While technology’s penchant for “leveling the playing field” has leveled many people right out of a job (hi there, low-ball design services), it’s also allowed for the creation of pieces that exist somewhere between passion project and business venture. This week, we say “Howdy” to an amazing laser-cut poster, go after Moby Dick while wearing a stylish T-shirt, and then chill out with a decidedly old-school letterpress print. (Previous Cool Designs of the Week can be found here.)
Laser-cut Poster Design
When “design-build studio” Artifacture asked designer Ben Barry if he had any creations they could transform into a laser-cut giveaway for a lecture of his they were sponsoring, he pulled out all the stops and made this! Cut from Neenah So…Silk 130 lb. Cover (Fair Blue), an additional run of 50 took 2 hours to produce…each. (You can pick up one of your own for $500.)
T-shirt Packaging Design
Designer Eskju and illustrator Pixeljuice 23 (oh young people today…) wanted to make “a stunning package, independently produced and with lots of love,” according to the former. The result was Ahab, a T-shirt whose packaging is as cool and inspiring as the product itself.
Jersey Cream Letterpress Print Design
Neenah continues its quiet but effective campaign to demonstrate just how effective letterpress printing can be with its ongoing The Beauty of Letterpress campaign. While doing this, it also continuously raises money for the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. Its latest print – edition 12: Jersey Cream – is an extra special edition limited to just 100 prints. Here’s the official writeup:
“Three wood blocks make up this oversized (12.5 x 19) letterpressed print of a vintage ad for the Jersey Cream company. The blocks were originally cut at Hamilton Manufacturing between 1888-1891, and are the oldest blocks in the Museum’s collection. They were rescued from the basement of the Hamilton main office — where they sat unnoticed for nearly 100 years.
“‘We would have liked to produce more prints but there is a distinct possibility that we will never be able to print from these original blocks again. Cracks from age and dryness affect our collections of vintage blocks. We try to minimize the damage with oil, but a stable storage environment is necessary,’ said Jim Moran [pictured below], Director of the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum.”
And here’s where we get to the special bit – the money raised by the sale of these prints will go toward creating a humidity/climate-controlled room in which to house vintage blocks in future.
While previous editions in this series have been amazing experiments in creativity, they’ve also featured extremely modern designs. There’s just something really great about finally seeing a Beauty of Letterpress print that not only has a bit of history to it, but that also looks like something that would’ve been printed back in the day when letterpress was your only option. Oh hang it – it’s gorgeous! Get yours today!
