1. a pure letter form made with tangram shapes, or
2. a v-shaped bird inspired by those same shapes.

The tangram “v”-bird won.

Creating the two-color design was just the first step (view the color separations); the next was to create a mirror image of the design and transfer it to a linoleum block. For simple designs I do this by printing out the reversed image and rubbing the back of the paper with graphite.

Then I tape the image into place on the block, carefully tracing the design with a ball point pen with just enough pressure so that it transfers through the graphite, but not so much that I am denting the linoleum. I printed the design out in cyan so that I could easily see my lines as I traced, and used a ruler to keep my lines straight. An “x” marks the areas to be carved away.

The graphite transfer process works fairly well. Usually I will go back and trace over the design with a permanent pen so that it doesn’t rub off, but this time it held well enough that I was able to skip that step.

The finished block of the bird’s body, with all of the non-printing areas of the design carved away:

This block will be printed first — not only for ease of alignment on the paper, but because of the effects I want to achieve by overlapping inks. The second block, of the bird’s head, will be printed in yellow. When overprinted on the dark blue-gray ink, the lighter yellow will create a third color, joining the bird’s head to the body.

I used a smaller linoleum block for the head to save resources (and my wrists), knowing that with some careful planning, I could align the second block on press. The bird’s head is aligned the same distance from the top and right sides of the block as the bird’s body was on its block:

The graphite transfer process went quickly this time — using paper that’s already been printed on works just great. The hard part was cleanly carving out the circle of the eye.

Once the blocks were carved, I mixed the ink colors. For the head/beak I chose a warm yellow (PMS 129U). I was torn between a blue and a gray for the body’s background color, so I met in the middle and mixed PMS 534U, a medium blue-gray color. Color junkies will delight in knowing that this color contains neither blue nor gray ink: it’s made of green and red. Crazy!

Finally, time to print. My Colt’s Armory Press has a 13 x 19″ chase, which can make for some heavy lifting, so I use some larger aluminum furniture to take up the bulk of the space and keep things light. (Note to self: get better lighting over the stone so that my photos aren’t blurry.)

Block #1, inked up. Only a little clean-up of the block was needed.

Block #1, locked up in the press bed:

Prints of block #1, fresh off the press. I found that the best results came from double inking the plate and only printing with one impression (as opposed to overprinting the same image twice). It took a little longer, but I was much happier with the ink coverage.

Using block #1 to align block #2 in the chase:

A proof of the second block shows that the alignment is good, but some cleanup of the edges needs to be done.

The finished prints, trimmed to 6×6″.

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With over 17 years of experience in agency and studio settings, Amy Redmond is a visual designer who thrives on variety, creating print and interactive work for corporate and non-profit clients. To keep her creativity refreshed, Amy balances digital design with time in her letterpress studio (Amada Press) in Seattle. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts.

The comment was made about tangram design #9, but the shape didn’t work well in a square shape (the trimmed shape of the paper I’ll print on). But while developing tangram design #13, I discovered a way to make a bird shape that still held the shape of the letter “v”. I used that as my starting point.

These shapes are very abstract if you’re looking at them as birds, but work really well as the letter “v”.

Pushing it further, I expanded my explorations into color to help the bird take form. I “cheated” the tangram puzzle by adding a circle for an eye, and towards the end started to play around with overlapping the shapes.

I really like the light tan bird in the bottom row (E), but it completely fails as reading as the letter “v”, as does the bird above it (B). The bird in the upper left corner (A) works, but has one too many tangram shapes.

And the bird in the upper right corner (C) is one shape too short:

The bird from the bottom left corner (D) uses the right amount of tangram shapes, works well in two colors, and still reads as a “v” if I keep the color of the beak light enough. Here are a few color explorations:

Still not completely satisfied, I wanted to push how the color is used on press. The bird from the bottom right corner (F) works almost perfectly if I overlap the medium size triangle over the small one, defining the head and creating a bit more depth to the design. The colored square in the background is fun, but it’s making the bird’s body read less like a “v”.

And since I’m limited to two passes through the press it won’t work, unless I do something like what’s in this bottom right corner, where the body knocks out of the background color.

