if you’re a typophile, then you may already know, but I bet that you’ve never seen them presented in a way as visually dynamic as you’ll find in this awesome Typefaces of the World poster, created by Shelby White.

The poster shows a visual representation of the most widely used typefaces of the twentieth century, along with the year the typeface was designed, the place where it was designed, and the typographer who designed it. It’s a typography reference, a cool piece of design to hang on your wall, and a typophile’s dream, all rolled into one!

images from Scribble

The Brass Rule Labyrinth

February 24, 2011 // kristen // 1 replies

Okay, this is awesome. Jens Jørgen Hansen, a Danish letterpress printer and printing teacher with shop called bogtrykkeren (“bogtrykker” means “printer” in Danish), designed The Brass Rule Labryinth letterpress print by meticulously hand setting brass rule to create a typographical labyrinth that’s completely unique. I can’t even imagine how much time and patience it took to set everything. A true labor of love, and pretty darn cool print, too.

Photos (via Flickr) of The Brass Rule Labyrinth project in process:

images from Jens Jørgen Hansen

Doublenaut Super Mario Poster

February 24, 2011 // kristen // 2 replies

I’ve never been anything close to what you’d call a “gamer”, but back in the day, when the original Nintendo was cutting edge technology, I actually got to be pretty good at Super Mario Bros. Super Mario 3 was my game, and I think I actually went the whole way and beat the big, bad monster at the end. This totally cool Mario poster by Doublenaut brought back great memories of my Super Mario days, and I hope it will do the same for fellow paper-loving Nintendo junkies.

By the way, what was the deal with Super Mario 2? That one was like a video game on acid, with the little animal monster things wearing Venetian masks, and the drum music and cloud/vine worlds. I sort of wandered around and collected coins and threw stuff, but I was very confused.

– found via French Paper Sample Room

images from Doublenaut

Papercuts by Joe

February 21, 2011 // kristen // 10 replies

How is it possible that I’ve never before featured Papercuts by Joe? I was browsing through Joe’s shop over the weekend, gawking in amazement at all of the wonderfully intricate, hand cut papercuts within – I was even amazed by the insect papercuts, and I really, really don’t like bugs – when I realized that I had never featured Joe’s work here. So, I thought, what better way to brighten up a Monday morning than with a bevy of beautiful papercuts?

Here are just a few of Joe’s amazing papercuts, which would make the perfect gift for a first anniversary, a wedding (the silhouette of the couple on the bicycles is so sweet), or any special occasion where paper lovelies are welcome (that would be every occasion).