Possessing a copy of Genesis 1:1 from the Dove's Bible adds an element of obsession on our part to the Doves type that was used to print it.
An omen from the dark arts
It was the summer of 2002 in London when our obsession with letterpress first saw the light of day. Two and a half years earlier an omen of our life-altering experience was foretold in the pages of Life Magazine.
Blue Wave broadside collaboration
We've come up with a different idea for one of our afternoon diversion projects, though it apparently cannot be done in a day. If you're interested, it's a must to be a committed Democrat or a liberal-leaning Independent.
Indivisible card #13
The idea came from an MSNBC interview about 10 days ago about the events along the Mexico border. It was taken from a momentary phrase during a 5-minute discussion. I wish I could remember who was being interviewed. We thought the sentiment was powerful.
Paul Renner's spacing for Futura
It occurred to me that it might be interesting to buy Die Kunst Der Typographie and see how Paul Renner would use his own typeface, Futura. I did buy it. You can see that the letterspacing is wide letterspacing is incredibly wide by today's standards.
We’ve often collaborated with groups to produce calendars. We often use the opportunity to experiment with a printing technique we’ve had banging around in our heads.
Alone in Berlin with a stack of blank postcards
THIS POST IS NOT SPECIFICALLY ABOUT LETTERPRESS, but it has good tentacles into our letterpress lives.
72 point Empire metal type
This was the first item of Empire type I've seen come up on eBay. With about 5 days to the end of the auction, I figured out the maximum I wanted to pay and set it. If someone went over it, so be it.
Winterthur Museum's "Dining by Design"
We are working to expand knowledge of our letterpress and bookmaking workshops and have accepted a request to participate in Winterthur Museum’s ‘Teaching Tuesdays.”
Drawing with caulk : printing via letterpress
I’ve always liked working with techniques that have some lack-of-control built into them.
Drexel University, friends, & fathers
A group of graduate students and friends connected with Drexel University in Philadelphia wanted a field trip and chose a Father's Day Werkman workshop at Lead Graffiti for the experience.
Laboratory Press Projet No. 43 added to collection
"Projets,” like the one shown here, were student projects we composed of metal type at the Laboratory Press at Carnegie Tech University. The fine press printing program was the first of its kind in the U.S., started in 1922.
FABS was fab
The Fellowship for American Bibliographic Societies (FABS} is having their annual conference at the University this weekend and today brought a lively group to Lead Graffiti to talk books and to breathe some creative and rarified bookmaking air.
What makes Lead Graffiti so hot?
At Lead Graffiti we are extremely fortunate to have invested in the purchase of an Intertype C4 linecaster. It adds significantly to the historical value of our collection as well allowing us to offer a first-hand experience with "hot metal" type for participants in some of our workshops.
LEAD GRAFFITI HAS CONDUCTED a number of workshops with the Delaware College of Art & Design, most often working with professor John Breakey, whose design class has recently taken our H.N. Werkman Creative Letterpress workshop.
William Ibbett? Jack the Ripper?
A good friend, Casey Smith, was invited to deliver his ideas to the 2018 edition of RipperCon, a biennial conference of all things Jack the Ripper, held in Baltimore, April 7 - 8 and wanted a keepsake to accompany his talk.
Laboratory Press : metal type composition the old-fashioned way
DO YOU TEACH TYPOGRAPHY? Here is a project you should give twice. The first time during the first week of the semester. The second time during the last week.
Proof of our Albion's origin
Over the past couple of years we've put together a lot of circumstantial evidence that our Albion iron hand press was originally purchased to print The Frick Collection Catalog. We've finally gotten our answer.
The actual March for Our Lives
We hit the wall right at Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street when the March turned into a singularity, and the space between people disappeared. We were in an excellent position near speakers, a straight on view of a giant screen, and the Capital.
John Bolton : The WH / Lead Graffiti connection
Ralph Begleiter was the director of a University of Delaware speaker series entitled "Global Agenda" that invited speakers to talk about a political theme. In 2005 it was called "Rx for the President." The final speaker that year was John Bolton. We don't remember the reason, but Bolton canceled. We suspect the controversy around his hiring was probably an element.