Operating from the tenet, composition is explanation, participants will hand-set a postcard-sized message in a the typeface[s] of their choice at Salt & Cedar, a small letterpress atelier in the heart of the Marais, Paris.
Workshop members will be encouraged to collaborate with one another, and, if everyone is open to the idea, fragment, re-space, reposition and remix their discrete phrases during the process of printing. At the close of the day, prints could be further re-shuffled and re-collated, adding an element of chance in what one comes away with. If the tone of the group is less experimental, individuals can stick to one iteration and produce multiples of it. The spirit of the workshop is to discover the “gems” within the typecases to bring them into a fresh context.
Nuts & bolts
In this 4-hour workshop, participants will be introduced to a special collection of primarily French fonts designed by Roger Excoffon and released by Fonderie Olive, as well as other “classics” from Deberny & Peignot. Each participant will compose a phrase or two in job sticks & galleys, print one-color from a collective form. The layouts may include pi fonts, vintage clichés and decorative rule. Each person will distribute their type and spacing material back into the cases, when the print runs are finished. At the end, we will trim, sign and number the [variable] editions, while assessing our font choices and compositional strategies.
A few days before the day of the workshop, you will be invited to Basecamp.com which will bring together participants and instructors.
Materials
All materials provided: proof paper, type, inks, cutting materials. Participants might want to bring a sketchbook and should consider wearing “work clothes” or bring a work apron along with them.
Who?
Anyone with an interest in learning the basics of hand-setting movable type and printing it on a manual Vandercook cylinder press, manufactured in Chicago [1961] and engineered for European type height. Alternatively, if a participant already possesses an understanding of these principles, access to this unique collection of type and cuts will offer, quite literally, a grasp of rare letterforms and new compositional options. It’s in English, mais les francophones sont bienvenus puisque Megan parle français.
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