By mirroring the image and reducing the design down to two passes, I get closer to making the “v” letter form more apparent. (Although I am on the fence about whether flipping the image helped.) The darker colored backgrounds, which give more contrast to the white, work better than the light backgrounds:

This is what the two linoleum blocks for this design would look like; you can see that I really do stay true to using all tangram shapes. The final shape, in block 2, would overprint block 1 so that the yellow sits on top of the blue:

These color combos could also work. I like the cheerfulness of the blue, but the white “v” really pops well off the gray square… but living in cloudy Seattle I’m a little adverse to using gray:

I admit that these really push the limits of being the letter “v”. I’ve enjoyed the process of working with tangrams, and although these earlier explorations could lead to a good “v” design for The Every Letter Project, at the end of the day I’d rather have one of these playful birds hanging on my wall. And the marketing side of my brain says they might sell better, too… leading to more financial support for 826 Seattle.

What are your thoughts? Constructive feedback welcome.

____________________________

With over 17 years of experience in agency and studio settings, Amy Redmond is a visual designer who thrives on variety, creating print and interactive work for corporate and non-profit clients. To keep her creativity refreshed, Amy balances digital design with time in her letterpress studio (Amada Press) in Seattle. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts.

This next round of designs started with digitizing the tangram designs that were most liked, focusing on those that lend themselves well to a 2-pass design (one of the requirements of the project). In a 2-pass design the paper only goes through the press twice, regardless of the ink colors used or the number of blocks carved.

While the shape of the letter forms worked nicely on their own, I wanted to give them some context so that the viewer understands that the letter was formed from tangram shapes. I decided to dedicate one pass to the tangram puzzle in its original state, and the second pass to my type design.

Here are some of designs that have made it into the final round. The number in the top left corner corresponds to the design’s number in the first round.

Color studies for Design #6

Color studies for Design #10

Color studies for Design #13 (flipped horizontally)

Color studies for #35, a variation on Design #16

The colors are still under consideration; I want the original tangram puzzle to be visible, but not so much that it obscures the letter form of the “v” in the second pass. Some color combos work better than others.

My next step is to finalize a design and get the linoleum blocks carved… with printing on my Colt’s Armory press following shortly after. Thanks to Evan MacDonald, the project’s coordinator, I am already in possession of 100 sheets of white Mohawk Superfine, smooth finish, 130lb double thick paper (graciously by Mohawk).

____________________________   

With over 17 years of experience in agency and studio settings, Amy Redmond is a visual designer who thrives on variety, creating print and interactive work for corporate and non-profit clients. To keep her creativity refreshed, Amy balances digital design with time in her letterpress studio (Amada Press) in Seattle. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts.

The configuration of a tangram puzzle.

To help my brain break out of its sketchbook rut, I put down my pencil and picked up a pair of scissors and made a tangram puzzle. (Some of you might recognize bits of this project on the piece of make-ready I used to make the puzzle.)

The exercise was a lot of fun, and really pushed me to see a basic shape (V) in a new way. (And even though it’s not a unique concept, I am tossing around the idea of doing an entire alphabet this way, simply to knock my brain around a little.)

Once I choose a tangram solution, I’ll figure out how I want to break it into a two color design, and then get to work carving it in the linoleum blocks. Once that’s done, then I get to have fun with colors on press.

But first I’d like to recruit some help with choosing a design. I had hoped to set up some sort of simple voting system for this post (or at least a way to have each photo on this page have its own “like” button), but my progress on that is just getting in the way of my main goal, which is to get these posted and get some feedback.

So we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way: scroll through the 34 tangram studies and please let me know in the comments section which ones catch your eye. You can refer to an image by the number in its caption.

And by all means, feel free to share these via whatever flavor of social media you fancy; all I ask is that you please give me credit and tag it with #TheEveryLetterProject.

Enjoy!

(1) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(2) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(3) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(4) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(5) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(6) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(7) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(8) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(9) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(10) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(11) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(12) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(13) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(14) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(15) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(16) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(17) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(18) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(19) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(20) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(21) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(22) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(23) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(24) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(25) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(26) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(27) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(28) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(29) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(30) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(31) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(32) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(33) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

(34) “V” Tangram Study / #TheEveryLetterProject

With over 17 years of experience in agency and studio settings, Amy Redmond is a visual designer who thrives on variety, creating print and interactive work for corporate and non-profit clients. To keep her creativity refreshed, Amy balances digital design with time in her letterpress studio (Amada Press) in Seattle. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts.

