I have a couple of missions for the next couple of months at PRESS. One of them is to organize, by font, the woodtype drawers, which have been seven drawers of slapdash arrangement. Another mission is for me to create a series of prints every month to test and push by printing skills. For February, I’ll be experimenting with the woodtype to create abstract images that convey construction and movement, and also canonizes the quality these vintage, wood blocks create. I’m a little behind (I’ll blame the snow), but I like what I’ve done so far.

Any one who has experimentally printed knows that any sort of lock-up beyond the traditional horizontal/vertical structure (see left) is difficult to get your image where you want. It requires a good amount of trial and error if you’re printing type on an slant. A number of my designs are strictly on a diagonal, and I thought that maybe the process would be daunting, but I figured out a method to quickly and painlessly go from concept to creation. The method requires the use of strong magnets, and I’m sure some printing purist out there wouldn’t appreciate my method, but I don’t have kosher intentions. What I ended up doing was designing my page, and then place my design on the bed of the press, and using magnets, placed my blocks. I only had to make a few adjustments, and I was ready to go. I’m sure that I’m not the first one to think this up, but for your printers out there, it’s always good to have another feather in your cap.

-Jonas