Chloe C., Tiffany H., Ann Estelle F., Michael C., & Kristen F.
Day 1- 7/8/19
-Today we started by brainstorming ideas for the group project. We collected words, short phrases, and sayings such as: “spiral”, “chaos”, “people”, “up in smoke”, “cry me a river” and “Broken”. Ultimately we all agreed to use the phrase “head in the clouds” for our print. Then we thought about how we could make this phrase into an expressive print and we decided that it would be cool to place the word “head” inside the large words “The Clouds.” We also thought about what other elements we could place in the broadside and decided to incorporate clouds and a sun in the open space, in order to work with a visual aspect.
Day 2- 7/9/19
-Today we started to lay out the form in a galley tray. We have decided to use large wood type for ‘cloud,’ 72 point Bodoni for ‘the,’ and 48 point Garamond Italic for ‘head.’ We found some decorative cuts that resemble wind or a cloud and are going to place it near the top of the broadside. A large sun cut will be placed at the very bottom of the print. We added furniture and spaced out the words. Tomorrow, we will finish adding the spacing and hopefully print the first run through.
Day 3- 7/10/19
-Today we finished setting the type for the first print through. Tomorrow we will hopefully be able to move what we have set to a press. We decided today on the colors for our print. We are going to print the “the clouds” and the ornaments at the top in cyan blue. The sun is going to be printed with gold ink and the word “head” is going to be black, so it stands out. Once the set type has been placed on the print, we will begin setting the type for the word “head.” We will use measurements from the current spacing for “clouds” to determine where to place them. We will make sure to have enough prints to make sure the next print through lines up correctly. Adjustments will be made and we will be able to complete our prints, hopefully, by the end of Friday’s class.
Day 4- 7/11/19
- Today we were able to move the type from the galley tray to the Vandercook number 3. We had some issues turning the set type around. Despite this, we were able to successfully move the type to the printer. We inked the rollers with cyan blue, we rolled them over the first part of the type. We did not ink the sun blue. Instead we decided to ink the sun by hand in gold ink. We were able to do a few prints; however, we did not complete the first print through. We began to set the word “head;” taking exact measurements for the spacing to ensure the word “head” is positioned correctly. We are going to finish our first print through, set the rest of the word “head,” and possibly complete the second run tomorrow.
Day 5- 7/12/19
-Today we finished printing the first run of our broadside which took about 30 minutes. We had to ink the press before each pass and the sun was inked by hand, by Ann Estelle. While Chloe and Ann Estelle were printing the first run, the rest of the group was working on lining up “head” with the right spacing to line up with the counters in the large sized “clouds.” This took a while and we had to rearrange the letters multiple times to get them centered which was meticulous and a bit stressful. We finally got the spacing right near the end of class and began printing the second runthrough. Tiffany and Chloe stayed after class to finish the prints and got them all done. Despite there being an advancement in technology, there were still difficulties in figuring out spacing and having to go through trial and error in order to get the print exactly how it was wanted. Working in a group enabled us to focus on many aspects of the project all at once and being able to be united in the struggle of printing and being able to call this piece as ours.