ABOUT THE SHOW

I’ve chosen a range of prints for this show, created from 1999–2007, including some from my Handy Girl and AEIOU series. Like the spirits that owner Skip Tognetti creates, these prints are hand-crafted.

Numb'r Crunch'r (2005)

Each was composed with handset metal and/or wood type and printed one at a time, by hand; some include images that I carved from linoleum. It is a time-consuming process that provides numerous opportunities for creative problem solving, which I find very rewarding. Sometimes not having it all — like an endless supply of lowercase d’s — leads to better results.

For example, in Numb’r Crunch’r the use of apostrophes came about because, well, I was lazy. I had already typeset the main paragraph when I discovered that the line length wasn’t long enough to accommodate the headline. And so I took out all of the e’s, replaced them with apostrophes, and then applied the new voice to the main paragraph. By the time I finished it would have been faster to just change the line length, but I was happy with the new and successful direction that “short cut” took this piece.

This process is very different from how I produce “job work” (wedding invitations, posters, etc.). I’ve found that for those type of projects my clients and I prefer digital design, both for expediency of changes and ease of the approval process. The digital files are then output as photopolymer plates, which I use on my Colt’s Armory press just as I do wood and metal type.

My Colt's Armory Press, from 1903.

Most prints are available for sale, framed and/or unframed (cash or check only at this time).

VIEWING HOURS

You can view the show (and sample Letterpress Distilling’s delicious vodka and limoncello!) now through late Spring 2013 during tasting room hours:

Saturdays & Sundays, Noon – 6pm
(and two hours before every Sounders and Mariners home game)

85 South Atlantic Street, #110; Seattle WA 98134 (map)

The show will also be open during the Bemis Building 2013 Spring Art Show, which takes place the weekend of April 21-22, 2013.

….

Amy Redmond is a Seattle-based designer and letterpress printer who thrives on variety and fresh air. To keep her creativity refreshed, she balances digital design work with time in her letterpress studio. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts. Amy’s work can be viewed at AmyRedmond.com

From Evan MacDonald, the organizer of this project:
The Every Letter Project is a print exchange where 27 designers come together to make something fancy to support literacy. Each participant designs, carves (in linoleum) and letterpress-prints a letter of the alphabet (including “&”), creating a complete set of letters. Each complete edition is then sold and the proceeds go to benefit 826 Seattle.

I’ve been assigned the letter “V”; stay tuned in the following weeks to see preliminary sketches, the evolution of the design, and snapshots of the project on press — all of which I will post here. The project is scheduled to be completed in May 2013.

The Finished Prints (5/16/13)

Photos of the production process, from carving the design from linoleum to letterpress printing both color passes. Read more.

Tangram “V”-shaped Bird Designs (4/26/13)

An attempt to find the right balance between bird and letter, all within the constrictions of a tangram. Read more.

Revised Tangram Designs (4/22/13)

A refined round of tangram designs for the letter “v”. Read more.

Tangram Studies (4/2/13)

Allovus featured my “tangram alphabet study” on the front page of their design blog on Tuesday April 2, 2013. Read the article.

Tangram Studies (3/27/13)

34 studies of how the letter “V” can be created using a tangram puzzle. Read more/vote.

Preliminary Sketches  (3/15/13)

You can also follow the progress of the entire project on Tumblr, or through the hashtag #TheEveryLetterProject.

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With over 17 years of experience in agency and studio settings, Amy Redmond is a visual designer who thrives on variety, creating print and interactive work for corporate and non-profit clients. To keep her creativity refreshed, Amy balances digital design with time in her letterpress studio (Amada Press) in Seattle. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts.

Enclosed with this invitation were 10 “tickets”, on which she had printed a red circle, marking the beginning of the project.

