Ink and paper lend themselves to fundraising efforts.
In the week since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we’ve seen a number of print items pop up across the internet as fundraising tools. Proceeds benefit a variety of humanitarian organizations, and formats range from art prints to oversized posters to pocket notebooks. Print is stepping into a role as a fundraising tool; though not a new role, it is an interesting one to consider.
The ephemeral poster reveals a rapid history of technological advances.
Vintage posters might not seem like the most obvious way to look at technological advances. Yet this collection of vintage posters from an upcoming show facilitated by the International Vintage Poster Dealers Association walks us through a hundred years of rapidly unfolding technological triumphs, from the introduction of metal plumbing all the way to the release of the iPod. Wired has a selection over in their GadgetLab blog that reveals both the brisk pace of innovation and the changing design sensibilities implemented in the presentation of these new ideas.
Printed matter, especially ephemeral objects like posters, can serve as valuable artifacts of their time and place. Peek these posters and see for yourself.
Thirteen posters, four days: a screen printing process in Brooklyn.
Though these posters have already made their way around the blogosphere, we just stumbled upon this stunning set of process photos. They’re just so fun to browse that we couldn’t help but give them some Bangback love. This collaborative poster series was conceived by Edit, a designer who spends his time “crafting compelling concepts and making them happen.” They were screen-printed at Axelle Fine Prints in Brooklyn over a four-day period.
The thirteen multiple-color screen printed posters were created by a collection of designers that includes Duane King, Collective Approach, and Manual Creative. Each poster is a visual rumination on a genre of music, created using only one element and one typeface. What started out sounding like an assignment from an introductory design class turned into a beautiful and understated selection of graphic delights.
So You Need A Typeface is a humorous look at the process of selecting type
Danish graphic design student Julian Hansen created So You Need A Typeface, a tongue-in-cheek flow chart to walk you through the process of type selection. There are nuggets of type-selection truths sprinkled throughout this piece. For example:
• Not afraid to be asked if you live in the nineties?
• What is your opinion of Eric Gill?
(If you’re not familiar with the contentious life of Eric Gill, you should probably read up about him so that your usage of Gill Sans or Perpetua can be in used in full knowledge.)
• (Do you need) A champion in usability?
…this one leads to Caslon as a logical conclusion. I couldn’t agree more!
This one made me LOL…
• Everybody loves Garamond
Although this piece was made with humor in mind, in actuality there are far worse methods of arriving at a decision about type (anything that involves the word ‘funky’ would qualify as worse). In fact, following this chart to the letter wouldn’t be a bad strategy because the outcomes of each scenario end in the age-old well-vetted production typefaces such as Garamond, Futura, Palatino, Didot, and Helvetica and the chart routes you into classic usage of each of them. So, a tip of the hat to Julian for creating a useful resource. And he’s made it available as a poster.
The Los Angeles-based creative duo walks us through the process of creating a screen printed poster.
DKNG is Dan Kuhlken and Nathan Goldman, a pair of creative dudes whose projects range from screen printed posters to web design to giant wooden installations. We met them at the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco and were immediately drawn to their bright, bold work. As part of their diverse and expansive portfolio of client work, Dan and Nathan have been resident poster artists at Hollywood’s famous Troubadour since 2007.
Dan was kind enough to share the duo’s process of a poster they recently completed for the band Phish. Read on for a step-by-step walk through what it takes to create a fabulous screen printed poster.
A few months ago, I saw Daniel Clowes speak at Powell’s Books here in Portland, and he proclaimed that the best comic he had read recently was Tim Hensley’s Wally Gropius. I’d seen parts of Hensley’s Gropius in Fantagraphic’s quarterly MOME anthology, and have definitely been wanting more. Today I ran into this awesome Hensley print on the FAMILY blog and it is too good. His classic American style and bright exaggerated coloring lends itself perfectly to the graphic nature of silkscreen prints, black light to boot!
Title: I–I Can’t!
Item: Blacklight screenprinted poster (with flocking)
Artist: Tim Hensley
Printer: PictureBox Inc.
Available: $50 online
Give Your Big Ideas A Little Room To Grow
Scout Books: pocket-friendly notebooks for your biggest ideas!
Phil Elverum: Print Pioneer of the Pacific Northwe...:
Phil Elverum is best known for his work as the bands Mount Eerie and The Microphones, as well as... 
Hatch Show Print:
Hatch Show Print is one of the oldest print shops in America. For a hundred years Hatch was a si... 
Carson Ellis, Illustrator Extraordinaire:
It is important to have heroes. It is also helpful when they are real people. I have my share of... 
Eco-friendly CD Packaging:
Printer: Pinball Publishing
Item: Pinball Pak (CD Packaging)
Paper: 20 pt. Chipboard
Inks: Pa... 
Field Notes and Fifty States:
Item: Field Notes Colors "County Fair" 50 Editions
Paper: 100# linen cover stock (Blue, Red, Ye... 
Coffee Common, Scout Books, TED 2011:
"The people serving you coffee today come from a movement, not a company."
So reads the first... Pinball Publishing is a creative publishing company located in Portland, Oregon. We are fueled by a love for print, collaboration, and the manufacture of meaningful things. Pinball powers a growing web of interconnected projects, including Scout Books, Bangback, and Print Pinball.
Bangback is a place for print. Here we share our own print projects as well as expanded coverage of print culture at large.
Print is dead. Long live print!
