Letterpress Process and Outcomes

The actual process of typesetting the letters was quite difficult and time consuming. Because the top line of my typeset was a weird length that didn't have too appropriate of a border size to fit it, it was difficult to fill the gaps in to make sure all the text didn't fall out. The symbols that peers asked me to include were also very finicky as they were much smaller than the cap height of all the other letters, therefore challenging me to ensure ways that they would not fall out. Initially, I also did not notice that the "d" in "Noodles" was backwards, therefore causing a lot of misprints as I was working fast. After sorting this and having the letters more tightly set, my prints were much more smoother and effective.

 Multiple of my initial tests were misprints as "Noodles" was spelt "Noobles" however I still experimented with different layouts such as what overlapping the text would convey. It represents the disorganisation and fun that the phrases represent as the peers I asked were free to give me whatever phrase they wanted and had fun with it. This overtop of an image or side with an image would be effective for my book especially in creating the storyline of neat to chaotic that my book will follow.

I applied this more free and experimental layout to the correct typesetting spelling as well however issues that raised from constantly printing at different angles onto the same paper is having to make sure the text that is letter pressed off the paper is cleaned from the press to avoid unwanted transfer, especially when creating my final book. 

Paperstock: I used four different paperstocks to explore how the letter press ink sits on the surface of different textures.

The first paperstock is an off-white, slightly textured 100gsm paper which was my favourite as it conveys the ink being pressed onto the paper instead of digitally printed more effectively as the texture of the paperstock emphasises the texture of the ink.

The next was normal 80gsm cartridge paper to compare the difference between letterpress ink and digitally printed ink. What I noticed was the ink sat ontop of the paper more clearly whereas printer ink seems to lay flatter and appear to sink in to the paper. Printer ink is also a lot more matte than letterpress ink which emphasises the idea that it sinks into the paper more.

The green paper was an 80/100gsm felt paperstock which was difficult to print with as it often fell out of the press due to the felt sticking alot to the ink on the typesetted frame. The effect is not as interesting as the off-white thicker paper as the felt doesn't allow the ink's texture to be shown as much however it still provides an interesting effect compared to digitally printing onto the same paper.

The last paperstock was transparent paper which I thought was really interesting as it would allow for information to share a space as the transparency allows other information from other pages to come through. This is something I should include in my book possibly but the only issue is how would this work on a spiral bind?