The letter arrived just a few days before my weekly “art day” in my letterpress studio. And so on February 8, as the wood stove worked on warming up my studio, I began working on some ideas for my response. I decided that for sentimental reasons my first “response” should be made using a vintage metal advertising cut from Stern & Faye’s original collection.

I just happen to have box number 28, and given the date (2/8), decided it was the perfect one to choose from, no matter what the contents. Among the cuts stored inside was this one from Seattle’s Northwest Bolt and Nut Co. It was most likely part of a 2-color business card design for the company.

Because of the small print run (10), it wasn’t worth the effort to go through the formal lock-up needed to print on my Colt’s Armory Press — better to lock it up in a galley and handprint it with the Vandercook 99 proof press. Using some leftover yellow-orange ink, I hand-inked the cut and pulled a test print on some paper that best matched the thickness and finish of the tickets. After making some small adjustments, I was ready to print on the tickets.

Rather than concerning myself with exact alignment on each of the tickets, I decided to play around with placement — sometimes placing 3 tickets at a time on the cut and printing them at the same time with one pass through the press, resulting in 3 different prints. With each ticket, I tried something new.

The prints were dry a few hours later, and mailed back to Jules that afternoon. I wait for her response, checking the mailbox daily in hopes there will be a small package of tickets waiting for me. I don’t have any idea what I will print on them next, choosing to react directly to whatever Jules has printed for the third pass. That way the tickets, when finished, are a recording of a conversation — rather than just 2 people printing in their own separate bubbles.

With over 17 years of experience in agency and studio settings, Amy Redmond is a visual designer who thrives on variety, creating print and interactive work for corporate and non-profit clients. To keep her creativity refreshed, Amy balances digital design with time in her letterpress studio (Amada Press) in Seattle. She also teaches at the School of Visual Concepts.

In late 2012 I worked with the Microsoft team at POSSIBLE to redesign the Visual Studio web site.

The site, implementing Microsoft’s new “Metro” brand, was built to be responsive so that it works smoothly on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. The design readjusts accordingly based on screen size, allowing the user to easily scroll through the content.

Desktop Views: ALM/Define Section

Tablet Views: ALM/Define Section

After the 3 ink colors were printed on 100% cotton paper, the baby photo was mounted on a matching blue paper and glued to the announcement card.

Size: 5 x 7″

Dinner Menu

Thank You Card

One of my clients, Letterpress Distilling, hit a milestone at the end of July 2012: they put up their new sign on their building in Seattle’s SOHO neighborhood.

The design started as a coaster and business card set, which I designed and letterpress printed for them in early 2011. View the designs.

It’s great to see it evolve into something much bigger. Here are some photos showing how the sign was made, courtesy of Skip Tognetti, owner of Letterpress Distilling.

The final push came in early 2012, as photography was wrapped up and the final layouts were put into place. The final stretch was the press proof review, which went amazingly well. The end result is a colorful, playful catalog that had just as much love poured into as the handmade products it features.

The catalog’s main audience is wholesale customers, although they do come free with every online retail order from Kata Golda. For those not making a purchase, a catalog can be requested for $7.

Front cover:

Inside front cover spread:

Interior Spreads:

Art Direction & Design: Amy Redmond
Photography: Frank White
Copywriting & Editing: Amy Redmond, Kate Dean, Alison Kaplan
Printing: Lithtex Northwest

Corner Conversations began March 1, 2012. Documentation of the installation’s weekly progress at 412 Broadway (Seattle), along with artist information, can be found at barclaybroadway.com

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Barclay | Broadway, a new green apartment living space that’s currently in development in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, has commissioned three local letterpress artists to create a public art installation called Corner Conversations. The project highlights the principles behind this new apartment building as it relates to the neighborhood, sustainability, and members of the community.

I am pleased to have been chosen, along with Jenny Wilkson and Dan Shafer, as one of the artists that will create this installation.

The layers of Corner Conversations keep pace with Barclay | Broadway’s growth. The first phase takes place on the fence surrounding the building as it is constructed. Each artist will create a series of four posters intended to engage viewers in a conversation. Each week a new layer of posters will be wheat pasted onto the fence, so that by week 12 the fence will have become a weathered wall of imagery and type.

