Sent with …

It all started with a quote from one of my tutors in High School "keep it simple stupid". Some days all I want is to print something cute, simple and with the little "extra" to it. This card has possibilities beyond my fantasy, only your imagination is the limit to create a card that will but a smile on the lucky receiver's face.

Sometimes you feel empty

Through a life time I'm quite sure most people sometimes feel a bit empty. What makes you feel that way can be different things. Maybe something a close person said or did, or maybe it was the shock of somebody's too early death. This piece is very personal to me, and it was done several weeks ago but I didn't feel like showing it before now. Today I have this empty feeling again. Look forward to tomorrow and a day in the Letterpress studio to get rid of it.

Half or a pint?

Why London-people seem to assume girls only drink half is still a wonder to me. But I keep getting the question and I'm tired of it! I'm sorry but: "why have a half when you can have a pint?"

Happy Easter everyone :D

A simple days work

Some days in the studio I get an idea and then I just have to set it even though I'm busy working on another project. It happen last week! Some students and teachers from NKF (in Norway) came to visit the studio at Uni,
and I got asked to show them how letterpress works. I wanted to show off one of the presses, but I got no work set up for it. Whenever that happens I also go for the first idea in my head. This time to set a bit changed quote from a song of the Norwegian band DumDum Boys. The text says "Ha hjertet på rett steed" (Have the heart in the right place) and I set in very quickly, but ended up really liking it. Hope you will too :)

Letterpress workshop at KhiO

A few weeks ago I had a workshop with mainly letterpress and a bit of book binding together with a MA student Ane Thon Knutsen from KhiO and a printer and teacher from Oslo By Steinerskole Thomas Pfeiffer. The students seemed happy, all of us teachers were happy and I really enjoyed myself.

It felt a bit strange to teach in a studio I've never worked in before. But after a while I felt I got how things were organised there. The students worked very independent which allowed me to learn this amazing Hiedelberg Platen press. I was smiling, printing and loving working with the norwegian letters æ, ø and å.

Thomes Pfeiffer shows how it works!

The lock-up of my design of only æ, ø and å.

The piece printed, and of course in green.

Holding a Letterpress Workshop

To say I'm not overwhelmed and happy would be lying. Last week I went to visit Oslo National Academy of the Arts to have a look at their Letterpress Studio. It was beautiful! With Norwegian letters I've been looking for and sometimes dreamt about (when you got a passion it shows up in your dreams too). There were presses and typefaces I hadn't seen before. Together with Ane Thon Knutsen and few others I've got an offer of holding a Letterpress Workshop there from 28th of February and through that week. I'm very excited! And will take photos to show how it went and to show off the studio!

Maybe love?

Spring is said to be the time for love. Not that I would claim there is a special time for love. A couple of weeks ago I had a huge clean up in my letterpress prints at home. During this I discovered this small and simple print, with a single line of words. Originally it was printed for a possible extra with a wedding invitation for a friend. But later to be found not right for that purpose. Since that I forgot about it existence. 

Take it as it is, one simple line of words. "Maybe love will find us again for there is always tomorrow."

Card for a special person

Valentine's Day is around the corner. But why not send a card to someone special for you already now? A perfect card for today, tomorrow and every other day. Simple words: "Forever yours, always me, forever here" (Evig din, alltid meg, evig her). Printed in dark orange/brown on orange cards.

Good or bad cheating?

There are ways to cheat. Always have been always will be. Occasionally it can be good, but mainly it should be avoid at all time. Considering printing with letterpress only imagination can set a boundary for ways to cheat. To tell you a secret; I do cheat when I’m making a one of piece for a special occasion. Actually I won’t even cheat then if I know for sure a person with good letterpress skills will watch be set and print. Bad cheating or lack of interest and passion in working fully with letterpress is shown on the two images below.

“Locking up” type like this can both destroy the leading, spacing, furniture and type. (Leading is mainly used for line spacing and locking up type with furniture; spacing is used for letter/word spacing.) The designer has here used most of these wrongly, at least according to normal usage. Why do I complain about it? First of all; finding letterpress equipment in good condition is hard, rare and expensive. Second; seeing people (here students) treat this valuable equipment like trash makes me frustrated. Third; how long will universities let behaviours like this happen before they get rid of it? One thing is for sure; I will have a lot of troubles letting anyone near my studio and equipment when I’m fully set up in the future.

(As a small ending; the way to “lock up” type is shown below.)

New year, new projects

Happy New Year:) I'm all ready for this years new possibilities and for more fun! Just had one day in the letterpress studio on Tuesday, and just as a reminder for everyone: mistakes can be beautiful!! :)

A second reminder: please keep the studio clean! I hate it when everything is a mess and dirty. When I get my own studio it will be perfect :) Tidy and clean :)

If you have any ideas to projects, let me know :)