This collection contains work that I had the honor of being able to create on what is essentially historic artifacts of graphic design. I admire the letterpress because it had the power to give knowledge to everyone no matter their social class. This is the core of why I'm passionate about social design and the change that it can ignite. Working on letterpress is both restrictive and freeing. You are restricted to working with what you have in the shop and the physical limitations of the press. The freedom comes in to be able to take a step back from a computer screen and be free to actually touch the type as you set it piece by piece. This is a magical experience which I found to be very therapeutic to be physically involved in the design process.

Ingenuity takes determination. There were no pre-made shapes or images of any Italian food within the shop so I made my own! Grapes are essential to an Italian meal rather it be in the their natural form or their more evolved one. These grapes were created out many ornament collected from around the studio with countless tiny spaces in between to help hold its shape.

The First Dandelion

With the intentions of creating a simple traditional broadside I chose a poem by the great american poet, Walt Whiteman. This poem comes from his Leaves of Grass novel. Dandelions are a favorite of mine that I try to feature any chance I get to help spread appreciation for such a vital yet misunderstood plant. 

This print is a critique on the amount of waste that humans produce. Rather it be on land or in the ocean we are drowning in it. This print was my challenge to see how much I could use upcycled materials in the printmaking process. Instead of paper I used remnants of drafter's velum. For the net like texture in the print I used an empty onion bag.

These have been the most wow factor business cards that I've given out to people. Many are not expecting the quality thick stock paper with that signature letterpress embossing. It's nice to watch people enjoy those qualities of the cards as their run their fingers along the typography. This second layer of engagement that has come with these cards furthers my appreciation for letterpress prints. For the design of the cards I wanted the process to do the talking. I kept the design simple and featured my two favorite things, typography and plants.