My artwork will be incorporated into the wall beginning May 7 (Week 9), with a new work being posted weekly until June 3, 2012 (Week 12). Once the building is complete, the wall will be dismantled and re-purposed into smaller works of art that will become a permanent part of the building’s interior.

ABOUT MY POSTER SERIES

THE CONCEPT
The wall around the Barclay|Broadway property offers an opportunity for poster display that not many areas can: the display of multiple copies of the same poster in multiple rows and columns.

As an letterpress printer I work a lot with wood and metal type. Each character is its own block, and when the blocks are fit together they form words. Printer’s ornaments take that a step further; they are strategically designed image blocks that when placed next to one another in rows and columns, form a seamless pattern in whatever shape or size the printer desires.

This same concept was applied to my series of four posters: instead of treating the poster as just one image, what happens when you intentionally design it to be one piece in a series of many? How can the poster be maximized so that when viewed on its own it successfully conveys the message, and yet when displayed in multiples all at once, the image that is produced is greater than the sum of its parts?

This approach pairs well with the concept behind Barclay | Broadway: the building alone might be impressive, but its true success depends on the people that live in it and their involvement in the community. As a hub for this activity, Barclay | Broadway becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
View my original proposal [PDF]

POSTER A (Week 9) — “Where are you going right now?”

Design Notes: The background pattern is made from a series of question marks in the same style as the hand-made typeface. The bold, red “Where are you going right now?” message emphasizes the “you” in the question, which is repeated again in turquoise both above/below the red type. This strategic placement was done so that when posted in multiples on the wall, the posters fit together like a puzzle to reveal the question again — but this time the emphasis is placed on the “where” part of the question. It is printed with 2 inks (red and turquoise). The posters do not currently include the print credit & byline, but will at the bottom or on the side (most likely in turquoise so as not to be disruptive).

POSTER B (Week 10) — “Find 1746 places to play, pause, and prosper.”

Design Notes: The background pattern is made from a series of “play/pause/prosper” icons in a style that complements the hand-made typeface. Those same 3 icons from the background pattern were enlarged and strategically placed above/below the boldly-colored “Find 1746 places to play, pause, and prosper” message so that when posted in multiples on the wall, they create a larger pattern. It is printed with 2 inks (green and brown). The posters do not currently include the print credit & byline, but will at the bottom or on the side (most likely in green so as not to be disruptive).

POSTER C (Week 11) — “Meet your neighbors.”

Design Notes: The background pattern is made from a series of people icons in a style that complements the hand-made typeface. Four of the icons from the background pattern were enlarged and strategically placed above/below the boldly-colored “Meet your neighbors” message so that when posted in multiples on the wall, they create a larger pattern. It is printed with 2 inks (orange and magenta). The posters do not currently include the print credit & byline, but will at the bottom or on the side (most likely in orange so as not to be disruptive).

POSTER D (Week 12) — “Start here.”

Design Notes: The background pattern is a series of x’s (as in “x marks the spot” and “you are here”) in a custom-designed typeface. The “Start Here” message is also repeated as a pattern, strategically placed so that when hung in a series, the message is multiplied — and yet is still readable as a stand-alone poster. It is printed with 2 inks (translucent yellow and translucent blue); the green is created by the layering of the inks over top one another. The posters do not currently include the print credit & byline, but will at the bottom or on the side (most likely in yellow so as not to be disruptive).

All posters were silkscreen printed by Clone Press in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.

Kata Golda has expanded its product line to include a DIY sewing kit series. Special consideration was given to the design’s ability to expand as the series grows; it started with 3 kits and now includes 14.

This client is a small one, with only a handful of full-time employees. Developing the owner’s vision into a marketable product requires my full attention and willingness to take on multiple responsibilities: editing text & illustrations, photo direction, design/typesetting, proofreading, prepress… and once published, marketing.

The end result is a product line appealing to the growing market of do-it-yourself crafters and Etsy fans that positions Kata Golda for expanded growth in the retail market.

http://katagolda.com

Extra attention was given to slide transitions, which synced with instrumental music to appear seamless and automatic, while still leaving the pacing in the presenter’s control. The end result was a stunning presentation operating on the level of a short film.

