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Quote#5: “Challenge” has been a challenge

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Although the semester officially ended on May 17th, I still have work to complete on my sabbatical project. The fifth and final poster has proved to be a challenge. I had experienced some difficulties with plate registration and ink consistency on press last week and must reprint Quote#5. This poster in particular has been a test of my limited letterpress printing skills. To remedy the alignment issue, I tweaked my design to remove the two-color, double line. Thus, I had to order an new polymer plate for the gold ink. In addition, I need to remove the line on the slate blue plate…nothing a that I can’t fix with a fresh X-acto knife blade. I should be getting inky again next week.

I’m looking forward to having the poster available to purchase online by the June 1st. If you want to purchase one before then, feel free to email me.

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Quote#1: Printing

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Yesterday marked the start of the final phase of the Art4Heart Project…printing. Above are some process shots. I’m pleased with how everything came out. (This is the first time I printed a two-color design from separate plates.) I will take better photos of the final printed pieces once they are all dry. All proceeds from the sale of Art4Heart Project prints will go to Mom’s House of Phoenixville. Check back in May for details on purchasing.

Quote#5: WIP – Color Breaks & Overprinting

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The design of quote#5 has an athletic, sports emblem feel that works well contextually. I enjoy exploring lettering styles and this solution is much more masculine than my last design. I chose to stylistically transform the “challenge” and “change” to reinforce the concept visually.

Above is a snapshot of my progress. I have finished redrawing the letterforms in Adobe Illustrator and now am evaluating how I can apply color and utilize overprinting as a technique to add more dimension to the design. I also need to make some decisions on how I want to handle the front banner. Do I keep it in outline or add a fill of color? A solid color could be nice, especially since letterpress printing large areas of color tends to be imperfect and distressed. Do I want it distressed? What about printing it black and metallic gold? I’m not sure, but I will update soon.

Quote#5: Challenge & Change

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“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” —Fred DeVito

Today was full of “challenges” and “changes” as I began to develop the style of the key words from one of yesterdays thumbnail concepts. I believe I have a good framework for layering and expansion.

Quote#4: Final Colors…I think

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After taking a few days off, I came back to review my colors options for quote #4. Although I handpicked the colors presented, I began to think about the valuable feedback I received. I favored the analogous colors of the pink/purple combo because the pink really popped off the page. Yet, I had concerns because the pink/purple and coral/blue combos felt a bit girly. The blue/green combination was the most gender neutral, however it lacked the excitement of the pink/purple one since both both colors were fairly equal in intensity. So alas, I combined the richness of the purple and the intensity of the cyan for (hopefully) one final color exploration.

Quote#4: Vectorizing Work In Progress

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Above is a comparison of original thumbnail to in-progress vectorizing. The design to coming together well. I am continuing to develop the style of lettering for “children.” I’m just not satisfied yet, however I’m loving the girly whimsy of the flourishes and playfulness of the details in “presents.”

Quote #4: Fleshing out the composition

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Your children need your presence more than your presents. — Jesse Jackson

I have been drawing a variety of lettering styles for the words, “presence” and “presents.” With a clearer direction in mind, I worked on developing thumbnails sketches of the composition for this next poster. I needed to create emphasis and unity with the text. I also wanted to add flourishes that added to the message’s meaning. I like how the border and ornamentation create a wrapped gift and that the bow on top forms a heart.

[Note: When lettering more than one word, you need to make certain that the words flow easily and read as a cohesive thought. I feel like this is the biggest challenge of lettering quotes instead of single words.]

Quote #3: Colors…decisions, decisions

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This past week I have been plugging away at the lettering and composition of quote #3 that I completely forgot to post in-progress photos…next time. Since the lettering and design of this was inspired by 1950s advertising, I wanted to pay homage with the color selection. I really love chartreuse, coral and teal, but I need to narrow the palette to reduce the cost (and complexity) when letterpress printing. Below are three color options. I would love to hear what your favorite is.

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option 1

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option 2

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option 3

Quote # 2: Making “Impossible” Possible

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In honor of Black History Month, the second quote I will be featuring is from Nelson Mandela.

“It always seems impossible until it is done.”

Here’s a sneak peak at some first sketches for Quote #2. It is definitely a work-in-progress. I need to develop consistency in line weight and style. I like the sturdiness of  the letters as well as the bounce, or movement…however I still need to resolve some issues with form.

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