The art director sent me some rough sketches (on a napkin, no less) of what he was thinking and in a few hours I sent back a range of potential options. Of the three shown here, the top one (in brown and orange) was chosen and developed into signage for the store’s awning, window and interior. In just over 24 hours, the project was complete.

No news yet on the official name of the film; that part was confidential. But I hope to get photos of the logo in use from the production department.

To maximize limited resources and manage a constant stream of edits, I helped ensure smooth transitions between designers to minimize downtime. The project finished on time and with kudos from the Microsoft client for performance under pressure.

Download the Report (PDF)

Cover & Table of Contents

Interior page

Interior spread

Translation: typefaces are limited to the lowest common denominator (Arial, Georgia).

However, when partnered with customized graphics, nuanced animations, and subtle transitions the overall effect is a customized experience that allows the team to present a wealth of information in as few screens as possible.

These presentations often pull double-duty, acting not only as an on-screen presentation but also as a printed book. This Godiva presentation was no exception, which is why care was taken to make sure that none of the animations or graphics interfered with how the information was presented in the printing process. Planning ahead meant that no re-design needed to be done when it came time hit “print.”

The theme was “optimism” and the desired look was one of nostalgia, with a nod towards the happy-go-lucky attitude found in 1950s advertising. Distress was added to the illustrations and custom type to add to the authenticity of the designs.

Based on Office 2010 brand guidelines, this design was built to be clean and friendly to the unskilled user, while still incorporating built-in animations and transitions that maintained the appearance of a professionally designed presentation.

Invitation

Event Card

Most of the work I do comes my way by word of mouth, which I like. It means that my clients are coming to me because my design work resonates with them, and it also means that we most likely have friends in common — meaning that we’ll get along fabulously. So right from the gate, two big hurdles have been cleared.

This was exactly the case with Letterpress Distilling. A few pals from my days at WongDoody recommended that Skip, the owner of the new Seattle-based distillery, get in touch with me about designing letterpress printed business cards. The project sounded interesting — a distillery? I’m in — but I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about the choice of business name. As someone that’s been doing letterpress printing since before it was “cool”, I was concerned that this was someone just trying to capitalize on the widespread popularity of letterpress.

So we met, over coffee, as is the Pacific Northwest way of doing business. And I asked the hard question about the name choice: Why Letterpress? As it turns out, he had a good answer. He’d been bitten by the letterpress bug way back when, and having done his own printing, fell in love with hand setting metal type — and all the time and patience that goes along with it. It was exactly the sort of dedication to craft that he wanted his distillery to embody — hence the name.

Understanding exactly what he meant, I took the job — and immediately jumped into the fun task of researching decorative icons and type and then designing the business cards and coasters. While inspired by the metal type and ornamentation of traditional letterpress, the design was composed digitally and printed from photopolymer plates. It was clear we would print the coasters on heavy coaster stock, but what about the business cards?

Turns out they worked great on coaster stock too — just cut the coaster in half, and off you go. You’ve got a place to rest your shot glass, and the number of the guy that can refill it for you.

As part of the ZAAZ creative team I worked closely with the art director to develop the design and user path of experience, which I then used to build out the rest of the app. Once it was in development, I worked with the ZAAZ dev team to test its functionality and maintain quality control.

The app lives on today as the Audi quattro archives, a place for Audi fans to celebrate all things quattro.

Visit the live Audi quattro app

Client: Explone
Size: 11×17 inches

It’s a treat when a client recognizes right from the start that letterpress is often most elegant when you keep the design and color simple. Printing this invitation set was a refreshing change from multi-color jobs and the results were amazingly sophisticated.

Client: Macaire & Tal
Size: fits A7 envelope
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

In addition to designing the postcard invitation, I also took on the letterpress printing of it. 3000 cards, printed 2/1, is the largest run I’ve printed to date — and after four solid days of printing I was glad to relax in a hammock while they dried.

Check out this year’s line-up of events.

Client: School of Visual Concepts
Size: 5 x 7″

Third Place is an independent book store that brings national and local authors in to do free public readings. A few times a year they dedicate a budget to produce a special limited edition letterpress printed broadside for these events. (Read about the series.)

The design was created on the computer and printed from photopolymer plates using a Colt’s Armory press from 1903.

Client: Third Place Books
Size: 7 x 15 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

Third Place is an independent book store that brings national and local authors in to do free public readings. A few times a year they dedicate a budget to produce a special limited edition letterpress printed broadside for these events. (Read about the series.)

The design was created on the computer and printed from photopolymer plates using a Colt’s Armory press from 1903.

Client: Third Place Books
Size: 10 x 14 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

Client: Golden Greys
Size: 17×11 inches

This limited edition silkscreen poster was inspired by a photo by Geoff Carter, one of Rat City’s original core photographers.

Client: Rat City Rollergirls
Size: 18 x 24 inches

This broadside commemorates Seattle author Stephanie Kallos and her December 2008 reading of Sing Them Home. The design was created on the computer and printed from photopolymer plates on Daniel Smith Lenox paper using a Vandercook SP-15 press.

Client: Third Place Books
Size: 8.5 x 19 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

The design was created on the computer and printed from photopolymer plates using a Vandercook SP-15 press.

Client: Third Place Books
Size: 15 x 11 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

This limited edition silkscreen poster advertises the third bout of Rat City’s fourth season (2008), and follows the bout theme, “superheroes.” The illustration, design and text for the poster was inspired by mid-century comic books.

Client: Rat City Rollergirls
Size: 18 x 24 inches

Client: University of Washington’s Health Marketing Research Center (June 2007)

The illustration and typography were all created by hand.

Client: Low Income Housing Institute
Size: 12 x 18 inches

The broadside shown here is to commemorate author Jonathan Raban’s February 2007 reading of Surveillance. Though inspired by letter forms & ornaments found in a letterpress shop, the design was created on the computer and printed from photopolymer plates on Daniel Smith Lenox paper using a Vandercook SP-15 press.

Client: Third Place Books
Size: 9.25 x 14.5 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

Third Place Books is a Seattle-area book store that does a fabulous job of bringing national and local authors into the store to do readings. A few times a year they dedicate a budget to produce a special limited edition letterpress printed broadside for these events. Read about this series.

Client: Third Place Books (September 2006)
Size: 8 x 18 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

Client: Low Income Housing Institute (August 2006)
Size: (varies with each piece)

Third Place is an independent book store that brings national and local authors in to do free public readings. A few times a year they dedicate a budget to produce a special limited edition letterpress printed broadside for these events. (Read about the series.)

Client: Third Place Books (March 2006)
Size: 7 x 15 inches

Client: Explone (March 2006)
Size: 11×17 inches

The image in this save-the-date postcard is a letterpress print that I did using wood type (turned face up as well as face down), and stencils cut and inked by hand. I then scanned the print, created the type in Photoshop, and delivered an electronic file to press for off-set printing.

Client: Low Income Housing Institute
Size: 5×7 inches

Client: Explone (January 2006)
Size: 8.5 x 14 inches

Client: Explone (December 2005)
Size: 8.5 x 14 inches

The illustration and typography are Audrey’s, which I composed into this layout and letterpress printed from photopolymer plates on Magani Pescia paper using a Vandercook SP-15 press. The “red hair” is a piece of thread, which I sewed by hand on a sunny day onto each of the 150 prints in the edition.

Third Place is an independent book store that brings national and local authors in to do free public readings. A few times a year they dedicate a budget to produce a special limited edition letterpress printed broadside for these events. (Read about the series.)

Client: Third Place Books (October 2005)
Size: 7.25 x 18.25 inches
Letterpress Printer: Amy E. Redmond

I then successfully dismantled a ticking bomb, prevented a school bus of children from falling off a bridge, and made the world spin backwards so that I could bring Lois Lane back to life. But that’s another story.

Client: Explone (April 2005)
Size: 8×18 inches
Silkscreen printing: Patent Pending Press

The style of this 2-color silkscreen printed poster conveys the flora and fauna theme of the parade in a fun manner that appeals to all ages. The illustration was hand-drawn, as was the type, which was influenced by posters from the mid-1930s.

Client: North Cascades Institute (March 2005)
Size: 8 x 18 inches
Illustration: Amy Redmond
Printed by: Patent Pending Press